Pride and Prejudice

A detailed Summary of Pride and Prejudice

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in a want of a wife." This is the first sentence in a book called, "Pride and Prejudice" by a very talented English female author Jane Austen. Then the author writes, "this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters." This is very disturbing to me. In today's society this view still exists. And now it is portrayed even more with television shows like, "Who Wants To Marry a Millionaire." In this television shows women are competing with each other, in order to appeal better to a man who is a millionaire. In my opinion, this show illustrates that the sole purpose of these women getting married is because a man is very well of financially. On the contrary, this can also be said about man who feels that he has all rights to a woman because of his higher social standing. It is unfair that a person of a certain social class should be targeted and then treated as a rightful property, weather they are rich or poor. This practice damages both parties, it leaves a negative stereotype, and it makes a person an unemotional object.

This scenario works both ways. The lower social class targets the rich and marries them for their higher status. Nevertheless, the higher social class targets the lower social class. "Your portion is unhappily so small that it will in all likelihood undo the effects of your loveliness and amiable qualifications," said Mr. Collins to Elizabeth in regards of his proposal to marry her. Unfortunately many women at that time had to settle for this ludicrous proposal. They had to marry the men because of their financial standing. In today's society this does not happen that often. Women find a husband who measures to women's standards. Being handsome, smart, funny, and well fit are just a few examples. Back then women would have to marry an ugly and dull idiot just to survive. This is not fair. The man understands the women's need for financial security. He knows that with his looks he cannot get a woman from his own social standing, so he looks to a lower financially standing woman. So even if he is way beyond the women's standard for a husband, he still manipulates the women into getting married. And women ultimately agree.

Additionally, I think that this sort of practice leaves negative stereotype and creates prejudice. We have and always had women get married to a higher social class. They did this for a love of money, greed, and advancement to a higher class. Does this mean that all women are like that? Does this mean that all women target higher-class man? If you watch "Who Wants To Marry a Millionaire," you might agree. But this is absolutely not true. There is a difference between the women back then and the women these days. Some women back then had to marry rich men in order to survive. But if people lack the knowledge and endure ignorance, then the stereotypes begin. These stereotypes collapse our society. Just take a look at Mr. Darcy. In my opinion he had to build a psychological wall around himself to prevent this stereotypical women from getting close to him. He was afraid. People in higher social status start feeling vulnerable. In order to protect themselves they feel a need to build a so-called psychological wall. This wall hel

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Approximate Word count = 1454
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English