Janet Audette
Perez
02/17/10
WST 3015
In this weeks’ blog we were asked to analyze the role that woman play in a particular movie. For the movie I chose Pride and Prejudice. During this time period women were generally looked down upon in every aspect of life. They were simply expected to get married and then take care of the husband and his wishes. The most interesting part of this movie is the character Elizabeth. Although a product of the time era, she refuses to settle for anything less than what she thinks she deserves. Even though I find her to be the most interesting character of the movie, for the purposes of this posting I will be focusing on the role of the Mother throughout various parts of the film.
Right away the viewer understands that the only concern of the mother is to marry off her five daughters. Their happiness and compatibility with their suitors is not something that is readily considered. The mothers’ primary focus is to find them a husband so that they can be respectable women and begin their families.
The father although present, plays little role in the hunt for the daughters mate. The mother essentially takes charge of all situations that involve matchmaking. She constantly warns the girls that they should behave in a lady like manner or else they will be ruined and no man would want them. As pointed out by Kirk and Okazawa-Rey in our text women are expected to be modest and virtuous, look beautiful and remain a virgin until marriage (150).
There is a point in the film when one of the girls runs off to be with a man and the mother essentially loses all grips on life because she feels that the daughter will be viewed as a ruined woman and now all men will want nothing to do with any of the daughters. She feels that because of this her whole life is over since all she lives for is to find suitable spouses for her children.
Throughout the film the mother displays that her only identity is accomplished through the successful courting of her children. She fails to have a secure sense of self and therefore often times push her children away from her overly intense mothering and dramatic outbursts when things do not go according to plan.
When it becomes clear that two of her daughters are to marry some of the wealthiest men in the country she becomes overwhelmed with emotion. The idea that her daughters are now able to move up in class and are now wealth has essentially completed her life. By her daughters acquiring a new class she is basically elevating herself to a new social location or as explained by Kirk and Okazawa-Rey in our text she is expressing the core of her existence in the social and political world (100). Time and time again the mother of this film confirmed the ideals of the time era in that woman were not whole or accepted in the community unless they were betrothed to a man and by helping her daughters complete this stage in their lives she recognizes herself as a successful mother.
Works Cited
"Woman's Sexuality." Woman's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 149-60.
"Identities and Social Locations: Who am I? Who are my people?" Woman's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 91-103
Pride and Prejudice. Dir. Joe Wright. Perf. Simon Woods, Keira Knightly. 2005. DVD
I was particularly moved when you wrote that the 5 women would be married off and become considered respectable women. Even given the era, it is interesting that they must be married before they're considered respectable. I'm glad that today there are an array of accomplishments that prove women to be respecatable today. In fact, today it is commonly seen as highly respectable for a woman to be independent.
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