Social Class in "Pride and Prejudice"

It wasn't simply the fact that Collins just started a conversation with Darcy, it also that he had done-so Without even having been introduced to Darcy beforehand, first.

This sheds a whole new light on the Bingley sisters. They had more money, but they were of the third class tier while the Bennet girls were of the second.

Where the book becomes a romance is when Darcy proposes to Elizabeth DESPITE the fact that she is poor, his relations would consider it a bad match and Elizabeth’s family on a personal level are objectionable to him. He admits that he loves her and can’t live without her even though logically he knows it’s a foolish match from a practical standpoint. It’s hardly romantic to Elizabeth to hear this, which, aside from her not liking his personality to begin with, is why she refuses him at first, but we can see the extent of Darcy’s feelings when such a normally traditional man who’s a stickler for convention could propose to a woman he would otherwise consider unsuitable.

And in Sense and Sensibility, we see what happens to the daughters when the father dies. they are cast out into the world but with no way of generating any income.

Very interesting to watch. I do need to point out though that the Bingley's were 3rd class aspiring to be 2nd class. They were children of trade merchants but were rich enough to rent Netherfield to pass as landed gentry. The fact that Mr. Bingley was renting it means he didn't own the land so didn't qualify as 2nd class yet. At the end of the novel it's mentioned he has moved closer to Pemberley so has moved up a class by buying property and land but is still 'new money'. Even though Jane was marrying up in terms of money she was marrying down in social standing.

How I always thought of the money thing: Jane Eyre, in 1847, was paid 15 pounds A YEAR, to teach at Lowood, and 30 pounds A YEAR to be a governess. This would be a very low-end salary for an educated person, since even today teachers aren't paid that much and she's female, though she did receive all of her meals and rent included. Pride and Prejudice was in 1813, so there was probably some inflation happening between the books. Even doubled to 50-60 pounds per year for being a guy, Bingley is bringing in 83-100 times an educated person's yearly salary, and Darcy 166-200 times that salary *solely in profit*. Since business and estate expenses wouldn't be included in that amount. Mr. Bennet should have had enough to set aside some dowries for the daughters, but it seems like a combination of needing to do so for 5 daughters, his wife's frivolous silliness, and Mr. Bennet's total lack of caring outside of what it takes to get people to leave him alone with the stuff he likes, all point to their household living quite paycheck to paycheck and getting an ugly wake up call late in life. He's like a modern man approaching retirement with no savings, just as his 5 kids are reaching college age and needing tuition, and realizing, "oh crap" he probably shouldn't have spent all those years holed up in his man cave, ignoring stuff.

In my opinion, the entailment rule was absolutely outrageous, and I'm pretty sure Austen thought so too. We may be laughing now at Mrs Bennett, but she was right; in the event of Mr Bennett's sudden death, she and her daughters would be destitute.

Important caveat: mr Bingley is not landed. He has to rent Netherfield bc his family doesn’t have an estate. They’re nouveau riche, their money comes from their fathers merchant trade. Which is why Miss Bingley is so desperate to marry Mr Darcy. Not only is he more wealthy, but he also would give her family the respectibility of land and titled connections. It’s also why it’s so ironic when she objects to Jane Bennet’s Aunt and uncle in trade. Miss Bingleys own money comes from trade, making her a hypocrite

You haven’t quite got the Collins thing correct here. The faux pas is that it was customary for introductions to be made through third parties. The proper thing would have been for Mr Collins to be introduced to Mr Darcy by one of the Bennets, and only if Mr Darcy had assented to meet him. For him to introduce himself without a third party was contrary to all social convention.

Of course it's a romance! Not on our 21st-century terms with overt physical displays of affection, but on early 19th-century terms, with plenty of discussions about "attachments." Our heroine Elizabeth Bennet dares to proclaim that love and wealth are important in a marriage, not just wealth.

Me: I wonder what class I would have been in Also me: remembers I’m Irish hmm

Shame Austen’s work is often reduced to love stories. That’s part of it, but in my mind her books are comparable to Balzac’s in that they serve as observations of English society. And not only that, they also serve as clever character studies. Austen captures so well all of the awkwardness, the impertinence, and the contractions that make us human beings.

Lady Catherine de Bourgh is in the top class by birth, as the daughter of an earl, but not by marriage -- her husband, Sir Lewis de Bourgh, was a baronet.

It is romantic though bc Mr. Darcy was willing to love her for her mind vs what she could bring to the marriage and even willing to risk being laughed at by society for marrying “down” when he could’ve married almost any woman in England. And Lizzie is worthy of that love bc she’s willing to give up marrying a man who would secure not only her but her whole family in order to marry for love. In the end, they both realize how much they hit the jackpot in each other.

Bingley's were not landed gentry. Their father was a wealthy merchant which is why we see him at Netherfield looking for a place to settle. Bingley specifically mentions that "a man must find a house if he cannot have his father's".

Love doesn’t have to be explained nor explicitly shown by kisses or sex scene.

Colonel Fitzwilliam was of the first class as the second son of an Earl. Bingley was of the 3rd class because his money comes from trade.

Cross reference Sense and Sensibility where the step mother and half sisters ARE left without money and are cast out by their half brother. P&P resolves their fate prior to their father dying while S&S resolves it after.

Yes, Austen wrote about how money drives our behavior. She was a keen observer of society. The use of the romance plot seems to have the effect of distracting us from how harshly she is criticizing our shallow, selfish impulses.

This was a pretty good introduction to the British class system (as it was two centuries ago) for an American audience and it was a good clear exposition of the drivers in the plot. Good job. Thank you also for not making a hash of it and equating class with money (see G.B. Shaw, the barrister and the mechanic).