Comparing Wollstonecraft's Pride And Prejudice

In Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austen, she depicts the courtships and marriages of the early nineteenth century as well as the roles women had in society. Where women needed to marry for social and financial reasons instead of affection, which is illustrated in Mrs. Bennet’s attempt to find wealthy husbands for each of her daughters. However, the protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet wants the quite opposite as she would rather marry with affection, thus breaking the traditional female role. In a couple of situations throughout the novel, she rebels from the traditional role of women by asserting her independence, being headstrong, and being able to stand up for herself. Lady Catherine de Bourgh also breaks the traditional role of women simply due to the position she holds. Thus, Elizabeth and Lady Catherine is the type of woman that Mary Wollstonecraft is
She was advocating for women to have equal rights as men as well as addressing the lack of educational opportunities they had during her time. In a way it seems that in Wollstonecraft’s essay she is blaming men for making women appear more false, weak and dependent. For instance, she writes, “I may be accused of arrogance; still I must declare what I firmly believe, that all the writers who have written in the subject of female education and manners from Rousseau to Dr. Gregory, have contributed to render women more artificial, weak characters, than they would otherwise have been; and, consequently, more useless members of society” (Wollstonecraft 161). If women had the same education as men, then they would become independent. Therefore, Elizabeth and Lady Catherine embody the self-actualized female depicted by Wollstonecraft while Mrs. Bennet embody the traditional female