To; The women it may concern
I read the book Pride and Prejudice for my English lit class. Truthfully I didn’t find the book interesting at all, but, it’s about this girl named Elizabeth who doesn’t really fit in her time period. She’s really independent and some would even say sassy and for women back then it was bizarre.
We were told to pick one issue from the book we were reading and connect it to today’s societal problems or just problems we still face today. There were multiple issues that I could have chosen but right off the bat, the first sentence in the book caught my eye. The quote is “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife (pg. 1)”. It is a pretty famous quote I had heard it before even reading the book but I never really thought about its meaning. This quote is essentially saying that everyone knows a man who is wealthy wants a wife. In my eyes its objectifying women as just another thing men are trying to accomplish and being wealthy will give them a right of way to women. Don’t get me wrong having a significant other that just happens to be wealthy is hitting the jackpot.. literally, but I think the ideas behind this quote and the intentions aren’t as women empowering as it should be. I let that quote slide because it was the start of the book and I wanted to give it a fair chance, but then this theme continued throughout.
Near the middle of the book two men propose to Elizabeth and she rejects them as she should if she doesn’t love the person. But being as whack as men can be one of them keeps pursuing her saying how he doesn’t believe she meant her refusal to the proposal (pg 98). Since when has “No” become another word for “Maybe”? I understand fighting for someone you love and wanting to show them how you feel but there is still a level of respect that needs to be shown when someone says no to your proposal. I’ve seen instances like this multiple times on the internet of a man doing a public proposal it’s all romantic until the woman says no and people online start bashing her for not wanting to marry someone. Maybe the person planning to propose should talk it out with their significant other before having a public proposal and it becomes embarrassing.
So that’s already two strikes for the book, and then it continues. Around the end of the book this upper class women named Lady Catherine says "Miss Bennet I am shocked and astonished. I expected to find a more reasonable young woman. But do not deceive yourself into a belief that I will ever recede. I shall not go away till you have given me the assurance I require (56.56)”. By “more reasonable young woman” Lady Catherine means she expected a woman who would follow her rules blindly and not stand up for herself. As a society (or at least back then) we don’t expect women to stand up for themselves and fight for what they believe. Luckily there has been a shift in the societal norm and women are beginning to fully fight for their rights again just as the generations before us fought for theirs. Proven by the women’s march. that happened recently things are slowly starting to change. We need to continue to support each other and fight for human rights.
The fact that Women don’t have as many benefits and opportunities as men is idiotic honestly. Women aged 25-44 earn 82% of what a man earns Women with a Bachelor’s degree earn 74% of what man get. Why should we get payed less when we have the same qualifications? I think its ignorant to think woman are any less than men. Everyone has their advantages and disadvantages but you can’t generalize a whole gender. Women create human life and we need to be respected. Females get looked down upon a lot in life and overlooked when it comes to science and inventions and even business. Women have and will continue to do great things and its time we got recognition. This issue really relates to me because some of my friends are boy crazy and they often come to be for advice or to just talk about their problems. I try to empower them and help them respect themselves and love themselves before letting anyone else into their heart or elsewhere. Women’s rights are really important to me for those reasons I want to help not only myself but my female friends and family and I would gladly help others along the way to a more equal society.
Luckily recent political and societal events have been shifting our view on women and hopefully change will come soon. With the women’s march all over the world and a recent movie called “Hidden Figures” based on a true story about the women who contributed an arm and a leg in getting a man into space open our eyes to things we as a society have been blind to.
Pride and Prejudice might be a dull uneventful novel but it is an open door to what society was back then and how humans continue to struggle with the same problems no matter what time period. If you take the time to analyze the book you will see why it truly is a classic novel with witty banter and a top notch sassy character.
