The F-Word in _Pride and Prejudice_

So I, like several other people in our class, found myself getting oddly riled up during class lately about the (deceptively) seemingly controversy-free Pride and Prejudice. The novel has inspired more discussion in our class that I think I've seen with any other novel, and the primary center of this has been the debate over whether or not Pride and Prejudice is a feminist text. As a disclaimer before I explain my argument on the subject, I should probably say that I definitely consider myself a pretty strong feminist. Before everyone grimaces and goes to read someone else's blog post, I have a comment on feminism that will influence my argument a lot - I think feminism is greatly misunderstood. Most people hear the word feminist and instantly think of the standard bra-burning, man-hating, obnoxiously preachy idea of a feminist, but to me at least that's not actually what feminism is about. To me feminism is the empowerment of women - supporting women of any background or belief system in taking control of their own lives, whatever this may entail. It's about being strong. Through this light, Pride and Prejudice is most definitely a feminist text.

Look at all that mud!
 Kiera Knightly in Pride and Prejudice.

Elizabeth Bennett is one of literature's most famous strong heroines, which is the immediate argument to be made for feminism in this novel. Lizzy's father's estate is entailed on a male heir, she has a very low income, and not the most lucrative societal connections, and in the Victorian era this meant that a woman would either have to marry into money, or become a spinster. This was just the reality of the situation. A lot of people argued that Lizzy is not then a truly strong woman, because she chose to marry into money, that she eventually succumbed to society's ways - if she was a true feminist character, she would have married a poor man! Gone off and made money on her own! Never have needed a man anyways! But this would not have been realistic in the time, and part of what I think makes Lizzy such a good example of a strong woman is that she advocated for herself in a way that was practical, that could inspire real women confined to the same social constraints to make positive changes in their lives. This is best seen at the end of the novel with Georgiana Darcy's "education": "Her mind received knowledge which had never before fallen in her way. By Elizabeth's instructions she began to comprehend that a woman may take liberties with her husband, which a brother will not always allow in a sister more than ten years younger than himself" (Austen 345). It is for Lizzy's wit and unwillingness to submit to social rules governing conversation that Darcy falls in love with her. Of course Lizzy kind of makes him say it: "'My beauty you had early withstood, and as for my manners - my behavior to you was at least always bordering on the uncivil, and I never spoke to you without rather wishing to give you pain than not. Now be sincere, did you admire me for my impertinence?' 'For the liveliness of your mind, I did'" (Austen 338). You see right here that Lizzy knows she is less than conventional, and prides herself in it. You sometimes see a side come out in Lizzy that she kind of likes the power she has over Mr. Darcy: "He told her of feelings, which, in proving of what importance she was to him, made his affection every moment more valuable" (Austen 325). Granted, it's not power that Lizzy wants in a marriage, she just wanted respect, which Mr. Bennet explains pretty well, "I know your disposition, Lizzy. I know that you could neither be happy nor respectable unless you truly esteemed your husband; unless you looked up to him as a superior" (Austen 335). Lizzy wants a husband who respects her for who she is, but who she also can respect.
This idea of marrying someone for who they are as a person (though it does help some when said person is quite rich) and for the connection they have to each other is very important to this novel. It would have been very logical for Lizzy to marry Mr. Collins - he was their heir to her estate and had respectable income - refusing this alone, given her situation in life, was a pretty radical move. She also refused Mr. Darcy initially, even though he is probably the wealthiest character in the novel (besides Lady Catherine), because he went against what she valued in people - he (nearly) ruined Jane's change of happiness, ruined Wickham's life (so she thought), and for hurting, of course, her pride - she makes it pretty clear that she had no desire to marry him: "You could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it" (Austen 172). Darcy had to change to become the type of person, not just the role in society, that Lizzy wanted to marry. And changed him she did -  Darcy says, "By you, I was properly humbled. I came to you without a doubt of my reception. You showed me how insufficient were all my pretensions to please a woman worthy of being pleased" (Austen 328). Lizzy had high standards. And it may not seem that radical now (thankfully), that a woman demand that her standards be met, but two hundred years ago, especially if you had no means of supporting yourself, for a woman to even think that they might have the power to change a man so that she could love him as a person, would definitely be radical.
The conventional, expected behavior of women during this time is shown through the character of Charlotte Lucas upon becoming engaged to Mr. Collins: "Without thinking highly of either men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it was the only honorable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want" (Austen 111). While Charlotte's character and decision also serves to provide a nice contrast to Lizzy's, she is not shown in a negative light - she did what she had to do, essentially - marriage had been her goal and she achieved it. Lydia's marriage is also an interesting contrast to both Lizzy's and Charlotte's marriage - she married for passion, not for practicality or a connection of the minds, and though money trouble is foreshadowed for her, her happiness is never doubted: "If you love Mr. Darcy half as well as I do my dear Wickham, you must be very happy" (Austen 343). All three women married to get what they wanted in life, whatever that may be, which is why Pride and Prejudice to me embodies a deeper, inclusive sort of feminism as well.
I think the categorization of this novel as "proto-feminist" is important to consider as well. The characters may not have wrestled free from constricting societal laws and smashed the patriarchy by any means, but in this novel we see something of a start. We see women taking control of their decisions to please themselves - Charlotte, Lydia, and Lizzy all married men that were objectionable to some degree by other characters, but they went ahead because they wanted to. And with Lizzy, we see someone who different, and knows it, and uses it to her advantage, and she tell's her future husband so: "You were disgusted with the women who were always speaking and looking, and thinking for your approbation alone. I roused, and interested you, because I was so unlike them" (Austen 338). She is unquestionable a strong female character, who sees nothing wrong with who she is (for better or for worse), and makes sure that a man she falls in love with loves her for who she is. For women reading this at the time - and honestly, for me reading this now, this kind of mindset can be very inspiring. And I think this discussion, this comparing of past and present values, this attempt at defining happiness, that arose these past few classes from this novel is alone justification for why it is considered a masterpiece.

Work Cited:
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.