Internal Cringe In Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice

Sophia Weiland

Mrs. Ellis

Honors English I/P-7

May 5, 2014

Internal Cringe

One receives an internal cringe from reminiscing on Lady Catherine’s obnoxious statements, and Mrs. Bennet’s dense remarks towards her foolish daughters, or worse: every word that escapes Mr. Collins’ vile mouth. But Jane Austen’s purpose was to not only create page-turning humor, yet to criticize and reflect upon the morally questionable social issues of the Georgian era. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen uses Lady Catherine’s rude ostentation, Mrs. Bennet’s poor social skills, and Mr. Collin’s ignorance and obsequiousness to demonstrate the flawed society in which class, money, and marriage dominate manners and character.

Jane Austen uses Lady Catherine De Bourgh, a filthy, wealthy woman, to ridicule the ostentation of the wealthy class by emphasizing the snobbery and lack of civil manners stemmed from power. After overhearing Elizabeth’s discussion of music, Lady Catherine boasts that “there are few people in England… who have more true enjoyment of music than [her]self” and “if [she] had ever learnt, [she] should have been a great proficient” (Austen 115). Lady Catherine infers that because of her social superiority, she is undoubtedly proficent at everything. Presumably, she regards social status as one’s identity, meaning that her high rank induces her haughtiness. Lady Catherine, in response to Elizabeth’s refusal to not marry Darcy, exclaims “[she] expected to find a more reasonable young woman;” she has confidence, with Elizabeth married to Darcy that “the shades of Pemberley [are] to be thus polluted” (Austen 233). Jane Austen covertly merges Lady de Bourgh’s ostentation into rudeness. Her phrase “reasonable young woman” can translate to “someone ...

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...e has lost his personal morals and ideas. Austen uses Collins’ to point out the wrongdoing and dangers of servile behavior.

After exploring the reasons behind that internal cringe, one can conclude that the three characters discussed are ignorant, repulsive, and all share the fanatic neediness for class and money. Their goal is to obtain wealth and power, yet to get there it takes obsessive determination, and when there it drains one of their civility. Marriage becomes less of a luxury and more of a business transaction. Mrs. Bennett won’t breathe until her daughters are married to avoid society’s debasement towards her young girls, and Mr. Collins marriage is derived from the need to please Lady Catherine. Jane Austen derides her characters’ decision that status and pride overpower love and conduct, considering it to be the poorest flaw of 18th century society.