Pride and Prejudice: Blog Response #1

The Great Gatsby and Pride and Prejudice share some common themes – most prominent are the role of social class and materialism. Meanwhile, these two elements are also factors that affect the main characters’ consideration for their marriages. For example, Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice is afraid of being gossiped by others of marrying a higher class and Mr. Darcy is afraid of degrading himself by marrying someone from a lower class. Likewise, Daisy in the Great Gatsby married Tom just because he is relatively affluent. These characters illustrate the importance of keeping sublime status of nobility by avoiding intermarriage with commoners and by having a comfortable life with abundant wealth in the past.

 In both novels, one can see how a society is ruled by wealth and power. People strived to attach to the dignitaries to gain more benefits and Mrs. Bennet is no exception. She is interested in letting one of her daughters marry Mr. Bingley just because she had heard he is wealthy despite the fact that she knows nothing about his character. 

                  “What is his name?”                “Bingley.”“Is he married or single?”              “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!”               “How so? How can it affect them?”“My dear Mr. Bennet,” replied his wife, “how can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them.” (p.6, Pride and Prejudice)

 This not only reflects Mrs. Bennet’s desire to marry her girls for money, but the importance of wealth and stability in a society in general. Mrs. Bennet is just one of the many characters in the novel who wants her children to improve their social status or to simply give others the impression that they are from a high society.

 In order to meet Mr. Bingley, they went to the Netherfield Ball. It is a social event that both nobilities and middle class participated. Mrs. Bennet forced her daughters to participate to meet gentlemen. It is an only way for women to speak to men they want to know in the conservative society. 

“The evening altogether passed off pleasantly to the whole family. Mrs. Bennet had seen her eldest daughter much admired by the Netherfield party. Mr. Bingley had danced with her twice, and she had been distinguished by his sisters. Jane was as much gratified by this as her mother could be, though in a quieter way. Elizabeth felt Jane’s pleasure." (p.13, Pride and Prejudice) 

Mrs. Bennet is happy that Jane is admired by Mr. Bingley who is well off because she thinks Mr.Bingley is possibly going to marry Jane such that Mrs. Bennet relieves on Jane’s life. A good marriage can decide a woman‘s life. Whether it will be prosperous or suffering depends on their husbands as women rarely work at that time. 

 In the Great Gatsby, the vogue of marrying to the wealth exists too. Daisy’s marriage is a perfect example. She is reluctant to marry Tom. Tom acts as her safe path to keep her honor and quality of life because he is rich. 

               “She began to cry – she cried and cried. I rushed out and found her mother’s maid, and we locked the door and got her into a cold bath. She wouldn’t let go of the letter. She took it into the tub with her and squeezed it up into a wet ball, and only let me leave it in the soap-dish when she saw that it was coming to pieces like snow." (p.76, Great Gatsby) 

She is drunk because she is unhappy and confused. She reveals herself on indecision on the wedding day when she sees the letter from poor Gatsby. She is still in love with Gatsby. Her heart is separated into two parts: a part tempting her to follow her strong feeling to Gatsby, another part urging her to be realistic by marrying Tom to keep superior social and financial status. At last she chose the later action. This reflects that Daisy is in love with money more than Gatsby.

While Daisy gives up Gatsby due to his poverty, even when Gatsby becomes very wealthy, he is still being disdained. 

                "I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife. Well, if that’s the idea you can count me out […] Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions, and next they’ll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white.”(p.130, Great Gastby) 

It is so sarcastic when Tom looks down upon Gatsby because of his impoverishment and class, not of having a relationship with his wife. This indicates that he cares more his high status than his wife. Daisy is just a complement and a performance tool in his rich life. Wealthy people get the most beautiful and ascendant women. He also describes discriminately the difference of classes as the difference between races, which demonstrates the solid concept of aristocracy dominance in the wealthy world. Gatsby’s new money earned from the New World is regarded as nothing. He gains no reputation or power, such that he is called Mr. Nobody.

 While Great Gatsby and Pride and Prejudice have common themes, their settings were completely different. Great Gatsby is based on the US during the Roaring Twenties. There was a crash between conventional middle class and the rising of newly rich people who are motivated by the American dream. People strived to improve their lives by creating possibilities through hardship and fortune. They had more financial freedom such as earning money from the stock market and buying on credit. Pre-war values like hypocrisy and utilitarianism were overlooked. On the other hand, Pride and Prejudice is based on the old feudal society. There was clear class gradation. People from the lower class could hardly climb the social ladder. This formed a vicious cycle of poverty for the large population of the poor. One’s social status depended on the number of lands one had.