How far do you agree that Jane Austens novel Pride and Prejudice is no more than an entertaining study of the surface of polite society?

In Pride and Prejudice there sure as shooting is a great deal of inducedy, and will appeal to m both readers for what Claire Tomalin calls its aff subject comedy, its sunny heroine, its dream denouement. The two main characters appear to be set off of what Vivien Jones calls a typical rags-to-riches love story, maintaining happiness after a series of vicissitudes, which might incline readers to think it rather superficial.The critic talks slightly the rally trivia of Austens society, which seems to comprise only if of balls, scarlet coats and Muslin gowns, but she probes to a lower place the surface of her society, and concerns herself with the real confinement of the lives of women in her period. Jane Austen explores how women were victims of a patriarchal society, by presenting the unfairness of the entail. She presents Mr. collins as a fool, by bluntly stating through the critical target narrative that he was not a levelheaded man.By this we see that it is ridiculous t hat such an imbecile should be able to turn bulge out the two rational sisters Jane and Elizabeth from their own home, since should they not be marry they could be facing the same options as Jane Fairfax in Austens Emma, remaining to the governess trade, with its sinister echo of the slave trade. Also, and perhaps more importantly, she explores not only how women were victims in society, but through Wickham how they were male monarchless, direct victims of men.The unsettling story of him and Georgiana Darcy shows women as preferably powerless, as he exploited her innocence and memory, beca use of goods and services her affectionate heart well-kept a strong impression of his kindness to her as a child. Her guardians would substantiate been her only protection at Ramsgate, and even they could not be trusted, as the scheme was undoubtably by design of Mrs. Younge, its evil epitomized by the calculation of the scheme to run Georgiana into the lifelong trap of marriage. Georgiana was only fifteen, and the story line of the serial womaniser Mr. Wickham exposes a very dark and therefore some(prenominal) deeper location to the novel, as he moves next onto Miss King with her i10,000 fortune, then finally onto 16 year old Lydia whom he also sets out to bump. Much dissimilar the typical villain of a surface comedy Wickham learns no lesson, after Georgianas discommode seeming not drop developed any moral disbelief as he continues to prey on young girls leaving A. G. Sulloway to close down Wickham is not capable of moral learning. As he sets out to ruin Lydia, practically echoing Austens Frederick Tilney of Northanger Abbey with his treatment of Isabella Thorpe, he puts her whole familys reputation in danger.Had he succeeded their fates would certainly have looked bleak, which relates Pride and Prejudice to David Diaches observation that Austens novels be unremarkably described as social comedies, but the fact is that some come close to tragedy , and in f act, though it did end with the best fibre scenario for Lydia, she was left to spend her life trapped in a loveless marriage, as his affection for her soon sunk into indifference. Mr Collins proves there are much more to even the absurd characters than their surface politeness.His language in his letter revealed him to be pompous, clearly vein and a snob as he boasts of his connection to Lady Catherine, proudly declaring it shall be my earnest attack to demean myself with grateful respect towards her ladyship, and his platitudes of wishing to heal the soften, offer an olive branch and establish the blessing of peace in all families reveal his vanity. His hard roe as a comical figure come through as Austen treats him with scathing irony, especially when exposing his sycophancy as the first thing he is reported of saying in the novel is that he had heard much of their the Bennet sisters beauty, but ame had fallen short of the truth. Austen tells us this gallantry was not much to the taste of some of his readers, highlighting his obsequiency with the objective narrative. However, his proposal to Elizabeth reveals something much crueler and darker beneath this facade. He knows of the importance of money in a narrow, desperate, feminine world of financial constraint (Robert Polhemous), he and plays on this by ex recoiling that he would not ask for any money from Mr Bennet, re intellecting her I am well existing(predicate) that it could not be complied with.In the same way Charlotte finds herself in a position of little choice, and because of her little fortune she finds herself forced to marry the fool, as it was the only honourable provision for well- better young women of small fortune. Jane Austen points out the cruelty of this situation with a scathing tone of criticism of her society, use abstract evaluative language to emphasise her point that however timid of giving happiness, marriage must be their pleasantest preservative from want.Once more Coll ins ceases an opportunity to exploit financial dependency, and Robert Polhemus states that Charlottes cast must concern anyone who thinks earnestly about the history of women, summarising her situation as a kind of socially respectable prostitution. Mr Bennets jokes against his wife highlight him also as a comic figure, as from the beginning of the novel we learn that he frequently teases her with entertain contempt, as he asks What can be the meaning of that emphatic ecphonesis? of her distress, knowing perfectly well what is troubling her. There is a dry whit in his characteristically sarcastic tone, and his weapon against her is irony, which on the surface amuses the reader, but there seems something more to him. Later Elizabeth reflects on this, and imbedded within the objective narrative, in the free indirect style offers a careful digest of Mr Bennets faults, using abstract nouns to emphasise the rationality of her disapproval of his continual breach of conjugal obligation and decorum.The narrator suggests that where he exposes his wife to ridicule, he should have at least preserved the respectability of his daughters, even if incapable of enlarging the mind of his wife. Here Austen points to the importance of education, and her serious tone points to the importance of moral philosophy in her novel, demonstrated by parents who set no example for their children, leading A. G. Sulloway to go so far as to call them parents who are morally controlling towards daughters. Mrs. Bennet can also make us laugh with her illogical, profitless mind, which Austen reveals to us with her characteristically ironic coloured narrative, as she was more alive to the disgrace, which the want of new clothes must reflect on her daughters nuptials, than to any sense of shame at her eloping and living with Wickham, a fortnight in advance they took place.This also misleads her daughters, as there can be no storm Lydia ends up, as Robert Polhemus observed a shallow materia list, but her character is deserving more to the novel than just a silly woman or bad parent, in fact she also illustrates more serious aspects of the novel, as the situation with the entail leave her struggling to get five daughters married as soon as possible.We almost feel pathos for her with this stress, as immediately we are told the business of her life was to get her daughters married, with the use of the enunciate business underlining its necessity. Jane Austen does not only concern herself with marriages which entrap poor or plain girls, but also explores how an individual can receive personal fulfillment. As our protagonist, Vivien Jones sees that Elizabeth believes n individual happiness as a legitimate goal in marriage, and this leads her to refuse two proposals before obtaining enough evidence that it is right for her to rootle with one man. Henry Tilney of Jane Austens Northanger Abbey said Man has the advantage of choice, women only the power of refusal, and exert ing this power came completely unexpectedly to Mr. Collins, whom believed she did secretly mean to accept, Mr Darcy, who we are told had no doubt of a favourable answer.Elizabeth insists in both cases this because of a lack of desire, proving her search for a husband also one for rational happiness, an conception which Austen presents as the only way for Claire Tomalins dream denouement. To gain happiness he also demonstrated a eveloement throughout the novel, as he was educated from pride and prejudice to his own rational happiness. This is demonstrated as he goes from seeing her family connections as a degradation to allowing Mr Gardiner, the Uncle in trade, to become always on the most intimate terms come the end of the novel.So, through development of morals and search that delves below surface trivialities our protagonists are allowed their happy ending, which is much in contrast to those characters with little choice of few morals. We see that through the use of her comic ch aracters Austen actually demonstrates a much more sinister side to her society, and the constraint felt by women of the time is evidence that she is reporting on much more than just a polite society.