1970. Choose a
character from a novel or play of recognized literary merit and write an essay
in which you (a) briefly describe the standards of the fictional society in
which the character exists and (b) show how the character is affected by and
responds to those standards. In your essay do not merely summarize the plot.
Society
plays a large role in Jane Austen’s novel, Pride
and Prejudice. This novel revolves
around the Bennet family, and more specifically, Elizabeth Bennet, the
headstrong, rebellious daughter in the family. Elizabeth is one of the
only characters that thinks for herself and does what she wants, not what is
expected of her. Society affects all the
characters in the novel and Jane Austen uses it to create a satire of 19th
century English society.
The
society that Elizabeth Bennet lives in is, to put it simply, foolish. Most of the characters in Pride and prejudice
follow with society’s expectations, including Mrs. Bennet and Elizabeth’s
sisters. In this society, all young women
are expected to search for a husband to be able to start a family. Every year, there are several balls in which
the ladies seek out potential husbands. For
many of the characters, the only thing that matters is to find a suitable husband. This makes the balls some of the most
important events. Even Mrs.Bennet believes
that her only job is to raise her daughters and marry them off to wealthy
men.
Because of their infatuation
with balls, the women of this society can be seen as shallow. They spend copious amounts of time
socializing, meeting as many people as possible and trying to get invitations
to balls. The young ladies don’t care
about anything except fancy dresses for the balls and meeting handsome, rich
men that they might be able to marry. Lydia
is an excellent example of such a character.
She craves parties and attention from men. She marries early, even though she doesn’t
know the man very well. Love is often
not a factor in marriages, all that matters is that the man has money to
support the young lady and is willing to marry her.
Elizabeth
Bennet, however, goes against society and refuses to be obsessed with parties
and socializing. She enjoys spending
time reading and prefers to take her time finding a husband. She believes only in marriage because of
love. She decides to only marry someone
if she loves him. She is even offered a
hand in marriage from a man who is relatively wealthy, but she refuses it
because she does not love the man. This
is almost unheard of in their society and causes her mother to become
furious. During balls, Elizabeth prefers
to sit on the side and watch rather than dance with all the eligible men at the
ball. The contrast between Elizabeth’s actions
and society’s actions allows Jane Austen to effectively create a satire of
nineteenth century British society.
I like how you did a good job developing your argument about how Elizabeth contradicts the shallow ideals of society over several paragraphs. I think your structure really has a lot of logical flow. You start of by introducing the book as one in which societal norms have a major impact on characters, and you follow that up with a paragraph on the specific norms which pose a challenge to the characters. You then describe the foil to the main character, followed by how the main character differs from the foil, all with excellently developed separate paragraphs. As far as improvements to make I would say the major thing to me would be elaborating on how the society is "foolish". It is implied that society is foolish because women are repressed, yet do not recognize their oppression. However, I would add a little more about oppression, particularly in the 2nd paragraph. I might also add a conclusion paragraph that really expresses the satire and how Elizabeth contradicts society.
ReplyDeleteNatalie, this essay is a well written first open prompt, much better than mine by a distance. You seem to have found the fine balance in using the right amount of detail. There is not too much and there is not too little. With this right amount of detail you have seamlessly intertwined it with the essay prompt. Continuing with the examples, your examples have strong meaning towards the prompt. I really how you emphasize the importance of balls during that time period and how Elizabeth does not really want any part of it. As for improvements, in the second paragraph you use the word foolish to compare the society Elizabeth Bennet lives in. I find this to be a bit harsh as it was the acceptable norm at the time. To us, the custom of having balls and marrying young is not currently the socially accepted norm. I would use a less harsh word as the word foolish has a very strong negative connotation in the context of your essay.
ReplyDeleteNatalie, you did a good job in this essay of answering the prompt and the questions that it poses, but your structure could use a little bit of work.
ReplyDeleteFor me (and I thought for John's and Herschel's entries) the hardest part is responding to every single part of the question being asked. You did a good job of this, but I would recommend choosing a more recent prompt next time so it is more similar to the question we will answer in the spring.
Your essay looks like it was cut off right at the 40 minutes. Your first paragraph seems to function well as a thesis paragraph, and then the next three provide claims, evidence and warrants like a traditional essay that we have been taught to write. However, there isn't any real sense of closure here; next time, you might want to plan out what you will write if you have to cut your thoughts in the main paragraphs short, in order to give your essay a feeling like it is nearly complete even if you have left our some details.