Pride and Prejudice

[Mrs Shakespeare]

thanks alot that helped do do do do do do

[Bysshe]

Hopefully I know what I'm talking about, seeing as I just wrote an essay on this for my English coursework.

WELL. In Austen's time, women were more or less expected to accept any (good) offer of marriage that came their way, so Lizzie is very unconventional for time in turning down two perfectly decent proposals. Most women of her position would be lucky to recieve a proposal from someone like Mr Collins (and even more so Mr Darcy), so her views on marriage are quite unusual.


When addressing Mr Darcy, Lizzie is much more forthright and it is obvious that she does not want to be in the same, embarrassing position she was in with Mr Collins, where he refused to believe that she would not marry him. Instead of being polite, she immediately tells him that she has “never desired” his good opinion, and that he has given it “most unwillingly”. Lizzie is honest and does not make any effort to conceal how much she dislikes him. This is evidence of Austen’s opinion, as she also believes that women should be straightforward and speak their minds during proposals, instead of meekly accepting and letting the man take control of the situation.

She is also very outspoken, and when it comes to refusing Mr Darcy, she isn't even polite. As far as I can see, she has the opinion that women should speak their minds, instead of just accepting any offer of marriage.


Which character’s in the novel share Elizabeth’s views of marriage

I can't think of any character that really agrees with her. Jane, to a certain extent, but she isn't as outspoken as Lizzie, and her views are more conventional. Maybe there's an obvious character I'm missing, but...


which characters reflect society's perspective?

Mrs Bennet has the more conventional attitude towards marriage, even if she is a bit over the top and dramatic about it. Most of the other characters have the traditional view.

I hope that helped a bit.