Some literary critics such as Röpke consider Austen to be a "conservative writer"; a traditional woman who upheld traditional values ​​in all her writing. They believe that Austen's ideas about women's behavior are identical to what was described in eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century books of conduct that outline exactly how women should behave and should be represented in society, but this is an idea that I don't support. I intend to discuss the ways in which Austen questions both her own society, and the society in which her characters exist in Pride and Prejudice, their behavior towards women, and how she believes women's behavior should differ from that described in the conduct books of his time. . We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In Pride and Prejudice, during Mr. Collin's first visit to the Bennet family home, he reads Sermons to Young Women by the Reverend James Fordyce, a conduct book describing what is expected of women's behavior, e.g. beginning of the book Sermon I informs women about the virtues they should uphold such as modesty, states that "women should adorn themselves with modest clothing, with shame and sobriety; not with embroidered hair, nor gold, nor pearls." First, it is hypocritical of Mr. Collin to preach about someone's behavior in the novel as his behavior is often highlighted as indecent throughout the novel, for example we learn of his pompous nature when he expects the Bennet family to be flattered when he decides to stay at Longbourn, without even being asked, because his goal was to marry whichever of the Bennet sisters he desired, and says to Mr. Bennet "I remain, dear sir, with respectful compliments to your lady and your daughter." Claudia L. Johnson supports this theory: "it would be unreasonable for Austen to promote these ideas of women through Mr. Collins since he is ridiculed by Elizabeth throughout the novel, therefore cannot exert moral influence on readers." By portraying Mr. Collin's character and opinions in a negative light, it is clear that Austen does not agree with his beliefs or anything he seeks to teach, Johnson further states that "Collin's endorsement of such" books of serious mold" in and of itself signals Austen's disaffection with the rules about women promulgated in them. Austen clearly separated herself from this genre of books and its conceptions throughout her life, for example women of her time did not receive the same upbringing as men, and was highly disapproved of and considered it scandalous for women to publish their writings, but many women like Austen did, embracing their intelligence regardless of what society told them to do. Create the character of Elizabeth who she presents herself in his eyes as supportive and almost as a role model, yet she is a woman who consistently demonstrates behavior opposite to what was expected of women in Fordyce's book. Johnson supports this idea, "judged by the standards set in books of conduct and conservative fiction, Elizabeth's behavior consistently borders not only on impertinence but on impropriety." Austen writes Pride and Prejudice as a kind of book of conduct, but in a different way. Instead of taking on the role of a book of conduct that educates the reader about social norms and how one should conduct one's life, including how to behave and how not to behave, he writes a piece ofnarrative that includes his opinions on these beliefs in society. and conduct books by creating characters we tend to favor like Elizabeth, whose behavior is in stark contrast to what is taught in conduct books. Therefore, through her novel Austen teaches that to succeed in life as a woman, you must behave like Elizabeth; wild and independent and go against what is expected in the world of conduct books. This particular conduct book was extremely popular in Austen's time as William St Clair states that "the archives show extraordinarily long reprint runs", so although many critics such as Julian North believed that Austen did not bother to address broader themes as a genre because she wrote on such a small, domestic scale, and her work in Pride and Prejudice specifically made her an eighteenth-century conservative icon in popular culture, represented by her representations of traditional class and gender. hierarchies, sexual propriety and Christian values", I disagree as I believe Austen's choice to criticize Fordyce's judgment of women in such a popular book was bold, but she does so confidently through the narrow world in which is set in Pride and Prejudice. Margaret Kirkham also believes that "as a feminist moralist, Jane Austen criticizes sexist pride and prejudice as rooted in the laws and customs of her era." educated through books of conduct on how to become the perfect wife and mother, how to hold delicate conversations, how to sew as a pastime, they were taught how to dress including what to wear and how to dress themselves, for example women must be modest and educated as men are given more opportunities for intellectual education, and Austen criticizes this through her work and the character of Elizabeth. Austen portrays Elizabeth Bennet as a heroine throughout the novel, especially when she reads Mr Darcy's letter and states "Till this time I never knew myself", we learn of her intelligence, a typical characteristic of many of Austen's heroines . The fact that Elizabeth is a woman who can read is important, Austen often alludes to reading throughout her work as women did not receive the same education as men in the eighteenth century, which led to the belief that men were the more intelligent sex and thus gained authority. Her reading of Darcy's letter differs from the reading required of women in books of conduct since they teach that if women are to read, they must read novels as a mere hobby and not to truly understand them or give them meaning. As Elizabeth reads the letter we recognize her intelligence as she begins to understand Darcy's explanation and revisits each event so far with a different perspective, arriving at a different kind of truth and understanding than she had previously held, e.g. the ugly truth about Wickham. During the making of Elizabeth we learn the truth about the unfolding of events in the novel; Kirkham claims to be "the central intelligence through whose eyes and whose understanding events and characters are mediated to readers." In this way we can also understand the fact that she is more than capable of making her own moral decisions, which at that time in her society was a characteristic typically associated only with men. Elizabeth is portrayed as a confident and ambitious woman who knows what her own desires are and will not live her life simply to satisfy those of other people, this is made clear when she learns of the planned union between Mr Darcy and Miss De Bourgh , and in inreply to Lady Catherine, she exclaims: "If there are no other objections to marrying your nephew, I will certainly not be prevented from doing so." Unlike women in the world of conduct books who are forced and taught how to behave, Elizabeth knows what she wants in life and will not sacrifice it so others can benefit. She is strong willed and will not live to please society before pleasing herself, therefore ensuring herself and her life take priority. Through this, Austen references the feminist progression while emphasizing the importance of independence and choice for women, like many other women of her time who marry whoever they are told, Elizabeth refuses to do so. Helena Kelly points out: “Elizabeth is, fundamentally, a radical. She knows it inside out; reserves the right to decide matters alone.' Essentially, Austen portrays Elizabeth as a superior woman in the novel and supports her actions and beliefs and we learn how much Austen favors her character through her letters to Casandra Austen about Elizabeth in which she details, “I must confess that I think her delightful.” a creature such as has never appeared in print, and how I shall tolerate those who do not at least like it, I know not.' She is very proud of Elizabeth's character and everything associated with it when she refers to her as "mine" "to admire my Elizabeth so much is especially pleasing to me." In Pride and Prejudice there is a clear lack of authority and weakness of the figures. who, according to the society of the time, should have assumed authority. For example, there is no maternal or paternal authority on the part of Elizabeth's parents; Mrs. Bennet is an overbearing mother who often embarrasses her children, she is a character who should exercise power, but doesn't. She worries about getting her children married, which even then Elizabeth defies because she wanted her to marry Mr. Collins, whom she despised, which only highlighted what Mr. Collin described as Elizabeth's "character flaws", creating the possibility that he could "change". his mind and not have it." According to society, Mr. Bennet is supposed to be a figure of strong authority as a father and head of the family, but his authority is overthrown by his family, especially Elizabeth, whom he considers his favorite. Elizabeth has her father's control and continually questions his authority, for example her father "listened carefully" to her when she allowed Lydia to join Mrs Forster on a trip to Brighton, as Elizabeth was "secretly advising her father not to let her go". . He is further described as a weak authority figure as Elizabeth teaches him how to properly raise his children: "If you, my dear father, will not take the trouble to control her exuberant spirit and teach her that his present activities are right." not to be the deal of his life, it will soon no longer be able to be amended." Austen also highlights how the Bennets' lack of authority over their children can be dangerous in the novel, for example when Lydia runs away with Wickham, if her parents had had authority and been more receptive to their children's actions they could have stopped him right from the start. beginning, and even afterward Mrs. Bennet refuses to acknowledge the part she has played in it all, "blaming everyone except the person to whose bad indulgence in judging her daughter's errors must chiefly be due." Elizabeth is not the dutiful daughter who obeys her parents as would be expected of children at the time, and was taught through books of conduct. I believe Austen subverts the authority of Elizabeth's parents over Elizabeth herself whoshe is supposed to be subordinate to them through mother-daughter, father-daughter relationships, implying that she is going against society's established beliefs and impressions to highlight how strong Elizabeth is as a young woman. Lady Catherine De Bourgh is a character in the novel who asserts her authority, but is also subverted when it comes to Elizabeth. Elizabeth lacks respect for authority figures who have been much criticized in books of conduct, for example Lady Catherine insists that she should not marry Mr Darcy and Elizabeth is both bold and rude in her response, to which Lady Catherine tells her: " Miss Bennet, will you?” do you know who I am? I'm not used to language like this." The fact that Elizabeth, a young woman, is able to gain power over a figure who already asserts his dominance helps to highlight how capable and independent she is, which is not something one would expect from women of her time. Throughout this novel Austen continually highlights the strength of characters who should be less superior, through the subversion of power by those who are expected, according to society, to have authority. Austen contrasts Elizabeth's personality with that of her sisters in Pride and Prejudice to highlight Elizabeth as an even more superior and dominant figure. Jane and Elizabeth are portrayed as the most alike of all the sisters. Jane is the most "perfect", she is described as beautiful, thoughtful and caring; everything the ideal woman should be. She was the image of what women were taught in books of conduct. But in Austen's eyes she is imperfect, as she cannot see the world or the people in it for what they really are, or what they really want. Jane always sees the best in people, which we learn is her downfall from Austen's extensive criticism of her through Elizabeth's character, for example Jane defends Caroline Bingley when it is already obvious to Elizabeth that she is not being honest with her, so why Elizabeth has the common sense and intelligence to understand this, it is more superior than the "perfect" Jane, who may be the picture of femininity, but is easily taken by surprise. Austen presents Lydia as the more outspoken sister and the one who lacks a lot of common sense in the Bennet family, I think she does this tactfully, to provide her character as bait for Elizabeth's. Elizabeth's unorthodox behavior would have been extremely evident in Austen's time and she would have been criticized for presenting such a character in such a positive light, so since Lydia is clearly more outspoken and improper than Elizabeth, her behavior acts as a cover for Elizabeth's impropriety. Claudia Johnson supports this idea: "Lydia is a bait that attracts the disapproval to which Elizabeth herself might otherwise be subject, and by complaining about Lydia's obvious excesses, Elizabeth is freed from her less egregious but still 'improper' ramblings, presumptions, and impertinence. 'without arousing our discomfort at having incurred our censure'. She further explains that, "by linking Elizabeth and Lydia, Austen elides rather than reiterates conventional moral codes, and carefully cross-references other characters, qualities and relationships throughout. book function the same way: not to serve some neoclassicism". taste for balance but rather to prevent generalization. In Austen's time, the moral understanding and goal of marriage was financial gain, rather than compatibility and true love . Elizabeth did not adhere to these standards and would not settle for a man because of his money. She was determined to marry someone she truly loved. She is very aware that she must marry with common sense, unlike her sisters, ad/57445