Claudia Johnson in her essay, Pride and Prejudice and the Pursuit of Happiness, claims that the centralized theme of happiness in the novel, Pride and Prejudice, carries the weight of political and social commentary. As Johnson molds this idea with a litany of examples in her essay she also defends Austen from critics who claim the novel supports a fairytale style happy ending that doesn’t resolve the political or social issues brought about in the novels opening pages. Johnson combats this criticism by stating the political resolution can be found not within the novel’s closing pages but within the actions of the characters. Johnson goes further to state that “Austen’s care to establish the standards of her characters’ happiness provides us
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Elizabeth resembles female independence and the pursuit of something not anchored by financial wealth or social status but is more focused on morals and characteristics of an individual. Darcy resembles a man struggling to break from tradition and family expectation. Darcy also realizes that his happiness relies on the happiness of others or those he cares for. Together Darcy and Elizabeth act as political conduits for commentary on the breakout of tradition. Their opposition, Lady Catherine, as Johnson acknowledges resembles tradition which opposes all of Elizabeth's view of the world. Elizabeth is not concerned with rank but the pursuit of individual happiness in the form of Darcy's approval. On the flip side of that coin, Lady Catherine's happiness is best accomplished when she forces tradition heavily focused on wealth and a high social ranking. This political tension is mostly noted by critics and Johnson is “Convinced that they occupied high ground, progressive novelists seize on the same kinds of distinctions and exploit them for all they are worth, contending, more systematically and more conspicuously of course, that the defenders of money and rank marshal speciously ethical artillery-such as Lady Catherine’s “duty,” “honour,” and “gratitude”-in order to sustain their hegemony, and that it is only by force of “prejudice” that we are either bullied or duped into equating our moral imperatives with their interests”
Elizabeth resembles female independence and the pursuit of something not anchored by financial wealth or social status but is more focused on morals and characteristics of an individual. Darcy resembles a man struggling to break from tradition and family expectation. Darcy also realizes that his happiness relies on the happiness of others or those he cares for. Together Darcy and Elizabeth act as political conduits for commentary on the breakout of tradition. Their opposition, Lady Catherine, as Johnson acknowledges resembles tradition which opposes all of Elizabeth's view of the world. Elizabeth is not concerned with rank but the pursuit of individual happiness in the form of Darcy's approval. On the flip side of that coin, Lady Catherine's happiness is best accomplished when she forces tradition heavily focused on wealth and a high social ranking. This political tension is mostly noted by critics and Johnson is “Convinced that they occupied high ground, progressive novelists seize on the same kinds of distinctions and exploit them for all they are worth, contending, more systematically and more conspicuously of course, that the defenders of money and rank marshal speciously ethical artillery-such as Lady Catherine’s “duty,” “honour,” and “gratitude”-in order to sustain their hegemony, and that it is only by force of “prejudice” that we are either bullied or duped into equating our moral imperatives with their interests”