Women of Pride and Prejudice: The Good, the Bad and the Just Okay

Written in the late eighteenth century, Pride and Prejudice perfectly encapsulates the many relations we have in our lives. Even after more than two hundred years since its release, the book continues to make us feel all sorts of emotions through Jane Austen’s clever prose and well-moulded characters. A select few women in the novel stand out as the representation of three archetypes— The Good, the Bad and mostly importantly, the Just Okay.

The secondary female lead, the oldest Miss Bennet, suffers from poor discerning skills, like Elizabeth does, though they cost her far less than they do her sister. She is beautiful, innocent, kind-hearted, and as sweet as a pre-diabetic’s fondest dreams. She chooses to see the best in people, even those who so very clearly do not have in their hearts her best wishes. She is Elizabeth’s confidant, the mediator of her pessimistic ramblings. Jane is thoughtful, nurturing. She is the token older sister, the fairy godmother. 

She is the quintessential symbol of femininity at its purest and loveliest. Jane contrasts Elizabeth’s more pessimistic nature with her overly positive attitude. She tries to find the good in everything, even where not a single shred of good exists. Her attempts at proving every negative situation to somehow be positive emphasise Elizabeth’s cynicism to a greater degree. 

Upon learning Miss Bingley’s true intentions, Jane does see her in a negative light, however marriage to Mr Bingley quickly removes any bit of negativity in her heart towards Caroline. She is incapable of holding a grudge. However, when her optimism comes from a position of wishful thinking rather than from reality, it loses all credibility. Jane’s optimism borders on delusion. Speculations of evil in other people are inconceivable to her, and until somebody is confirmed to have ill intentions, she avoids all supposition as the plague. Perhaps this is virtuous, but virtue bordering on delusion is virtue out of foolishness. 

Despite her unrealistic optimism, Jane is mature. She takes Mr Bingley’s supposed rejection graciously and harbours no resentment. In spite of being hurt, she refrains from painting Charles in a negative light. Even when Elizabeth is offended on her behalf, Jane still holds him in high regard. She loves him purely and honestly.

Calculating, conniving, Caroline Bingley.

Caroline is the feminine form of the name Charles. Yet Caroline Bingley is the farthest in character from her brother, Charles Bingley. She is conceited, self-centred, and violently jealous. She is in love with the man who has eyes for a certain Miss Bennet, and she does everything in her power to drive them apart. Her snarky remarks, the subtle envious looks at Elizabeth, the less subtle letters to Jane— everything boils down to an innate desire to have Mr Darcy all to herself. Being a tradesman’s daughter, a man of Darcy’s regard is the winning lottery ticket for Caroline. The status, the wealth, and the man himself— she wants it all. 

Her regard for Darcy is depicted in contrast with how Elizabeth falls in love with him. Caroline is not in love with Darcy from the virtue of his character, or the manner of his kind behaviour. She is infatuated with his good looks, his money, the title of 'Mrs Darcy'. She is shallow, she wants the superficial Darcy, the proud and the arrogant Darcy, because his character does not matter as long as he has the money to satisfy her. 

Elizabeth’s love is slow, it is learned, and it is true. She does not desire Darcy for Pemberley or for his speedy handwriting, she falls in love with him as she learns of his good heart. Her love is deep. Unlike Caroline, her love goes levels beyond the money and beyond the handsomeness.

Perhaps we would not have seen Elizabeth’s love for Darcy in such a light had Caroline’s hunger for status not been depicted through her desire for Darcy. Caroline stands as the evil lover in the love triangle only there to amplify the protagonist’s pure intentions. She is a symbol of envy, a symbol of shallow affection.

Her only redeeming quality is looking out for her brother, but that, too, is rooted in looking down upon the Bennets and of course her superficial interest in marrying Mr Darcy. 

Caroline contrasts Jane’s kind and loving persona with her cold civility and her great satisfaction in gossip. She is everything the two older Bennets are not. She is the ultimate female villain.

“I am not romantic, you know; I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins’s character, connections, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state.”

Charlotte Lucas is plain and unremarkable. Throughout the novel, it is made abundantly clear how little her beauty adds to her person. She isn’t the stranger who enchants you upon first glance, she isn’t who men go to war for. Charlotte is as ordinary as it gets. Her tale is not necessarily one that is depressing. Most people are “just okay” and the same is the case for Charlotte. 

Not everyone is aesthetically pleasing in the way Miss Bennet the First is and that is what makes beauty beautiful. It is simple economics— if everyone is beautiful, beauty has no worth. A select few enjoy the privilege of being beautiful and labelling every other person with that term cheapens its value. 

Then, if most people are plain, and considering that it was the same back then, why is Charlotte Lucas the poster child of the Basic and the Unadorned?

Well, she is not. In fact, there are instances in which Mrs Bennet refers to other girls as being unremarkable. Mary Bennet, the middle Miss Bennet, is described to be plain as well. Charlotte is not the only glaring example of being “just okay”, but she is the example that is most prevalent besides Mary Bennet. Charlotte was not created as the symbol of the 'aesthetically challenged', instead she was created as a way to showcase the motivations of the average woman in her social status in the late eighteenth century.

“...the Lucases are a very good sort of girls, I assure you. It is a pity they are not handsome! Not that I think Charlotte so very plain—but then she is our particular friend." - Mrs Bennet

Although not mentioned in the book, the 2005 adaption of P&P includes an excellent part by Miss Lucas—

“Not all of us can afford to be romantic. I’ve been offered a comfortable home and protection, there’s a lot to be thankful for. I am twenty-seven years old, I have no money, no prospects. I am already a burden to my parents— and I’m frightened. So don’t judge me, Lizzy, don’t you dare judge me.”

Back then, the average person rarely ever married for love. The average woman was not rich or pretty enough to have that privilege. For women, the primary incentive for marriage was financial security and the prospects of having children. Love was of secondary importance, a mere byproduct of being husband and wife. Of course she desired love, but when needs and wants are both on the line, one must always be inclined to choose to fulfil her needs.

That is exactly what Charlotte does. Many might choose to sneer at the choice of including a movie dialogue here, for it is not completely canon to the original story, but I believe it is a fantastic addition to showcase Charlotte's character. She admits that not everyone can afford to be romantic, that is true. Her motivations are primarily financial and self-serving. She does not love Mr Collins and Mr Collins does not love her. She gets provision and comfort while he gets the chance to tick the box of being married, as is his motivation— no more or less respectable a motivation than Charlotte’s. The line also mentions her age, which brings us to our next point— the importance of a woman’s age in the late eighteenth century.

In the times when the book was written, most women got married in their early twenties. Being twenty-seven, Miss Lucas is considerably older than, say, Jane Bennet who is twenty-two throughout the majority of the novel, and only turns twenty-three near the end. She would have become an “old maid” had she not married Mr Collins.

If judging by today’s standards, some might point out a million things wrong with thinking twenty-seven is an old age to get married at. Whether twenty-seven is early, just right, or too old is a debate of its own and not one that concerns us today.

Within the context of the novel, twenty-seven is not young. Her age makes her undesirable to many men, as there are women more than ten years her junior who are “out” in society. This is not discrimination— age is an important factor in the fertility of a woman. Back then, the family structure was not two children and mum and dad. In the United Kingdom in the year 1800, the average woman of childbearing age would have five children in her lifetime. 

In spite of her looks and her age, Mrs Collins manages to find a comfortable home. She is practical, as opposed to Elizabeth, who is idealistic. She is not as kind as Jane and certainly nowhere near as evil as Caroline. She is not as beautiful as Jane and not as passionate as Elizabeth. She has no one defining character. She is the Average Woman. 

* Zuena Zobayed is an eleventh grade student with a love for literature and penchant for penning haiku.