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Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen takes place in 19th century England. The story revolves around Elizabeth Bennet and her love interest Mr. Darcy. While Pride and Prejudice is certainly a love story, Austen subtly underscores many different aspects of English society through the text. What does Jane Austen reveal about women in 19th century England through this novel? To some extent Austen affirms Virginia Woolf’s quote as most of the women in Pride and Prejudice are depicted as insignificant and dependent upon men, and certainly not depicted as equal to men. Austen paints a society of women who are entirely dependent on marriage and money to better their situations and achieve a suitable life style. However, Austen’s main character is Elizabeth Bennet, a woman who is an exception to the rule. She turns down a marriage proposal from Mr. Collins and has a rather contentious relationship with Mr. Darcy who she does finally marry. But she marries on her terms, not for money or land or because she fears not being wed. Yet the focus of nearly all the woman characters is marriage. In 19th century England, it was essential that all women marry because women who did not marry had no future on their own. At the beginning of the story, Mrs. Bennet stated, “If I can but see one of my daughters happily settled at Netherfield, and all the others equally well married, I shall have nothing left to wish for.” (11) This quote illustrates how essential marriage is at this time considering that Mrs. Bennet’s happiness (and the fear of being left homeless if her own husband dies) ultimately depends upon it. Another example is Mr. Collins’ proposal to Elizabeth. After she denies him, he proposes to Charlotte Lucas only a few days later, and she says yes. Elizabeth was shocked by this turn of events, considering Miss Lucas did not know Mr. Collins well, yet

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