Class Based Society In Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is a love story for the ages, but it also delves into social matters of the time. The social matter of classes is brought to the forefront even with the title. Austen uses this story to bring to light the strong hold of a class based society in Britain. Throughout the reading of Pride and Prejudice one is able to better understand the historical significance of a how a class system influenced individual lives and society as a whole. Pride and Prejudice was written at a time when Britain was experiencing a time of transformation (Sheehan). Not only was Britain continuously engaged in war with France, this was also after the country had warred with America through the American Revolution (Sheehan). During the time of the writing of Pride and Prejudice there was also “a set of domestic concerns over property, money and status that highlights changing social landscape of late eighteenth and early …show more content…
The influence of those social classes impacted even the most critical emotion a person can feel towards another, love. Even though Darcy eventually followed his hear in the story, there was much turmoil that had to be endured because of his deep seated need to follow social expectations. Furthermore, the social class effected the opportunities women were able to have. Since the only expectation for women of that time was that they marry, some women were pushed to settle into a marriage not for love, but for security, such as seen with Charlotte. Additionally, social classes allowed people to become prejudice towards other based on the person level of standing within society. Through her work, Austen is bringing criticism to a social class society and reflecting the impacts this type of society can have on