Puppets In Pride And Prejudice Essay

Women Are Not Puppets Why are there so many expectations about the behavior of women? She should have the right to decide how to live her life without being controlled by society like a puppet master controls his puppets. In the novel Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen questions this unfair treatment of women. The novel portrays the Bennet family with five daughters whose mother is desperate for her daughters to marry into rich families. At this time, the Bingleys and Mr. Darcy move close to them. The majority of the novel revolves around Elizabeth, the main character, fighting through society’s expectations of women to find her love. The novel demonstrates how she rejects the standards set by society. These standards include women not being able to make an income, the role …show more content…
Women want to stand up for themselves and their rights, but often, the fear of being shunned by society forces them to conform to the standards. When Lizzie 's mother tell her not to go see Jane, she responds, “I shall be very fit to see Jane-- which is all I want.” (Austen 32) Even though, her mother told her not to go, Elizabeth disregarded the fact that no one expected her to walk the distance and walked all the way to Netherlands. She did not particularly do this to defy her mother’s order but because she cared deeply for her sister and wanted to be with her. Charlotte Lucas was happy to receive and agree to Mr. Collins’ proposal because she thought of it as a way to escape her home and poor lifestyle. Charlotte surprised everyone, especially Lizzy, “The possibility of Mr. Collin’s fancying himself in love with her friend had once occurred to Elizabeth within the last day or two; but that Charlotte could encourage him herself, and her astonishment was consequently so great as to overcome at first the bounds of