(Page15) “In understanding, Darcy was the superior. Bingley was by no means deficient, but Darcy was very clever.” Jane Austen is showing that the characters think Darcy is superior and Bingley is inadequate just because Darcy is of an extremely high class and earns double what Bingley earns.
(Page30) “Yes; and they have another, who lives somewhere near Cheapside.” “ That is capital,” added her sister, and they both laughed heartily.” The writer shows us that the Bingley sisters are making a joke out of where the Bennets live. I think the writer does this to show how the Bingley sisters are prejudice towards poor, lower class people.
(Page57) “Mingling with very good opinion of himself, of his authority as a clergyman, and his right as a rector, made him altogether a mixture of pride and obsequiousness, self importance and humility.” Jane Austen shows us that Mr Collins thinks he is of a very high class but in actual fact is middle class. The writer does this to show that middle class people can be proud by thinking they are rich and powerful, and have good acquaintances such as Lady Catherine but really its all a front. For example, Jane Austen makes Mr Collins act as if he was the richest man in the village and notice he always talks about Lady Catherine and that he visits her all the time. This makes him extremely proud even though he is not that rich.
In Pride and Prejudice class, pride and prejudice are used most of all when Lady Catherine de Bourgb tries to stop Elizabeth getting engaged to Darcy.
(Page272) “I was told that not only your sister was on the point of being most advantageously married, but that you, that Miss Elizabeth Bennet, would, in all likelihood, soon afterwards you would be united to my nephew-my own nephew-Mr Darcy.” The writer shows us that Lady Catherine is being very prejudice towards Lizzy getting married to Darcy. The writer does this firstly, with one word ‘advantageously’ given a chance for Jane to get married to Mr Bingley. The writer used this word to put Jane down by making it ‘a chance’ that they should get married. Jane Austen also repeats ‘to my nephew’. Jane Austen repeats this word to make it sound like a lower class heathen is getting married ‘to her’ higher class gentlemen.
(Page274) “They are descended, on the maternal side, from the same noble line; and, on the fathers, from respectable, honourable, and ancient, though untitled families. Their fortune on both sides is splendid. They are destined for each other by the voice of every member of their respective houses, and what is to divide them? The upstart pretensions of a young woman without family, connections or fortune.” Once again class is a feature. The writer does this by several different things. The first, is that Lady Catherine lists all the things Lizzy has not got, honour, respect, connections or a large fortune. This shows Lady Catherine’s prejudice towards Elizabeth. Jane Austen also shows us that Lady Catherine blames Elizabeth for Darcy not being with his destined lover.
In Pride and Prejudice the writer shows us that class appears a lot. The class in Pride and Prejudice is slightly different to the class in An Inspector Calls. This is because in Pride and Prejudice the higher class people are born with their fortunes and make jokes out of the middle class people (Workers). In An Inspector Calls the Birlings are top class but have got their money through their business in factory’s. You can see that these stories are different very easily. The first, being the huge time scale. In An Inspector Calls you can see that the industrial revolution has taken place. Mr Birling makes all his money from his huge ranch of businesses where as most people that had businesses in the time of Pride and Prejudice, didn’t earn much money at all. This shows how rich people were different from the two novels. In An Inspector Calls most of the rich people got their money through work where as this was not heard of in the time of Pride and Prejudice. You will now see quotes from An Inspector Calls.
(Page11) “I thought you must be, I was an alderman for years – and Lord Mayor two years ago – and I’m still on the bench so I know the Brumley police officers well – and I thought I’d never seen you before.” The writer is showing us that Mr Birling is showing the Inspector that he should respect him because of his high - class situation. The writer does this by listing all the important things Birling has been, Lord Mayor two years ago and still on the bench. I think the writer does this to try and make the Inspector respect him but it turns out the other way round. This is the same as what happens in Pride and Prejudice. Lady Catherine tells Elizabeth that she is rich, powerful etc and that Elizabeth should respect her, just like what Mr Birling did to the Inspector, But in both stories Elizabeth and the Inspector treat them with less dignity and respect. I think the writers do this to show that if you don’t treat people with respect then you will not be treated with respect either, no matter how rich you are. I think the moral here is “ Treat people with the same respect as you would like to be given”
(Page12) “Perhaps I ought to explain first that this is Mr Gerald Croft – the son of Sir George Croft – you know Crofts Limited.” Mr Birling points out that this is Mr Gerald Croft. The writer shows us this because he wants the Inspector to leave him alone, so by telling him about their businesses he might go.
You can see that class is slightly different in both stories. In Pride and Prejudice the writer shows us that she makes class more apparent by characters themselves telling people how upper class they are. In An Inspector Calls the writer shows us that the characters tell people what they have got and who they know in connection to how upper class they are, where as in An Inspector Calls they still do it but to less of an extent.
