PROJECT 2
Final Graded Draft
March 19, 2018
Cooper 1
Instructor Brandi Bradley
ENC2135
19 March 2018
The Ramifications of Lydia's Elopement in Pride and Prejudice.
Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, is a love story despite preconceived beliefs about each other regarding societal standing. Elizabeth is the second oldest daughter in the Bennet family of five girls. She is the protagonist of the novel and she captivated many with her admirable characteristics. By using Elizabeth's perspective in the narrative, readers come to realize the strange nature of society in England during the Regency era. Lydia was the youngest daughter of the family and the most boisterous. She was obsessed with older men and her parents did little to stop her frivolous acts. Due to this, she elopes with Wickham, a man in the militia who has a bad history with one of her sisters. Wickham could be regarded as the antagonist in the novel; he is a manipulative and mischievous man who only wants money. In learning this many readers may have questions regarding women's marital rights. Specifically, what are the ramifications of Lydia's elopement on herself and the Bennet family?
Lydia doesn't understand the severity of what she did to herself or why she did it. When Lydia comes home after the elopement she is full of cheer, as if nothing happened. To understand the disregard she has after the wedding viewers must understand her behavior before and how they connect. According to Denis Allen, in his article No Love for Lydia: The Fate of Desire in Pride and Prejudice, "Lydia continually seeks immediate, complete gratification" (437). She has no regard for others. In the book, she throws her handkerchief in the wind around soldiers hoping that one would pick it up. Lydia is desperate for romance in any way, shape, or form. Allen claims that it is due to her desire, and due to her desire poses a danger to society. She will end up in "eternal want" and be completely unsatisfied, all because she couldn't wait (437). She breaks social rules for her own benefit.
Allen's article is based on the idea of desire. He believes it must first be repressed, and then the repression removed, for it to be completely understood. The use of other couples’ relationships in the novel, such as Darcy and Elizabeth or Jane and Bingley, displays this. By repressing their love and remaining to the rules of courtship they are able to build respect and a gradual affection for each other. The opposite happens to Lydia, her new husband only provides her being "sunk into mutual indifference, her income insufficient" (Allen 437). With Lydia and Wickham running off, it is more love at first sight and thinking about the consequences later.
Furthermore, Ruth Yeazell of the Journal of Social Research points out that it might not be all Lydia's fault. She is the way she is because of her parents. Though the youngest daughter, Yeazell mentions that she was the favorite of Mrs. Bennet. It is because of her affection that she "had brought her into public at an early age" (132). In this, she never fully learns manners. She is loud and rude. An example of this would be Yeazell mentioning "When Lydia makes a nasty remark about an heiress whom Wickham once courted" (Yeazell 132). She describes Elizabeth as shocked to think that her own blood could say something so coarse (132). Yeazell also connects that Lydia wouldn't have married Wickham had her father not allowed her to go follow the militia. Her dad’s leniency gave her freedom to pursue him. Mr. Bennet observes in a cynical manner that "Lydia will never be easy till she has exposed herself in some public place." (Yeazell 132) To think that none of this would’ve happened if he had taken his role more seriously.
Lastly, regarding Lydia's lack of understanding… she is classified as a "sex-seeker". In the article “Jane Austen and the Feminist Tradition,” Lloyd Brown analyzes that "popular male notions of ‘femininity' have created the ‘sex-seeker'" (329). In his article Jane Austen and the Feminist Tradition, he claims that sex-seekers are women who base their entire value and status in society off of their "sexual role" (Brown 329). Women lacking in education, like women in the Bennet family were drawn to military men because they matched in understanding. Both tried "corporeal" views- based on material things. This explains why Lydia was drawn to Wickham. In the absence of education, women tried to make up status based on other things. Mary Bennet, the middle child and most quiet, uses quips and what she thinks are facts to build up her character. Other women like Lydia, Kitty, or Mrs. Bingley use their looks. Brown claims that, "their self-centered aggressions are all based on a superficial, or largely physical, an estimate of their own worth" (Brown 330). To think, maybe if she were smarter she wouldn't have eloped.
Another finding in the research regarding elopement was what marriage meant during the time period. In Pride and Prejudice, viewers come to assume that due to societal limitations, women needed men to have money, property, and status. If they had a husband, they could receive their inherency, if not it went to another male heir. This is called entailment. Most women in poor standings wanted a leg up in the world and tried to marry someone that already had money. This is why Mrs. Bennet made it her business in life to "get her daughters married" (Brown 330). The article by Sandra Macpherson titled Rent to Own; or, What's Entailed in Pride and Prejudice is a testament that women didn't receive any specific rulings in society and why it was better to be married. Mrs. Bennet knew that when Mr. Bennet died, it was a freehold. This means that "unfortunately for his daughters, was entailed in default of heirs male, on a distant relation" (Macpherson 10). This heir was Mr. Collins and the women would be under his decisions for the property. Macpherson also points out that at this time not only was it hard on women under entailment but men also because they were obligated to the women.
A great example of how important it was for some women to get married for status was Charlotte Lucas. She marries Mr. Collins out of the belief that opportunity will never arise again for someone like her. Once again, the consequences of desire are brought in but in an opposite way. In Ms. Lucas's situation, he claims that she has a "banal marriage" and it is the fate of those who ignore it" it being desire (Allen 439). He believes she missed a vital part of the human experience by rejecting desire. Her fear of marriage pours over into others when Charlotte tells Elizabeth that if Jane doesn't respond to Bingley's signs she might lose him forever. However, Elizabeth points out that they've only known each other for a night.
On the other hand Karen Weyler in the article "Marriage, Coverture, and the Companionate Ideal in The Coquette and Dorval" provides a back story on society’s view of marriage for women. For women of the time, she states that marriage was "the defining feature of most women's legal identities" (3). Coverture was obscuring the "political, legal, and economic identities of married women" (3). This means that married women would forfeit the right to "own and manage real and personal property" (Weyler 3). However, she did mention that men then had the obligation to take care of the woman's things and provide economic support to her. She also mentions if two people are married out of necessity, like Ms. Lucas, or for an arranged marriage, the man controls everything. Legally he had the right to " spend her money, sell her stocks or slaves, and appropriate her clothing and jewelry. He gained managerial rights to her lands, houses, and tenements and decided if the land was to be farmed by the family or lease" (Weyler 3). Men were superior in the sense of property rights.
The last finding was that Lydia's elopement affected Darcy and Elizabeth the most. Darcy was a wealthy man and romantic interest of Elizabeth. They started on rocky terms but Darcy eventually realized Elizabeth and Jane were nothing like their frivolous family. They were also troubled from the start due to her inferiority to his wealthy status. Yeazell points out that "He is the nephew of an aristocrat with an income of £10,000 a year, Elizabeth's father is merely an impoverished gentleman whose small estate is entailed out of the family" (13). Many people frowned upon the rich marrying the poor because that wasn't how it typically happened. Eve Bannet points out that the government had also passed a law assisting heirs from being seduced by people like Wickham. The Clandestine Marriage Bill of 1753 was designed to "prevent rich heirs and heiresses of good family from being seduced into clandestine or runaway marriages with their social or economic inferiors" (Bannet 233). An example of this confrontation is one Lady Catherine has with Elizabeth. She doesn't believe they should be together and expresses this during the walk outside. This is " an ideal occasion for the revelation of hidden desire" (Allen 433). In some instances women could amount to something.
Lydia's elopement most notable hurts Elizabeth because in cotillion the eldest women is to be married first. With Lydia already being married and Jane engaged to Bingley it would ruin Elizabeth's marriage prospects. She found out Lydia had eloped in a letter from Jane while traveling. In the time from last disregarding Darcy, Elizabeth has discovered she actually loves him and is now scared that he will not marry her due to her sister's elopement. Society would wonder why she was married after her younger sister. Questioning what was wrong with her to be married later. However, Darcy still wants to marry her and pays for Lydia's elopement as hush money. He does this mainly to protect his sister, Georgiana. She had also been interested in Wickham, but he was only after her money. Yeazell mentions that "his own sister, Georgiana, a similarly buxom girl of 16, had narrowly escaped from an elopement with the very same Wickham the previous year" (133). The shame of the Bennet family was also the shame of his. He protects both and puts his feelings on the line for Elizabeth. This is the one good thing from Lydia’s elopement, and that is- bringing Elizabeth and Darcy together.
Despite all of this, research has also been found that women could stay unmarried and have specific rights. Women could stay single as feme sole. Defined by Holly McCammon these were "separate-property laws" (225) for women. It was the idea that they could do things on their own. Women couldn't attain this if married unless later widowed or divorced. Lady Catherine is an example of this due to her husband dying. Luckily, she was given all the estates. Also, during this time, women could be given dowries by rich fathers for protection against husbands. This was rare, but possible. According to Anderson, dowries were "relative to bride-prices, the amount of dowry varies substantially and tends to be negotiated on an individual" (159). The point was to help maintain status in marriage.
Another source by Deborah Gorham analyzes that elopement in some situations was not frowned upon. In cases of cohabiting couples, there were three areas she mentioned that were sometimes used. The first is that there was a legal barrier. This would include "One or both of the partners might be married and unable to obtain a divorce" (Gorham 498). Another instance would be those who didn't care to get married. They were typically poor. She claims they had "sensible reasons" (498). The last group was those opposed to marriage. They believed in "free-love." She quotes Ginger Frost in that "Many couples did receive support from family and community, but many did not" (498). It depended on class. It was more likely to be accepted in low-income families.
Overall, elopement did not end a woman's status in society. Many women had property and financial rights despite not being married. However, it was still hard being a woman, especially a poor woman. With no prospects and no job, it was a rough life. Elopement could mess up the reputation and marriage prospects for older sisters if a younger one was already out in society and married. It begs the question… “why wasn't she married first?” This connects back to the research question of “Did Lydia's elopement have ramifications?” Yes, it did.
Over time, the rights have been restored and women are now seen as individual units. During the era, women were typically rejected in society when having reached maturity starting with the eldest. Due to this, things like elopement could be very consequential to other family members if not taken seriously. In some ways, women could have an advantage, but overall men ruled society. This work is useful outside of the novel because it portrays the facades people put up during the time. It goes to show how far society has come and how skewed the past was in customs and traditions. However, now elopement isn't relative to a family’s status anymore. It won't affect the older sister if one younger is to be married before her. Women now have property rights, marriage isn't mandatory for success, and the whole family dynamic has changed.
Project Two Reflection
March 25, 2018
Project Two Reflection:
One thing I learned about the writing process in project two that will carry over was the importance of details. For a reader to understand a concept, or come to a conclusion (based on research I provided) I need to give extra details. Context is very important. When writing my narrative for project three I will make sure to cover all bases of who, what, when, where, why, and how. In doing this I will also work on my word choice and sentence structures. I will read my narrative out loud before turning it in, along with getting a second opinion. Regarding peer feedback for the next project I will make sure to double check mandatory writing objectives and make sure I am doing them correctly. Most comments on project two were in context to simple errors that could be easily fixed. My plan for revision of project two depends on my grade. Before turning in my graded draft I worked on fixing my word choice and sentence structures so that it builds off of my evidence. However, I did struggle in finding sufficient evidence on my topic of elopement so in revising I may try to find new sources. Most importantly I just want to make sure that by the end of my paper the reader has cause to think about the research question and pose an opinion.
Works Cited
March 20, 2018
Allen, Dennis W. "No Love for Lydia: The Fate of Desire in Pride and Prejudice." Texas Studies in Literature and Language, vol. 27, no. 4, 1985, pp. 425-443. Print.
Anderson, Siwan. “The Economics of Dowry and Brideprice”, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 21, no. 4, 2007, pp. 151-174. Print.
Bannet, Eve. “The Marriage Act of 1753: ‘A Most Cruel Law for the Fair Sex’” Eighteenth-Century Studies, Vol. 30, No. 3, 1997, pp. 233-254. Print.
Brown, Lloyd W. "Jane Austen and the Feminist Tradition." Nineteenth-Century Fiction, vol. 28, no. 3, 1973, pp. 321-338. Print.
Burgan, Mary A. "Mr. Bennet and the Failures of Fatherhood in Jane Austen's Novels." The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, vol. 74, no. 4, 1975, pp. 536-552. Print.
Dolan, Frances. “Battered Women, Petty Traitors, and the Legacy of Coverture” Feminist Studies, Vol. 29, No. 2, 2003, pp. 249-277. Print.
Finn, Margot. “Women, Consumption and Coverture in England” The Historical Journal, Vol. 39, No. 3, 1996, pp. 703-722. Print.
Frost, Ginger. “Living in Sin: Cohabiting as Husband and Wife in Nineteenth-Century England” Victorian Studies, Vol. 52, No. 3, 2010, pp. 497-498. Print.
Hirsch, Gordon. "Shame, Pride and Prejudice: Jane Austen's Psychological Sophistication." Mosaic: An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal, vol. 25, no. 1, 1992, pp. 63-78. Print.
Mack, Phillis. “Women and Gender in Early Modern England” The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 73, No. 2, 2001, pp. 379-392. Print.
McCammon, Holly. “A Radical Demand Effect Early US Feminists and the Married Women’s Property Acts” Social Science History, vol. 38, no. 1-2, 2014, pp. 221-250. Print.
Macpherson, Sandra. "Rent to Own; or, What's Entailed in Pride and Prejudice." Representations, vol. 82, no. 1, 2003, pp. 1-23. Print.
Morrison, Sarah R. "Of Woman Borne: Male Experience And Feminine Truth In Jane Austen's Novels." Studies In The Novel, vol. 26, no. 4, 1994, pp. 337-349. Print.
Newman, Karen. "Can This Marriage Be Saved: Jane Austen Makes Sense of an Ending." ELH, vol. 50, no. 4, 1983, pp. 693-710. Print.
Sherry, James. "Pride and Prejudice: The Limits of Society." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 19, no. 4, 1979, pp. 609-622. Print.
Weyler, Karen. “Marriage, Coverture, and the Companionate Ideal in The Coquette and Dorval” Legacy, Vol. 26, No. 1, 2009, pp. 1-25. Print.
Wiesenfarth, Joseph. "The Case of ‘Pride and Prejudice.'" Studies in the Novel, vol. 16, no. 3, 1984, pp. 261-273. Print.
Yeazell, Ruth Bernard. "Sexuality, Shame, and Privacy in the English Novel." Social Research, vol. 68, no. 1, 2001, pp. 119-144, Print.