Evaluation of Societal Views in Fiction Essay Example

People come to have different views of society by having different experiences in said society which can be triggered by your social standing. This is prevalent throughout the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and the short stories The Story of an Hour and Clever Manka by Kate Chopin and an unknown author, respectively.  

Social standing can be influenced by a multitude of things including wealth (or lack thereof) and other classifications such as gender, culture, etc. In Pride and Prejudice, the plot and characters are frequently driven (In one way or another) by social standing. One way they are driven by this is their attitude towards one another. Examples of this being Darcy’s initial behavior towards Elizabeth, Mr. Collins's constant praise of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and the Bingley sisters' treatment of the Bennet sisters. A specific example being Miss Bingley’s characterization of Elizabeth behind her back being one who “...had no conversation, no style, no taste, no beauty.” (27) with Mrs. Hurst adding that “’She has nothing, in short, to recommend her...I shall never forget her appearance this morning.’” (27) which really conveys the thoughts of the higher-class Bingley sisters about the lower-class Elizabeth and shows their judgmental, condescending view of her. Another example of the same type of interaction is Lady Catherine’s insistence that Elizabeth promises not to engage Darcy saying that such an event would “ruin him in the opinion of all his friends, and make him the contempt of the world.” (282) which gives that similar tone of condescension because of social class differences. Another way characters in Pride and Prejudice are driven by social standing is its’ influence on character’s goals. Most unmarried women in Pride and Prejudice (and in real life in this period) are driven by the fact that women don’t have inheritance rights which would cause them to look forward to marriage as a way of finding security. This is exemplified throughout the entire novel with the event of Mr. Collins being revealed to be the one who will inherit the Bennet estate (which threatens the security of the Bennet sisters) being a driving force for the Bennet sisters and Mrs. Bennet’s actions in the later parts of the story. Charlotte’s actions are indicative of this desire for security as she marries the unpleasant Mr. Collins simply for the fact that he was well-off. Another character whose actions are indicative of this is Mrs. Bennet, who spends most of her time in the story trying to get her daughters married. These two more realistic characters cause conflict for Elizabeth, who is not marrying for security specifically but instead for love which makes her radically different from the norm in her social standing (with this difference being shown throughout many occurrences). The conflict she has with Charlotte is a more one-sided one where she condemns Charlotte’s choice to marry Mr. Collins, while the conflict she has with Mrs. Bennet is more active with her disliking Elizabeth’s refusal of Mr. Collins’s proposal. This all ties into their different views of society because of their social standing and more specifically: their status as women in this period. In The Story of an Hour similar themes regarding marriage and its purpose in this period are explored. The main character, Louise Mallard, is a woman who was introduced early-on as someone who has heart problems and will be extremely distraught over her husband’s death but as the story progresses, we are given information that suggests otherwise. When she hears of her husband’s death, she “...said it over and over under her breath: ‘free, free, free!’”, she feels “...a monstrous joy that came over her.” and felt as though “...she was drinking the very elixir of life...” which all heavily implies she is happy that her husband died, contrary to that prior statement. This feeling of elation and freedom also implies that this was not a marriage she chose, tying into the previous claim that women in this time married for security instead of something like love with her husband’s death signifying the end of being tied down and thus being free. This is continued with her learning that her husband is still alive and her subsequent death where she dies of heartbreak from being still chained down by her social standing and being unable to be free as she had hoped. In Clever Manka marriage is also a theme relating to social status and thus views of society, as is social status based on class. The main character, Manka, is a smart girl (hence the name) who assists her father and another farmer in their dealings with the burgomeister. The first case shows the class-based social status when a rich and underhanded man tries to swindle a shepherd out of his heifer, and it is shown that the rich man used to have unfair dealings with past burgomeisters due to his wealth. He is shocked when the new burgomeister didn’t do the same and instead offers a riddle, and he answers that “’The swiftest thing in the world? Why, my dear sir, that's my gray mare, of course, for no other horse ever passes us on the road. The sweetest? Honey from my beehives, to be sure. The richest? What can be richer than my chest of golden ducats!’" which shows his arrogance and inability to look at the deeper complexities of the riddle, due to his upper-class status. Social status based on marriage and gender is shown through the later parts of Clever Manka after she gets married to the burgomeister and he tells her to not use her smarts to influence one of his cases and wants her to stick to housekeeping. She disobeys the burgomeister which infuriates him, and he tries to send her back to her father showing that their society viewed women’s role being one of being obedient to their partners where the man had dominance. Showing that both the rich farmer and the burgomeister had views of society influenced by their social status. 

People’s different experiences influence their different views of society with social status being a significant factor as seen through the works Pride and Prejudice, The Story of An Hour, and Clever Manka. 

Works Cited 

Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice. USA: Savvas Learning Company LLC, 2000 pp. 27-282 

Chopin, Kate, The Story of an Hour. USA: Vogue, 1894 

Unknown, Clever Manka. Czech Republic: N/A, 1920