Elizabeth Bennet's Intelligence : A Reading of Class and Gender Conventions And Transgressions in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

Sammanfattning: In Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, gender roles and gender expectations relate to class differences in a system of social convention which operates to delimit all of the characters - men and women, rich people and less privileged people - to a greater or lesser extent, in a way which reflects actual class and gender structures in England around 1800. The most important strain of social commentary on gender and class in the novel is constituted by the characterisation of Elizabeth Bennet. She is associated with intelligence in a way which is vital to her successful breach of gender and class conventions. This essay starts out from Susan Morgan’s ”Intelligence in Pride and Prejudice” and will extend her arguments in my reading of the novel to prove that Elizabeth’s intelligence allows her to transgress social conventions related to gender and class more successfully than other characters and arrive at a happy ending despite having defied social convention. A number of other characters also represent a breach of class and gender conventions. Lydia Bennet elopes with Mr. Wickham, which at the time was considered scandalous. Mr. Darcy tries to ignore his affection for Elizabeth but fails to do so. In comparison to the unconventionality of Elizabeth, who manages to overcome every obstacle by relying on her intelligence in a way which also benefits Darcy and secures a happy ending for him as well, their transgressions are not as successful.