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

Happiness can be defined in a plethora of ways such as easily fortune, a recount of well being, or a pleasurable, satisfying experience. William Thackerays Rebecca Sharp say in the novel Vanity Fair that she could be a good woman if she had five grounds pounds and she could dawdle intimately in the nursery and count the apricots on the wall (VF 414). Marianne Dashwood of Jane Austens Sense and Sensibility says that she cannot be happy with a man whose taste did not in any point coincide with my own (SS 15). Most fundamentally, Elizabeth Bennet of Austens self-complacency and Prejudice states that she would be happy with some mavin who has no improper conceit and is perfectly amiable (PP 364). While all of these novels give a glance into the opinions of happiness, Pride and Prejudice delves into the nuances of happiness, showing the fights that come with these intertwining ideas of class, money, and pride. Ultimately, we come across an important question What const itutes happiness 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 example of conflict comes out of the fictional mouths of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. Right out of the gate, Mrs. Bennet speaks of the fact that a wealthy individual by the name of Charles Bingley is to arrive at the inert estate of Netherfeld. Mrs. Bennet states that, Oh undivided, 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 article entitle Class, Incomes of 4,000 pounds a year and above leave behind... ...n while reading Which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire? Or having it commodious? (VF 680). Elizabeth Bennet exclaims, I am the happiest creature in the world. Perhaps former(a) people have said s o before, but no one with such justice. I am happier even than Jane she only smiles, I caper (PP 369).Works CitedAusten, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. impudent York Barnes and Noble Books, 2004. PrintCopeland, Edward. The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen. Cambridge and refreshed York Cambridge University Press, 1997. PrintThackeray, William M. Vanity Fair. New York Barnes and Noble Books, 2003. PrintWollstonecraft, Mary. A defense force 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