Pride and Prejudice is a long-form masterpiece of Jane Austen, a British realist writer at the end of the 18th century. Her excellence lies in shaping the dispositions of the variety of characters, so that the whole book appears full. The use of art, such as dancing, music, and drawing, add luster to the entire book. The arts show differences in social standing, and social class particularly between the main characters Darcy and Elizabeth, and Bingley and Jane. This essay will demonstrate how Jane Austen uses the arts in Pride and Prejudice to divide the classes and reveals the social background, but also as a method for women to mobilize and enhance their status.  

Darcy’s view of the arts act as a barrier between him and Elizabeth and reveals a prideful condescension in his character. When Madame Lucas says, “What a charming amusement for young people this is, Mr. Darcy! There is nothing like dancing after all. I consider it as one of the first refinements of polished societies” (Austen 32). This sentence proves the popularity of dance at that time. Madame Lucas feels dancing is a trend, and there is nothing comparable to dance. It reflects from the side why the ladies at that time had to learn dance so that they could have more communication topics with others and get to know more dignitaries – Dancing is a sign that someone belongs to a “polished” society. Here the art of dancing is being used to draw a line between who is “polished” and who is not. However, Mr. Darcy disagrees. He says, “It has the advantage also of being in vogue amongst the less polished societies of the world. Every savage can dance” (Austen 32). In this sentence, ordinary people at the bottom are compared to barbarians, which reflects Darcy's arrogance towards those who are one level below him. Knowing how to dance isn’t enough to be considered polished. He has a sense of superiority. The art of dancing shows no relevance to him, and he has higher standards. Therefore, Darcy has even further difficulties to accept Elizabeth and her family. His perspective is even more difficult to please than Madame Lucas’s. His sense of art is supposedly even more “refined” than Madame Lucas’s, which furthers the divide between their social standing. The stark contrast of their perspectives can clearly show the reader why he is always worried about Elizabeth and her inferior status.

Darcy distinguishes himself by saying he has a better taste and enjoyment of music than most people: "Of music! Then pray speak aloud. It is of all subjects my delight. I must have my share in the conversation, if you are speaking of music. There are a few people in England, I suppose, who have more true enjoyment of music than myself, or a better natural taste” (Austen 224). Even upper-class people like Darcy make music a source of pride and try their best to introduce their musical talents to outsiders. He also refers to it as “natural”. Since he was born into his status, one could see that he believes his status and his “natural” music affinity could be connected. However, the taste for music is not natural. It is a result of his upbringing and the environment of high society he grew up in. Furthermore, Darcy himself does not even play. This quote refers to taste and enjoyment, not his own skill. Only the women in this novel are expected to show talent in this area. Darcy claims he has a high refinement for this skill, but he just enjoys the talents of others, yet uses this enjoyment to make himself more distinguished.

Austen uses Elizabeth’s lack of art education to highlight her inferiority of status in comparison to those around her: “Elizabeth easy and unaffected had been listened to with much more pleasure, no one had played as well” (Austen 25). Elizabeth is the main character, so she has to be attractive to Darcy. In this scene, Jane Austen describes Elizabeth as being more accomplished musically than her “plain” friend. Here, music is shown to elevate Elizabeth which can reflect her slightly higher social standing and also represent her higher level of attraction to her peers. Although money and power determine one's class and largely determine the attitude of others, it seems that talent is more important: “She had heard nothing of Lady Catherine that spoke her awful from any extraordinary talents or miraculous virtue, and the mere stateliness of money and rank she thought she could witness without trepidation” (Austen 211). If there is no talent, not many people will genuinely fear and respect them.  Lady Catherine is richer and has higher standing than all the other women in the novel. However, most of the other women in the novel place a higher importance in learning the arts and improving their talents such as Madame Lucas and Mary. This shows that talent and knowledge in the arts can be seen as a way to mobilize social standing.

Through the words of Lady Catherine, the noble and shiny lady who appeared in Mr. Collins' flattering and pretentious babbling, the reader can also get more information about the arts and the status of social class. Lady Catherine says, “Why did not you all learn? You ought all to have learned. Miss Webbs all play, and their father has not so good an income as yours. Do you draw?” ((Austen 215). Just as the above sentence said, talent in the arts at that time is particularly important for a woman, which can decide whether a person is well-rounded or not. Even some people whose families are not rich themselves will try their best to get their children to learn musical instruments and dance so that they can marry into a wealthy family. This is a universal truth that is still relevant even in today’s world. Many Chinese families still regard talent as a source of pride. Parents often show off their children's ability in front of guests, no matter whether the children really want to learn it or not. The fact that lady Catherine has difficulty accepting that a woman like Elizabeth who didn’t learn to play the piano shows that she sees music as a necessity for a woman, even if your background is inferior. She has trouble accepting that Elizabeth did not learn any artform, so she immediately asks whether she draws to give Elizabeth an opportunity to redeem herself. At this time, she does not see Elizabeth as an accomplished woman due to her lack of education in the arts. Jane Austen is using the arts to further show the class divide between herself, Darcy, and Elizabeth, which makes Lady Catherine’s later disapproval of her and Darcy’s marriage to be more impactful. Lady Catherine further says, “No governess! How was that possible?” (Austen 215). During Jane Austen’s lifetime, the basic way for a woman to gain education was to hire a tutor to come to her home. Elizabeth’s lack of formal education, which would have included singing, drawing, dancing, widens the gap between Elizabeth and Darcy. Previously, Darcy also mentioned that a woman should know how to do all these things. Miss Bingley says on Darcy’s behalf, “A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, all the modern languages, to deserve the word (accomplished)” (Austen 55). It is clear this opinion is shared by the upper class, which Elizabeth is not a part of.

As a third-person omniscience perspective, the narration portrays the theme by telling the character’s feelings and behaviors about art from an objective perspective. “Her performance was pleasing but by no means capital” (Austen 56). This is an illustration about friend of Elizabeth’s, in reference to her singing. Maybe it is a lack of practice, but also lack of a proper teacher/education. The lack of singing ability is potentially used to show her plain background. Miss Bingley is in direct contrast, which was done intentionally by Austen: “After playing some Italian songs, Miss Bingley varied the charm by a lively Scotch air” (Austen 66). This line shows that Miss Bingley is accomplished in music. She can vary “the charm” of her playing while showcasing music from different backgrounds. This shows she has had a complete education in music, which could put her at an advantage compared to Elizabeth. Miss Bingley, due to her background and accomplishments, can be seen as a better match for Mr. Darcy. Miss Bingley’s accomplishments in the arts are a way to put her on the same pedestal as Mr. Darcy while Elizabeth remains lacking in these areas: “To the girls, who could not listen to her cousin, and who had nothing to do but to wish for an instrument” (Austen 99).

Music, dance, needle and thread seemed to be the only things that women could accomplish in this time period. Therefore, many women will seize every opportunity to show themselves. “Mary could not understand them, such an opportunity of exhibiting was delightful to her, and she began her song” (Austen 131). Compared with many of the people in the book, Mary's background is not advantageous, and she will definitely take the chance to show herself like this. Although her singing may not be particularly good, or even a little sensationalist, she still sings various songs to showcase herself. In this scene, because Mary sees singing as a way to distinguish herself from her peers, so the art of signing can be shown as another way to improve your social standing or show a difference in talent or education as a way to attract a good match. Knowing the arts can make the difference for a woman to be married or not, which is why Mary tries hard to show herself to improve her standing.

The main characters in the novel have a clear sense of social hierarchy. Although social hierarchy is something invisible and intangible, it is by no means illusory, but actually there, and the characters in the novel can truly realize its existence. No matter what social class the characters are in, and no matter what they think of their social class, they all know that in their society, people are divided into different ranks. They are very sensitive to social hierarchy. They can be ignorant or even disdain to understand the character and morals of a person, but they must be aware of the social class he is in. They use the perspective of class to look at others, and consciously or unconsciously use the scale of social class to measure themselves. Their clothing, dress, words and deeds follow everywhere and show their strong awareness of their social hierarchy.

For example, Darcy valued his noble background too much, only willing to associate with people of his own class, disdain to meet the group of lower lippas in Meriton, and disdain to dance with those lowly little girls. At first, Darcy was very disdainful of Elizabeth, who was born in the small middle class, but Elizabeth's personal charm slowly attracted him, and he involuntarily fell in love with Elizabeth. However, he has never forgotten his noble status and is unwilling to marry someone inferior to him, so he tries his best to suppress his love for Elizabeth, and is willing to endure the torture of unrequited love. When the passionate feelings could no longer be suppressed, and he had to propose to Elizabeth, he couldn't let go of his figure. Apart from confiding in love, he did not forget to count all the malpractices of this marriage. He loves Elizabeth, but also feels that Elizabeth's birth is humble, he himself degraded. He arrogantly pointed out that Elizabeth's family was not decent enough, and that her relatives were "lowly" and their social status was far inferior to him. Although his marriage proposal was rejected later, he was also mercilessly condemned by Elizabeth, and finally experienced a painful and reborn transformation, but Darcy is undoubtedly an important figure in his works to show the influence of hierarchy on marriage.

Works Cited

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice: Zhong Ying Dui Zhao Quan Yi Ben. Shanghai World Publishing Corporation, 2008.