Research paper on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

On Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice - Research Paper Example In fact, a girl who was wed when her father died would not inherit his fortune; instead, the husband was in line for the inheritance. This is what would have happened in the Bennet house hold, and this is one of the reasons that Mrs. Bennet wanted to make sure that her girls were wed. Keeping these thoughts in mind, Jane Austen, in her novel, Pride and Prejudice, reinforces the conservative values of the society in which her characters live. The period that the novel takes place was called the Regency Period. This period was called this because King George IV was in rule between 1810 and 1820 and the story takes place midway between these two years in 1813 (Austen, â€Å"Study† 10). During this period, the industrial revolution created wealthy men from the middle class who were business owners and professionals. They were able to purchase large homes, landscape the grounds, wear elaborate clothes and be driven around in fine carriages (Austen, â€Å"Study† 10). Although many had become wealthy, others were struggling and many were hungry. When people have these challenges, they often turn to social unrest, which happened at this time, and there were bread riots and worker protests (Austen, â€Å"Study† 11). Social customs were very important to this era and men and women had specific places within society. Austen shows this throughout her novel. This historical back ground was never included in Austen’s novels. Instead, she wanted readers to understand what she saw during this time because she was constantly observing the middle class that she lived within. Her novels depicted the â€Å"manners and morals of the middle class† (Austen â€Å"Study† 11). This historical back ground is important to understand how Austen’s novel reinforced the conservative values of the time. â€Å"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife†