Paper Summary:

The paper examines Jane Austen's headstrong character of Elizabeth Bennet and how rebels against financial influence in her own life, and Charles Dickens' Pip who seeks good reputation and wealth. The paper discusses the Bingley- Jane, Darcy-Elizabeth and Pip-Estella unions, and how both Austen and Dickens illustrate that the power of love and happiness is able to overcome financial boundaries and prejudice. The paper highlights Victorian society's view of class and marriage through the many characters that articulate monetary station as a meaningful element of getting married.

From the Paper:

"Throughout history, money has played an important role in shaping and directing the motives and attitudes of the population. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Chrales Dickens' Great Expectations are novels which demonstrate the negative effects of Victorian England's monetary influence on one's personal intentions, especially marriage. Austen's headstrong character of Elizabeth Bennet rebels against financial influence in her own life while Dickens' Pip seeks good reputation and wealth. Elizabeth and Pip both refuse to recognize and accept the role and identity handed to them. Both characters distinguish that their own individual needs are not necessarily the same as what society imposes on them; they rebel against their very society in order to gain the independence necessary to discover what they really desires from life. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife"(Austen 1)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004
• Copeland, Edward. The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austin (Cambridge Companions to Literature). England: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
• Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. New York: Bantam Dell, 2003

Visitors who viewed this Analytical Essay also liked these:

• Term Paper # 120063 : "Hellenism Versus Hebraism in Victorian England"
• Analytical Essay # 32911 : "Women's Suffrage Movement in Victorian England"
• Analytical Essay # 145941 : "The Literary Portrayal of Class"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: