Middlemarchvpride And Prejudice Women In The

Novels Essay, Research Paper

middlemarchvpride and prejudice: women in the novels

Middlemarch clearly defines the expectations and functions of middle and upper class women in nineteenth century England. It becomes immediately obvious that the woman is inferior in every way to the man and that the function of the wife is that described in the words of the marriage ceremony; “to love, honour and obey”, with emphasis on obedience. “A woman dictates before marriage in order that she might have an appetite for submission afterwards”. The woman’s role was to serve her husband, to entertain him, to adorn his house much like a bunch of flowers or a painting. Lydgate sought in his wife “that distinctive womanhood which must be classed with flowers and music”. Sir James insisted that his wife become a perfect horsewoman, not for the skill or pleasure that it might give her but so “that she may accompany her husband”. Should the husband fall ill, it was her duty to nurse him. As Mr Trumbull remarks, “a man whose life is of any value should think of his wife as a nurse”. Mr Causabon married so as to secure “the solace of female tendance for his declining years”. As with his work, causabon is disillusioned about his marriage. He had married Dorothea hoping for a quiet docile companion who could also function as his secretary. Instead, he finds a person who makes intellectual demands on him that he is unable to fulfil. His marriage can be added to his long list of failures of which he is aware but which he is unable to acknowledge fully. Similarly, in Pride and Prejudice we are immediately introduced to the idea that women are thought of as a possession or an aid to man, as opposed to a fellow human being. “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife”, suggests that women or a wife completes a ‘man’. Thus, they are given an understated importance in contrast to the unappreciative attitude shown towards women in Middlemarch.

The theme of illusion in Middlemarch is most clearly expressed in the marriages of Causabon and Dorothea, and Rosamond and Lydgate. All four marry not for love but for selfish reasons, each believing the partner to be other than he or she is. All four come to regret their decisions and end up suffering under the force of marriage. Yet in contrast Fred’s love for Mary is genuine and Mary’s honesty and generosity is contrasted sharply with Rosamond’s hypocrisy and selfishness. In Pride and Prejudice Wickham’s blind sighted marriage to Lydia is an example of the theme of illusion. Their marriage is farcical in the sense that Lydia marries to gain a handsome husband, as well as to slight her elder sisters, by marrying first. Wickham too had married selfishly, for the insubstantial wealth that the marriage brought to him, as well as to raise his own social status. Wickham’s marriage to Lydia is in direct contrast to the marriage of Jane and Mr Bingley, which like Fred and Mary’s is based on genuine affection. Jane’s kind hearted and unselfish nature is contrasted to Lydia’s unthoughtful and loutish behaviour.

Pride and Prejudice presents an objective view of the limited options opens to women, for example Charlotte Lucas. The author makes an implicit statement by disregarding certain structures of her era that may not be obvious to modern readers. For example, most of Austen’s heroines, Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice, does not have anyone in which she can confide, or whose advice she can rely on about delicate matters. Thus she must make her own decision, independently, for example Elizabeth does not reveal to Jane, her sister, her changed emotions towards Darcy until he has actually proposed again, and she has accepted. Such ‘moral autonomy’ on the part of the young woman would by no means have been universally approved of in Jane Austen’s day. This reflects the prominent mode of isolation suffered by women in the novel.

In Jane Austen’s time there was no real way for young women of the ‘genteel’ classes to strike out on their own and be independent. Therefore, most ‘genteel’ women were unable to finance themselves, thus wealth could only be captured by marriage or by inheritance. Unmarried women also had to live with their families, or with family approved protectors, in Pride and Prejudice, this dilemma is expressed most clearly by the character of Charlotte Lucas. In addition to the reasons why the women themselves wished to be married, family pressure may have arisen for them to marry. For example, when Charlotte marries Mr Collins at the age of twenty- seven, her brothers are “relieved from their apprehension of Charlotte dying an old maid.”

In Middlemarch Dorothea and Celia lived with Mr Brooke as their parents had died. A woman who did not marry could only look forward to living with her relations as a ‘dependant’, thus marriage was the only way of getting out from the parental roof. Dorothea believes that she has gained her liberty through marriage with Causabon, however the marriage is a device by which she is further oppressed.

George Eliot parallels Dorothea’s situation with the landscape and the house she shares with Causabon. “The narrowed landscape, the shrunken furniture, the never read books” tell us that Dorothea becomes aware of the true nature of her situation and begins to realise that instead of gaining her freedom in marriage, s