Critics for pride and prejudice

feminist critic; name and explain

Vivien Jones ("Feminisms"):

she claims that Austen does not integrate a radical feminist approach into the novel, rather, a “conservative agenda of reform”, where Austen seeks to improve the society she lives in, not replace it. the reforms that Austen cites in the novel are individual and gradual, where Darcy comes to realise his pride and value people beyond their rank, Elizabeth learns to doubt her own judgement, where her prejudice no longer rules over her interactions with others. This shows that marriage can be then attained through compatibility and esteem for each other, rather than money. Jones argues that Austen creates a protofeminist novel that recognises her society can work in a woman’s favour, where “a measure of equality, and certainly happiness, can be achieved”, just like Elizabeth.

marxist critic for P&P class and wealth hierarchies

Dutta (or nameless)

details argument around how the economic condition of the characters shape personal life. Marriages such as Charlotte Lucas’s is the purest example of how marriage has been commodified, where Charlotte says “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance”. This is further supported when Darcy’s handling of the Lydia and Wickham situation represents how marriage is bought, and rarely for the joy of the individual. The happiness of the characters of interest are also presented as being at risk due to their economic situation- where the Bennet’s entailment creates a situation where the Bennet sisters will have to marry for economic stature, and it is purely out of luck (and Austen’s consideration for the reader’s interest) that Jane and Elizabeth have compatible marriages in extremely wealthy situations.

we can also consider the fact that manners like Caroline Bingley’s and Darcy’s is only able to be justified throiugh their upper class status- where they are barely punished for it; even to the point that Charlotte understands Darcy’s manner with “he has a right to be proud”.

it is important to remember that Austen does not shape her novel around the structures of a marxist reading, rather, she critiques the marriage market and exposes the economic injustices that women are faced with. As Jone suggests, Austen recommends a “conservative agenda of social reform”

Virginia woolf on P&P

“of all great writers, she is the most difficult to catch in the act”- we can use this with pride and prejudice, where her small artistic choices, such as her narration style keeps us close to personal insight, but far away from any pre-determined biases of the narrator itself

x

x