Auerbach's article "Waiting Together; Pride and Prejudice" is a closer look into the lifestyle that women were used to and how that effected gender roles in the early 19th century. She calls this "agonized restraint" (327), and how it is seen both in the home life of Lizzie and on the greater scale of England itself. On page 328, Auerbach breaks down the micro- and macrocosms of this waiting game. Within the family, all of the Bennett ladies are waiting for a man to be married off to in order to gain control of the family home and to provide for the daughter that is married. This waiting is pushed against when Mrs. Bennett devises ways to keep her daughter with Mr. Bingley, turning the waiting into the waited upon. The bigger picture of the female gender waiting is explained well, with the homes of the Bennett family and the Lucas family played against each other. The Bennett family home is named after the town it is built in, having no owner over its name, unlike the Lucas family home, which is called Lucas Lodge. It is known throughout the community that the Lucas' are complete owners of their own home, where with the Bennetts, and their home not being named after their own family, we see how the pressure for the daughters to marry could be coming from more sides than just the need to marry daughters off before they become old maids. The ownership of Longborn House is only emphasized when it is said that they face homelessness if Mr. Bennett dies before the daughters are married and in possession of the house, or it goes to Mr. Bennett's nephew. However, when looking at this waiting game the women have to play, there is a certain pressure on the whole Bennett family to marry a daughter off so the community will know that they are secure in their own home. This "waiting" was vital for women of the early 19th century, as it was all up to the man to court and propose to the woman.
Questions:
1). How would the fact that all of the Bennett daughters being out in socity be changed if there was no waiting on a male to inherit the home?
2). How does Mrs. Bennett subtly push this waiting game, and how does that in turn effect the Bennett family name in the community?
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