Fake Feminist: Elizabeth’s Hypocracy by Brielle

Brielle Bait

Michael Sinowitz

Romantic Comedies 

19 March 2020

Fake Feminist: Elizabeth’s Hypocracy

“Engaged to Mr. Collins! My dear Charlotte—impossible!” (Austen ch.22 par.13). In this moment the audience is in as much shock as Elizabeth is. The modern day reader wants Charlotte to follow Elizabeth’s example, deny Mr. Collins proposal, and hold out for true love. However, Austen fails to highlight that this is the most reasonable option for Charlotte, and arguably the best one to choose for securing her financial future.  In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth outwardly rejects society's expectations of women. Austen uses this to characterize her as the feminist voice of the novel. Austen persuades the audience to coincide with Elizabeth’s viewpoint by playing to the idea that she is the most progressive character when it comes to women's rights. Although Elizabeth does have the most radical viewpoint out of all the characters in the novel, the audience is manipulated into thinking she is more feminist than she actually is.

Elizabeth does make feminist statements, but only when there are little to no consequences for her. She walks a fine line on voicing her feminism only on subjects that are disapproved of, but will not ban her from her social class. An example of this is when she walks three miles through the dirt to visit her sick sister Jane. During this time period, walking alone and showing up dirty to someone's house would be considered bad etiquette for a woman. When Miss.Bingley sees Elizabeth arrive, she questions “What could she mean by it? It seems to me to show an abominable sort of conceited independence, a most country-town indifference to decorum” (Austen ch. 8 par.10 ). Elizabeth knows Miss. Bingley would receive her this way because of her previous sarcastic comments about the etiquette of the Bennet family. She chooses to walk in the mud regardless of how it will reflect upon her ability to be ladylike. However, the worst response she will receive from this, is disapproval from Miss. Bingley.  This is an easy opportunity for Elizabeth to make a feminist statemnet by breaking social norms, but without having any serious consequences. 

While Elizabeth takes the stance of publicly rejecting oppressive expectations of women, Charlotte is afraid to do so in fear of losing her class status.  Charlotte is not optimistic about marriage at all. She believes there are no guarantees in marriage, and the right thing to do is sacrifice love in order for financial security. Because women at this time were not allowed to own property, they had to get married in order to maintain their class status. Charlotte is realistic in her decision to accept Mr. Collins proposal, in exchange for a lifetime of financial security. She even projects her own insecurities about finding stability through a husband onto Jane. Charlotte states “In nine cases out of ten a woman had better show more affection than she feels” (Austen ch.6 par.2). She believes that if Jane does not express enough interest in Mr. Bingley, she will lose her chances of marriage.

Charlotte is aware of her position as a plain 27 year old with no suitors. This is contrary to Elizabeth who is 21 with multiple suitors throughout the book, including Mr. Collins, Mr. Wickham, and Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth tries to confront Charlotte for marrying Mr. Collins and sacrificing her chances of being with someone she is in love with. Elizabeth believes “Charlotte the wife of Mr. Collins was a most humiliating picture! And to the pang of a friend disgracing herself and sunk in her esteem, was added the distressing conviction that it was impossible for that friend to be tolerably happy in the lot she had chosen”  (Austen ch.22 par.18). Looking from Elizabeth’s point of view, one may say Charlotte is taking this outlook on marriage because she has low self-esteem. Although it is true she has a negative mindset, she is not basing her decision off of self-worth, because she sees no measure of self-worth through marriage. Charlotte approaches marriage in a practical way, and views it as a road to financial security rather than a symbol of emotional connection between two people. Austen uses this interaction between the two women for the audience to coincide with Elizabeth. Charlotte's opinions are only voiced through dialogue, while Elizabeth's opinions are written as her thoughts. This persuades the audience to side with Elizabeth because her entire understanding of the situation is voiced through dialogue as well as narration. The audience has a more subjective understanding of Elizabeth’s opinion, while only being able to look at Charlotte's opinion objectively. 

Confronting Charlotte for marrying Mr. Collins is hypocritical of Elizabeth. Elizabeth acts as though she would not sacrifice love in order to maintain her status. However she is never in the position of having to choose between emotional connection, and status. Elizabeth is aware that she has all the redeeming qualities required to attract a man that can provide her with both financial security, and emotional connection. She is in potential situations with Mr. Collins, Mr. Wickham, and Mr. Darcy throughout the novel. Mr. Collins can offer her financial security while Mr. Wickham offered her emotional connection (when they first met). She has the option to turn down both men, and settle with Darcy who provides her with both financial security and love. She is only able to reject the other men because of her attractive qualities that people like Charlotte do not have. When Mr. Collins proposes to Lizzy, she sees it as an opportunity to criticize the society she comfortably lives in by rejecting him. Yes, it is somewhat risky of her to reject him because she has no other proposals of marriage at that time but Elizabeth always has another man to fall back on. Even though some might see it as courageous to have self respect by not settling for someone that does not love her, there is not much courage involved in turning down a proposal when she is more than likely to receive another one later on. 

When it comes to Lydia potentially ruining her social position to be with a man she claims she loves, Elizabeth does not support her sister.  If Elizabeth truly believes that love is more important than financial security, and society's expectations of women should be broken, she would defend Lydia. When the family receives the news of Lydia eloping with Mr. Wickham, Mary makes the comment “Loss of virtue in a female is irretrievable; that one false step involves her in endless ruin; that her reputation is no less brittle than it is beautiful”... “Elizabeth lifted up her eyes in amazement, but was too much oppressed to make any reply” (Austen ch.47 par.43).  Because of the time period in which the story is set, it is insinuated that Lydia and Mr. Wickham are having premarital sex. This would in turn cause Lydia to be disowned by her family, causing her to lose any financial security she would have previously had. Their society has unspoken laws that everyone must follow in order to stay in good standings. Even though Elizabeth often voices her disagreement with these unwritten rules, she knows premarital sex will be the end of a woman’s, in this case Lydia’s, reputation and life. Elizabeth has already been established as a feminist character, so the audience should be expecting her to speak up when the family discusses the fate of Lydia. She is aware of the severity of this situation, and if she decides to voice her feminsit opinion, she runs the risk of getting disowned by her family along with Lydia. In this case, she does not intervene because she would not go to the lengths of risking her financial security, in order to make a statement about her beliefs on women’s rights. 

Austen is able to portray feminism through Elizabeth's rebellious actions. However none of these actions carry weight. She rebels when she knows there will be little to no consequences for herself. She chooses to do things that upset the social rules, but do not ultimately threaten her social status. When it comes to speaking out on more controversial issues, such as Lydia’s elopement with Wickham, she does not speak out because she does not want to risk her social position. Elizabeth shames Charlotte for sacrificing love for financial security, but this is hypocritical. Elizabeth's attractive qualities keep her from ever being in the position of having to choose between love and security therefore she has no right to judge Charlotte for doing the most practical thing for herself. 

Works Cited

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. 1813. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1342/1342-h/1342-

h.htm#link2HCH0006.