Throughout the novel of Pride
and Prejudice, we see Miss Bingley’s character evolve and gradually show
how jealous she truly is of Elizabeth. This jealousy is because Mr. Darcy shows
admiration towards Elizabeth, while Miss Bingley wants him to notice her.
Austen writes, “Miss Bingley saw, or suspected enough to be jealous; and her
great anxiety for the recovery of her dear friend Jane, received some
assistance from her desire of getting rid of Elizabeth” (35-36). Later in the
novel, she states, “Miss Bingley was venting her feelings in criticisms on
Elizabeth’s person, behavior, and dress” (175). After thinking about Miss
Bingley’s character, I find that I do not necessarily care for her at all. I am
fully aware that during this time, for a woman, being married was something
extremely important to ensure that they had a place to live once their father
passed away, but I find the way she acts to be extremely over the top.
While
thinking about Miss Bingley and Elizabeth’s relationship, I also thought about
the blog that Morgan posted on Trifles,
entitled, “Empower! Don’t Compete.” In this post, she makes the point that women
in today’s society are so eager to put other females down for the way they
look, dress, act, etc. She also states that we should “stop competing.” (Stocks)
I have noticed that this jealousy and criticism was still prevalent during 1813
when Pride and Prejudice was written.
The name calling and comments from Miss Bingley towards Elizabeth are out of
pure jealously. At one point Miss Bingley says, “I must confess that I never
could see any beauty in her. Her face is too thin; her complexion has no
brilliancy; and her features are not at all handsome.” This quote basically
shows the true characteristics of Miss Bingley, and I find it very irritating
that she could not just be happy for Elizabeth and her chances of getting
married. Instead she found pride in bashing her to make herself feel better.
This reminds me of many females in our society today.
Your post fueled my post, so I feel it only necessary to comment on my motivation. I really feel that Miss Bingley HAS to be jealous and back biting in this novel. How else is she going to "win her prize," so to speak? I agree that she is jealous, but I feel that her jealousy is fueled from another source. This source would be the societal norms or marriage this time period has set on it's people. Miss Bingley lives in a world where her future depends on a man; therefore, she is going to fight tooth and nail to get that future. If we mixed up the scenario, would we as college students be willing to give our scholarships, grants, hard earned grades to someone else? NO! Because we are in college to make a future. In a way Miss Bingley is only trying to create a future for herself.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Miss Bingley is a real piece of work. Her final rant to Mr. Darcy regarding Elizabeth's looks was the last straw for me. Those types of critcisms only show imaturity and a serious lack of self confidence. As a relatively grown woman, did she really believe that insulting Elizabeth's appearance in the presence of Mr. Darcy would somehow gain his affection? I am utterly confused. Also, I like that you related this back to Morgan's post! Women have been doing this for centuries.
ReplyDeleteYes they have and it makes me quite ill. I love that there were liberated women like Austen that said the same thing so long ago by writing Miss Bingley exactly as she did. A pompous windbag who loses in the end. It's a sad state of affairs but until people learn to play nicely the cattiness will continue. My vote is that if a guy buys it he gets what he paid for doesn't he?
ReplyDelete