Conformity In Pride And Prejudice

Although nearly 200 years apart, both Austen and Shakespeare shared a literary sensitivity to the social customs that made matters of courtship such a trying experience. Pride and Prejudice is a comedy of manners that resembles some of Shakespeare’s own comedies, particularly Much ado About Nothing. As a strong-minded young woman, Elizabeth Bennet seems to enjoy fending off any romantic proposals made by the eligible bachelors that she encounters. Equally headstrong, Mr Darcy seems to enjoy insulting her pride. Similarly, Beatrice seems to take great joy in expressing her distaste for men with her jesting counterpart, Benedick, being her prime victim. However, despite their independent nature and refusal to succumb to social restraint, both …show more content…
A character like Beatrice was rare in Elizabethan times, a woman like her would most likely not have existed at that time so for Shakespeare to create a character with so much independence and confidence who embraces her wit almost at the expense of others could suggest that she is not a character that would simply mould herself into a typical Elizabethan wife after marriage. She is even willing to risk the prospect of a stable future relationship and marriage when she commands Benedick to kill Claudio to prove his love for her, something that is, again, atypical in Elizabethan women. The only way one could consider Beatrice to have changed herself for marriage is by soothing the vapid sharpness of her tongue but even still she thrives on her wit and intellect. Similarly, Elizabeth Bennet is also not a character that would simply conform to social conventions, partly because her strong and independent personality in general and partly because of changes in social attitudes that Regency England were experiencing. The sacrament of marriage was becoming more focused on values and acceptance than in financial or societal gain, which had influenced Austen in her writing. For an author who often focused her writing on the social positions of women to create a female character that would ultimately succumb to typical gender expectations could be slightly unlikely, especially considering the fact that she herself remained unmarried and created a life for herself through her novels. Elizabeth’s marriage to Darcy is one based on love and equality and the acceptance of their spouse’s nature, Charlotte’s marriage to Mr Collin’s is achieved through her manipulation of him to bring about wealth and stability for her and Jane’s marriage to Bingley