Elizabeth’s rebellion (and insistence of going against the conventional reasons for marrying) is contrasted with Charlotte’s conformity. Charlotte accepts Mr. Collin’s proposal as she is twenty seven and needs to secure her financial stability, knowing that another proposal might not come. Charlotte therefore, unlike Elizabeth, married for money and not for love (Newton in Clark 1994: 131). Elizabeth thus sought her future husband with regards to how she felt about him and rebels against the expectations of society. Therefore, Unlike Charlotte, Elizabeth will not violate her principles and integrity by marrying for money instead of love.
Elizabeth does not rebel against all of the conventions in society. She has very good manners and a genuine concern for her sister who is ill. She is not like Mrs. Bennet who is offensive and unladylike. At one point, she tells her mother "For heaven's sake, madam, speak lower – What advantage can it be to you to offend Mr. Darcy? - You will never recommend yourself to his friends by so doing"(Austen 1990, 76). Furthermore, Elizabeth rejected both Mr. Collins’ and Mr. Darcy’s proposals very politely, trying not to offend either one of them. “In spite of her deeply-rooted dislike, she could not be insensible to the compliment of such a man’s affection, and though her intentions did not vary for an instant, she was at first sorry for the pain he was to receive… She tried, however, to compose herself to answer him with patience” (Austen 1990: 168). Elizabeth therefore tries to remain calm, patient and pleasant in her encounters with people. She behaves like society expects a lady to act.
Elizabeth also conforms to other notions of society. Her society prefers good humoured, well spoken men (like Mr. Bingley) to men who are not so easy going and who do not try to please everyone, like Mr. Darcy (Teachman 1997: 15). Elizabeth reaches the conclusion (along with everyone else) that Mr. Darcy is arrogant, cold and proud; partly because he refused to dance with or be introduced to any women he does not know. She therefore prejudged him before she knew him and felt that he was not worthy of her attention. Later when Mr. Wickham explains his mistreatment by Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth accepts it purely because Mr. Wickham paid her attention and is more sociable and enjoyable to be around.
It is because of her prejudicial attitude that she refuses Mr. Darcy’s proposal, protesting that he is not a gentleman and so she would never marry him. She rejected him and was disgusted that he had proposed. She accused him of all the things she had heard about him and was upset that he had prevented Jane and Mr. Bingley from being united in marriage. Furthermore she is hurt that he feels that she is beneath him because of her social class.
Elizabeth’s protest and prejudicial attitudes she has formed of Mr. Darcy are shown to be somewhat false by his letter. Her analysis of his letter, her visit to Pemberley (Mr. Darcy’s home) and his housekeeper’s good words about him make Elizabeth realise that she does love him (Jones 1987: 36). She realises that her prejudices against him were wrong and that she can make mistakes (Jones 1987: 45). She rebukes her actions saying “How despicably have I acted… I who have prided myself on my own discernment… But Vanity, not love has been my folly… Till this moment, I never knew myself” (Austen 1990: 185). Elizabeth now sees Mr. Darcy in a new light and is open to the idea of marrying him. She has moved from an attitude of protest to one of acceptance. She however doubts whether Mr. Darcy still loves her, especially after Lydia marries Mr. Wickham (a man who hurt Mr. Darcy and his sister badly) (Brownstein in Copeland & McMaster 1997: 54).
Later when Elizabeth finds out that Mr. Darcy convinced Mr. Wickham to marry her sister, a part of her wonders if he did this for her. She now has hope that he still loves her. This hope is heightened when Lady Catherine pays her a visit and informs her that Mr. Darcy is intended for her daughter. She wants Elizabeth to promise that she will not marry Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth refuses to follow this request (Marsh 1998: 97) arguing that she is Mr. Darcy’s equal as she is a gentlemen’s daughter. Lady Catherine is shocked and rebukes Elizabeth saying “unfeeling, selfish girl! Do you not consider that a connection with you must disgrace him in the eyes of everyone” (Jane Austen 1990: 317 - 318). She therefore implies that Elizabeth and her connections are so low they will ruin Mr. Darcy’s family name. By going against Lady Catherine, Elizabeth is thus rebelling against the notions of class that imply that she is beneath Mr. Darcy and cannot marry him. Once again, she does not conform to the accepted social norms but chooses to follow her own happiness.
Elizabeth’s movement from protest to complete acceptance is seen in Chapter fifty-eight: Elizabeth thanks Darcy for saving her sister and it is then that Mr. Darcy asks her if her opinion of him has changed and that if it has, he still wants to marry her. Elizabeth lets him know how ashamed she is that she had formed prejudices against him and that she now knows the truth about him. “Events, Darcy himself and the opinion of others assist Elizabeth in moving beyond her prejudices”. (Gill & Gregory: 160). Since she is now aware of Mr. Darcy’s values and her own heart, she consents to his second marriage proposal (Gill & Gregory 2003: 128). She has thus moved from complete protest to acceptance.
Jane Austen uses Elizabeth in order to show the unreasonable values and expectations in the society she came from. She therefore did not use this novel to confirm the patriarchal norms in society, but rather questioned them: Elizabeth rebelled against the expected societal ways in which a woman should behave (e.g. marrying for money or responding to the wishes of people in a higher social class), rather than just conforming to society’s ways like many other characters did (such as Charlotte and Mrs. Bennet). Elizabeth was however still influenced by the prejudices that society imposes on people. Only once she moved past her protest of Mr. Darcy and started analysing her behaviour and the behaviour of others differently did she grow as a person (Kane in Marshall and Williams 2002: 28). She could now accept that she was wrong because of her prejudices. She accepted the error of her ways and became more open to seeing Mr. Darcy for who he really was and so she could finally find happiness.
Elizabeth thus grew in the novel from a young women who was prejudicial towards people and their behaviour based on little evidence (Kane in Marshall and Williams 2002: 24) to a wife who thinks before she speaks and loves people for their virtues and who they are on the inside (Teachman 1997: 21). Judgments in Jane Austen’s novels are thus “far from cut and dried” (Jones 1987: 43). Jane Austen showed that you should not just accept the norms of society but need to look at whether these norms are justifiable and whether they will make you happy. She uses Elizabeth to show this by making Elizabeth rebel against the conventional norms of society. This essay has shown how Elizabeth did not always accept everything as it was in society. She challenged particular notions if they did not fit into her idea of what happiness was. Throughout the novel, she rebelled against conventional norms in society. She also moved from an attitude of protest towards Mr. Darcy to an attitude of acceptance. She accepted that she could love him and their marriage signified how pride and prejudices could be overcome.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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