Class, Money, Pride and Happiness in Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Auste

Happiness can be defined in a plethora of ways such as good fortune, a state of well being, or a pleasurable, satisfying experience. William Thackerays Rebecca disconnected stated in the novel Vanity Fair that she could be a good woman if she had volt thousand pounds and she could dawdle about in the nursery and count the apricots on the wall (VF 414). Marianne Dashwood of Jane Austens Sense and aesthesia says that she cannot be happy with a man whose taste did not in every point coincide with my own (SS 15). Most importantly, Elizabeth Bennet of Austens vainglory and Prejudice states that she would be happy with someone who has no outlawed pride and is perfectly amiable (PP 364). While all of these novels give a glimpse into the opinions of happiness, Pride and Prejudice delves into the nuances of happiness, showing the conflicts that come with these intertwining ideas of class, money, and pride. Ultimately, we come across an important question What constitutes happine ss and how do the ideas of class, money and pride coincide, bringing about conflicting moods in Austens novel, Pride and Prejudice?throughout Austens novel, Pride and Prejudice, we see many instances of the aforementioned conflicts that ensue. The first casing of conflict comes out of the fictional mouths of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. Right out of the gate, Mrs. Bennet speaks of the event that a wealthy individual by the name of Charles Bingley is to arrive at the vacant estate of Netherfeld. Mrs. Bennet states that, Oh single, my dear to be sure A single man of large fortune four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls (6). Edward Copeland writes in his expression titled Class, Incomes of 4,000 pounds a year and above leave behind... ...n while discipline Which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire? Or having it satisfied? (VF 680). Elizabeth Bennet exclaims, I am the happiest creature in the world. by chance other people have said so before, bu t no one with such justice. I am happier even than Jane she only smiles, I laugh (PP 369).Works CitedAusten, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. New York Barnes and Noble Books, 2004. PrintCopeland, Edward. The Cambridge blighter to Jane Austen. Cambridge and New York Cambridge University Press, 1997. PrintThackeray, William M. Vanity Fair. New York Barnes and Noble Books, 2003. PrintWollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Ed. Carol H. Poston. W.W. Norton & Company Second Edition. New York Norton, 1975. PrintAusten, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. New York Barnes and Noble Books, 2003. Print