Pride & Prejudice: Understanding Context HSC English (Advanced) Module A: Comparative Study of Texts & Context Elective 1: Exploring Connections Emily Bosco
Pride & Prejudice: Understanding Context
HSC English (Advanced)
Module A: Comparative Study of Texts & Context
Elective 1: Exploring Connections
Emily Bosco
Regency England
1811-1820
On February 6th 1811, the Prince of Wales
and heir to the throne, George Augustus
Frederick, officially became the Prince
Regent. This occasion marked the transition
from the Georgian Period to the Regency
Period.
Although the reigning monarch, King George
III was to live until 1820, he was deemed
unfit to rule due to a medical condition called
‘porphyria’, which left him physically
incapacitated and prone to bouts of mental
derangement.
The title of Prince Regent was created by an official Act of Parliament, the
Regency Act, on 5th February 1811 in response to the declining health of
King George III. This enabled the Prince of Wales to assume the title of
Prince Regent, along with all the powers of a reigning monarch.
The preceding Georgian Period was characterised by conservatism and
restraint. As Prince of Wales, George rebelled against the social milieu
established by his father, King George III and adopted a notoriously wild
and extravagant lifestyle. His gluttonous and drunken behaviour was
widely known, as were his excessive spending habits; his princely
allowance often spent on mistresses, fine clothes and grandiose building
projects such as Carlton House.
As a result, the Prince of Wales had a poor relationship with his father, who
disapproved of his son’s reckless behaviour and wasteful ways. By his early
twenties, the Price of Wales was in so much debt, King George III refused to
pay it, forcing the Prince to use his political allies to secure him a
parliamentary grant of £161 000 (equivalent to £16 775 000 today).
However, as the reigning monarch set the tone and standards for the rest of
society, the ascension of the Prince of Wales to the position of Prince
Regent signalled in an era of flamboyance. With an excessive Prince Regent
as a role model, it was not uncommon for members of the landed gentry
and aristocracy to live profusely – often well beyond their means.
In her novels, Jane Austen often uses satire as a means for critiquing this
type of indulgent and excessive behaviour. Consider how Austen
represents the following characters in Pride and Prejudice:
Mr Bennet – owner of Longbourn, an estate of approximately 1000
acres. This made him a lesser landed proprietor – a ‘squire’ of his
village. His estate is worth £2000 a year, which he spends all of,
saving nothing.
Mrs Bennet – wife and mother whose sole occupation seems to be
finding “rich men” for her daughters to marry. As such, she permits
her daughters (especially Kitty and Lydia) to exhibit flirtatious
behaviour.
Lydia Bennet – the fifteen-year-old daughter of Mr and Mrs Bennet,
who although not yet “out” is allowed to attend balls, flirt with
officers of the Meryton militia and display her “high animal spirits”
and “natural self-consequence” unrestrained.
George Wickham – a lieutenant in the Meryton militia; duplicitous in
nature, excessive in his spending and known for leaving a place with
debts outstanding.
Jane Austen
Jane Austen’s novels are concerned with
the landed gentry and valued for their
combination of realism and social satire.
Austen lived her entire life as part of a
close-knit family located on the lower
fringes of the English landed gentry. She
was educated primarily by her father
and older brothers as well as through
her own reading.
Her writing career was supported by
her family; her creative pursuits
beginning in her teenage years and
lasting into her thirties. During this period, she experimented with various
literary forms, including the epistolary novel which she tried then
abandoned, and wrote and extensively revised six novels:
Sense and Sensibility (1811)
Pride and Prejudice (1813)
Mansfield Park (1814)
Emma (1816)
Northanger Abbey (1818 – published posthumously)
Persuasion (1818 – published posthumously) Austen's works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the
18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century realism. Her
plots, though fundamentally comic, highlight the dependence of women on
marriage to secure social standing and economic security, as well as
affirming the values of love, balance, order, respect and etiquette.
Social Rank
Monarch
Hereditary Peers of the Realm:
Dukes, Marquises, Earls, Viscounts and Barons
(members of the House of Lords)
Baronets
(hereditary title, not allowed to sit in the
House of Lords)
Knights
(a title bestowed by the monarch - not
hereditary)
Landed Gentry:
Untitled country squires who varied in wealth and gentility
Lesser Landed Proprietors:
Those with approximately 1000 acres of land
Professional Classes:
Soldiers, Sailors, Clerics, Lawyers,
Doctors
Urban merchants, farmers, and tradesmen with
aspirations of purchasing a country estate and
becoming landed gentry
Upper Ten Thousand:
The wealthiest group of landowners - usually members
of Parliament with townhouses in London
Property & Inheritance Laws
All property within marriage legally belonged to the husband.
The husband and wife were viewed as one person in law. This meant
that upon marriage the legal existence of the woman was suspended
and incorporated into the personality of her husband.
A husband could leave property to his wife in his will, but could not
make it a legal gift to her and was responsible for all her debts,
whether contracted during the marriage or before.
Legally, therefore, prior to the Married Women's Property Act 1884
married women were classed as 'femmes covert' and a woman's
personal property was transferred automatically to her husband on
marriage; her real property came under her husband's control but
remained hers for inheritance purposes.
Married women during their marriage had no legal testamentary
rights at all in relation to real estate. Any personal property of a
woman which she had before the marriage, or acquired after the
marriage, became her husband's absolutely, and as such, he had the
right to leave it by will.
Only with her husband's permission could a wife make a will leaving
personal property - even if it had been hers before her marriage.
Moreover, his consent only applied to a particular will and this
consent had to be strictly proved. His consent could be revoked even
after her death. The only exception to this was her right to make a
will leaving her 'paraphernalia' - clothing and personal ornaments.
It was possible to arrange a "settlement", which was a legal document
that usually ensured that some or all of the property that the wife
brought to the marriage ultimately belongs to her, and would revert
to her or her children. This type of settlement was generally part of
an overall pre-marital financial agreement between the wife or wife's
family and the husband or husband's family.
In Pride and Prejudice the reader is told that "Five thousand pounds
was settled by marriage articles on Mrs Bennet and the children."
Therefore we read that the negotiations made to persuade Wickham
to marry Lydia guarantee "by settlement, her [Lydia] equal share of
the five thousand pounds secured among his children after the
decease of [Mr Bennet and his wife,] and, moreover, to enter into an
engagement of allowing her, during his life, one hundred pounds per"
year. In addition, Darcy undertook to pay his debts and purchase an
officer's commission (as an ensign or sub-lieutenant) in the regular
army.
Amongst members of the landed gentry, it was accepted that the
eldest male son would inherit the paternal estate.
The second eldest son would generally inherit some land or money
from his mother’s side of the family.
Any other younger sons were expected to earn an income by
engaging in a respectable profession – the military, clergy or the law.
Female Education, Pursuits & Accomplishments
Mr Bingley: “It is amazing to me,
how young ladies can have
patience to be so very
accomplished as they all are"; "I
am sure I never heard a young
lady spoken of for the first time,
without being informed that she
was very accomplished."
This discussion develops a list of
accomplishments:
Bingley: "They all paint tables,
cover skreens, and net purses."
Caroline: "A woman must have a
thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the
modern languages, to deserve the word."
Mr Darcy: "To all this she must yet add something more substantial,
in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading."
Balls & Dancing
English ballroom – a courting field – presented young men and
women with a socially acceptable means of getting to know each
other.
Gender roles and social etiquette – a ball was a social experience and
men were expected to approach women and ask them to dance.
It was considered rude on the part of men to not dance, thus leaving
women in a position where they had to sit out dances. This is why Mr
Darcy’s refusal to dance at the Meryton ball is deemed an act of
rudeness.
Women, on the
other hand, were
expected to wait
passively for a
dance partner to
approach them –
and when they
were asked to dance, were obliged to accept. The only acceptable
excuse in refusing a dance was when a lady had already promised the
next set to another, or if she had grown tired and was sitting out the
dance.
Women’s dress and deportment were designed to exhibit her best
attributes. Moreover, the memorisation of complicated dance steps
was considered a talent/accomplishment.
It was important for men to be able to dance well – this talent
reflected his character and abilities. Consider Sir William Lucas’
comment to Mr Darcy at the Netherfield Ball: “Such very superior
dancing is not often seen. It is evident that you belong to the first
circles.” This contrasts with Mr Collins’ dancing abilities, described
as “awkward and solemn”.
A man could not ask a lady to dance if they had not been formally
introduced.
A couple could (at the most) dance only two sets (each set consisted
of two dances), which generally lasted from 20-30 minutes per dance.
Mr Bingley and Jane dance two sets together at the Netherfield Ball
and this results in much gossip and speculation concerning a
marriage between the two:
o Sir William Lucas: “I must hope to have this pleasure often
repeated, especially when a certain desirable event, my dear
Miss Eliza (glancing at her sister and Bingley) shall take place.
What congratulations will then flow in!”
o Mrs Bennet: “[Elizabeth was] vexed to find that her mother was
talking to that one person (Lady Lucas) freely, openly, and of
nothing else but of her expectation that Jane would be soon
married to Mr. Bingley.”
The couple had many opportunities to converse or catch their
breaths when they waited for others to finish working their way
down a dance progression. The ability to carry out a conversation
was considered very important, as Elizabeth pointedly reminds Mr
Darcy.
Social Etiquette
Social connections were usually formed through a series of meetings,
usually beginning with morning calls to the homes of those in
fashionable society.
A morning call did not usually exceed half an hour.
In London, a woman paid morning calls to her social equals or
inferiors but not to her social superiors until they had called on her
or left a card.
A person new to the city or country area waited for calls of ceremony
to be made to them by those already established before they made a
call of their own.
In the country it was acceptable for a man to make a call or leave a
card with someone of higher social standing if they were new to the
neighbourhood.
A gentleman calling on a family asked for the mistress of the house if
the visit was a social one, and the master if it was a business call.
A card was left if the lady of the house was indisposed or not at home.
It was acceptable for a gentleman to call on a daughter of the house if
she were well above marriageable age or a long-standing friend.
Callers were received by men in their business room or library, by
women in the morning room or in their drawing-room.
A lady, either married or single, did not call at a man's lodging.
Servants were spoken to with exactly the right degree of civility and
never with the casual informality with which a person would speak
to an equal.
It was essential to dress for dinner.
When going in to dinner, the man of the house always escorted the
highest-ranking lady present. The remaining dinner guests also
paired up and entered the dining room in order of rank.
Dinner guests were seated according to rank, with the highest-
ranking lady sitting on the right-hand side of the host, who always sat
at the head of the table.
At a formal dinner one did not talk across the dinner table but
confined conversation to those on one's left and right.
Ladies were expected to retire to the withdrawing room after dinner,
leaving the men to their port and their 'male' talk.
Overt displays of emotion were generally considered ill-bred.
Laughter was usually moderated in polite company, particularly
among women.
Men could give themselves up to unrestrained mirth, provided they
were in the company of other men or among women of low repute.
Well-bred persons controlled their features, their physical bodies and
their speech when in company.
A lady always spoke, sat and moved with elegance and propriety.
A bow or curtsy was executed according to the status and
relationship of the person encountered and with regard to the
particular circumstance.
A bow was made on entering or leaving a room, at the beginning and
end of a dance, and on encountering any person one wished to
acknowledge.
Debutantes did not stand up for more than two consecutive dances
with the same partner.
Only those young ladies who were 'out' danced the waltz and then
only with an acceptable partner, usually someone she already knew,
or to whom she had been formally introduced.
To be thought 'fast' or to show a want of conduct was the worst
possible social stigma.
A lady never forced herself upon a man's notice.
A lady did not engage in any activity that might give rise to gossip.
It was unacceptable to owe money to a stranger.
It was acceptable to owe money to a tradesperson.
Extremes of emotion and public outbursts were unacceptable,
although it could be acceptable for a woman to have the vapours,
faint, or suffer from hysteria if confronted by vulgarity or an
unpleasant scene.
A well-bred person behaved with courteous dignity to acquaintance
and stranger alike, but kept at arm's length any who presumed too
great a familiarity.
A well-bred person maintained an elegance of manners and
deportment.
A well-bred person walked upright, stood and moved with grace and
ease.
A well-bred person was never awkward in either manner or
behaviour and could respond to any social situation with calm
assurance.
A well-bred person was never pretentious or ostentatious.
Vulgarity was unacceptable in any form and was to be continually
guarded against.
(Source: Austenised)
Marriage
As most women in Jane Austen’s time could not be independent, marriage
was one of the
only ways to
attain financial
security.
A woman
could only
be an
"heiress" if
she had no
brothers.
Unmarried
women had
to live with their families as a `dependent' (more or less Jane Austen's
situation).
Therefore, marriage was the only way of getting out from under the
parental roof; unless, her family could not support her, in which case she
could face the unpleasant necessity of going to live with employers as a
`dependent' governess or teacher, or hired “lady's companion”.
When a young woman left her family without their approval, this spawned
an enormous problem, such as elopement, or entering into an illicit
relationship.
For these reasons, some women were willing to marry as it was the only
allowed route to economic security and a better quality of life.
In Pride and Prejudice, this pragmatic view toward marriage is best
expressed by the character of Charlotte Lucas: “Without thinking highly
either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it was
the only honourable provision for well-educated young women of small
fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their
pleasantest preservative from want.” This is an understandable view given
that Charlotte is 27 years old, not especially beautiful (according to her and
Mrs. Bennet), and without an especially large “portion”, and so decides to
marry Mr. Collins “from
the pure and
disinterested desire of an
establishment”.
(Source: Our
Literature Corner)
Jane Austen’s view of the ideal
marriage.