【正文】 last born has as good a right to the pleasures of youth, as the first.39。(P148) So in Austen39。s society, what Mrs. Bennet thinks and says is more or less understandable and reasonable. The writer even looks at Mrs. Bennet forgivingly. However, in the novel, Mrs. Bennet is described as a simpleminded, illmannered, and vulgar woman. Austen makes Mrs. Bennet bee a satirized character. From this point, readers can see that Austen39。s unfairness in portraying Mrs. Bennet exists in Pride and Prejudice. Austen seems to ridicule Mrs. Bennet, however, in fact, this ridicule itself bees another ridicule. It is ridiculous that in Austen39。s society, if a woman talks about her real thoughts and expresses her real feeling like Mrs. Bennet, she will be blamed, criticized and even satirized. In fact, Mrs. Bennet39。s ignorance and vulgarity are caused mostly by the society. In her society, she has no opportunity to improve her education. The lack of good breeding, intelligence makes her an easy victim for her husband39。s sarcastic wit. Mr. Bennet39。s interest is to ridicule Mrs. Bennet and put her in an awkward situation rather than to help her realize her defects and correct them. Mrs. Bennet is wrongly treated, and the original source of women39。s low status is the patriarchy itself. In evidence, it is the unequal society that should be condemned. Charlotte LucasCharlotte Lucas is a girl who has different views from others. What strikes people most is her marriage with Mr. Collins. They demonstrate a plete yielding to social claims. Collins seeks a wife so he may set a proper social example and obey Lady Catherine’s wishes. He is incapable of normal personal feeling, and values only social power, so he seeks security by cringing before his superiors. While Charlotte, unlike Collins, accepts such a contemptible man because he is the only alternative to poverty and social isolation.Charlotte is so foresighted and reasonable that what she remarks is universally applicable and never obsolete. She is twentyseven, unmarried, not pretty, not welltodo, living in a society which treats a penniless old maid less as a joke than as an exasperating burden upon her family. Charlotte’s relationship with Elizabeth establishes the fact that she has intelligence, sensibility, and integrity. Austen is an objective, acute realist, her portrayal of Charlotte’s marriage reflects the reality—the importance of money, rank, and descent in marriage. At her unique feminine visual angle, charlotte’s choice is understandable and worthy of sympathy. Austen’s attitude towards charlotte shows her sorrow for middleclass women’s low social status in the nineteenth century.3. Women39。s Condition in Austen39。s Time Women’s Education and Job OpportunitiesIn18th century, women had not so many chances to get education. Although the Daughters of the middle and upper class could be sent to school, their education there consisted more of being acplished than it did of expanding their knowledge. In the traditional education of young ladies in Austen39。s time, manners and acplishment stake first place. For the women of the ‘genteel’ class, the goal of their education was thus often the acquisition of ‘a(chǎn)cplishments’, such as the ability to draw, sing o r play music. The purpose of such acplishments was often only to attract a husband, so that these skills then tended to be neglected after marriage. There was no requirement and very little opportunity for women to use such knowledge, so to women, learning is only for ‘the improvement of her mind’. Few of women were sent to public school though they were as adventurous and as imaginative to see the world as their brothers were.A woman39。s formal education was limited because her job opportunities were also limited. T he society could not conceive of a woman entering a profession such as medicine or law and therefore did not offer her the chance to do so. In fact, middle and upper class women had few avenues open to them for a secure future. If unmarried, they would remain dependent upon their relatives, living with or receiving a small ine from their fathers, brothers, or other relatives who could afford to support them. In Elizabeth39。s case, she is dependent up on her father while he is living, but because of the ‘entail’ and the fact that she has no brothers, her situation could bee quite desperate when her father dies. She and her mother and sisters would be forced to rely upon the charity of their relatives, such as Mr. and Mrs. Phillips, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, and even Mr. Collins. Such a position would be extremely distasteful and humiliating. Other options available to a gently bred young woman who needs to support herself would be to take a position as a governess or a lady39。s panion. Both of the jobs allowed a woman to earn a living without sacrificing her social position, but the working conditions of these jobs were often unpleasant and degrading. Governesses might be preyed upon by the men in the family for which t hey worked. While lady panions might be treated poorly by their employers and given menial tasks to attend to. Any other form of employment a woman could take was considered unacceptable and would most likely inevitably be harmful to women39。s social position. Women39。s Desire for MarriageThe importance of marriage in Austen’s time may be difficult for modern readers to understand. Young women today have a variety of options open to them regarding their futurethey can marry, of course, but they can also go to college, follow any career that interest them, and live on their own, independent of relatives or chaperones. But Young women of Austen39。s day did not have these advantages. Unmarried women had to live with their families or with familyapproved protectors. It is almost unheard o f for a genteel youngish or a n evermarried female to live by herself, even if she happened to be an heiress. Therefore, a woman who did not marry could only look forward to living