Love was a commodity that was only allowed to the lower classes of society. The lower classes had no need to unite families and businesses, or gain a large sum of money from a dowry. People married according to class and did not dare to stray above, or below a certain degree, to do so was shameful. All of these arguments all have a basis in a couple’s motives when entering their union. In the following paragraphs all of these arguments will be explored as pertaining to certain couples in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
“Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of husbands. Remember all men would be tyrants if could.” –Abigail Adams In this quote Abigail Adams was stepping up for women to put a stop to their inequality for fairness and equality. She was an advocate for many women who are out there married with no education nor rights. She wanted them to be capable of standing on their own feet without hesitation or discourage towards their husbands. Abigail Adams believed women should be educated and be recognized for their intellectual capabilities, so they could guide and influence the lives of their children and husband instead of being companions.
Marriages were usually based on economic partnership and cultural believes. Husbands ruled over their wives and made all of the family decisions. It was almost impossible for women to be involved in public matters. In fact, women had no right at all to participate in activities that weren’t permitted by the husbands and if they were to do so the men were allowed by the law to punish their wives for disobedience. It felt almost like they were imprisoned in the domestic environment by their Masters who were men.
She understood that her father only wanted the best for her, but she was discomforted by the idea that her dad was promoting her around and trying to recruit a husband for her. As if she couldn’t find a husband herself. These types of things showed Sayeed that women in her culture did not have much say in who they married or when they were ready to be married, because the father usually sets everything up for them. This was a big inequality between men and women because the women were not even allowed to choose who and when they wanted to marry. Also, women in her culture had to cover themselves up, in order to show modesty and self-protection, which she thought to be an unequal hierarchy.
The women‘s role was to marry, and then take part in the husbands interests. Women were not allowed to be educated or gain knowledge outside of the home because it was a “man’s world” during that time. If you were of the lower classes, women were supposed to learn how to only cook, clean, and care for the children. In the upper classes, that was the job of the servants. The upper class women were supposed to just look pretty and stand there.
As a result of this, social mobility was limited at this time and people socialised in small circles, with only those of a similar class. Any socialisation out of this was seen as absurd. It was women especially that felt the limitations of the late 18th century/early 19th century, as there were strict expectations of them. Women were seen as possessions of men, and expected to be educated and well behaved, mostly in hope to ensure themselves a husband of wealth in order to further themselves as women did not inherit any land or money from their fathers, this went to the closest male relative. Any kind of acting out of against the expected image of a woman would be seen as shameful and would lead to isolation even further in terms of socialisation and the hope of a husband.
She was determined to only marry someone if she was completely in love no matter what their social class may be. Elizabeth believes that she and Mr. Darcy are in the same social class because she is a gentleman’s daughter and Mr. Darcy is a gentleman’s son and now a gentleman himself. The amount of money each has is of no relevance to her. Mr. Darcy, however, took social class very serious and strongly believed in only marrying within the same social class. When Darcy first met Elizabeth he was unimpressed and said that she was unattractive simply because he knew that she was not as wealthy as him.
The first obstacle was about the tradition in Western family. In those families of past Western, females had been considered as the property of the males in their family for example fathers and husbands. Men, who were living in that century, believed that women were created to serve men; therefore, women were kept always from school. As a result, women were rarely to have a chance to learn anything about art, so they were hard to become artists. According to the book “Women, Art, and Society”, men can achieve nobility because they are good in art, but women can only be allowed to practice act when she was of noble birth.
To ensure that people continued to believe this concept the church used this verse from the bible as proof “woman in her greatest perfection was made to serve and obey man.” This belief put women in a state of being mentally isolated from men. Being second-rate citizens meant that few of them received any formal education; because they lacked schooling they became intellectually isolated from anyone whom had received any type of formal education. During this time period women were beaten into submission when they failed to instantly comply with the orders any male relative gave them. Shakespeare wrote about many of these Elizabethan beliefs in his play Othello. The play centralized around the lust for one very beautiful, young girl Desdemona.
Changes in Marriage Marriage is traditionally dominated by the men while the society expects the women to submit in all forms. In the late 1800s, women were not expected to show their displeasure in any way in their marriages. People, indeed, considered marriage as the “happy-ever-after.” Being an independent widow, Kate Chopin decided to voice on behalf of the women of those times by writing stories concerning how women felt confined and suppressed both spiritually and sexually in their marriage. The general society during that period did not give room for women to be open-minded. Major socio-demographic change, however, have taken place over the last two centuries and has significantly brought changes to the institution of marriage.