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Pride And Prejudice Literary Analysis

1347 Words6 Pages

Just An Everyday 19th Century Feminist

Pride and Prejudice is a story that focuses around the main character, Elizabeth Bennet. She, in essence, is Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth captures the interest of readers and acts as the novel’s heroine. While there are many qualities of Miss Bennet that are not particularly heroic, her outspoken confidence, relatability, and growth as a character contribute to making her the protagonist of Pride and Prejudice. Despite being stuck in a patriarchal society where women have no more hopes in life than a prosperous marriage, Elizabeth Bennet exemplifies the idea of an independent woman and acts as a heroine through her outspoken personality and courageousness to follow her own path in life.

It would be an understatement to say that marriage is the goal of most women in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. A reader has to look no farther than the first page of the book to see that a beneficial marriage is the epitome of happiness in this society. The first introduction that readers have to Mrs. Bennet is due to her interference in her daughters’ lives. Mrs. Bennet lives for only one thing: to see her daughters married to a man of some wealth and circumstance. As Mrs. Bennet describes the new man in town to Mr. Bennet she exclaims, “Oh, single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!” (Austen I) This interaction basically sums up what every woman searches

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