Literary Theory: Weekly Response 8

"Class difference was of course a fact of life for Austen, and an acute observation of the fine distinctions between one social level and another was a necessary part of her business as a writer of realistic fiction."
- "Class" from The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen, page 115, Julie McMaster

"Certainly, my dear, nobody said there were; but as to not meeting with many people in this neighbourhood, I believe there are few neighbourhoods larger.  I know we dine with four-and-twenty families."  - Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 9, Jane Austen In what way does Mrs. Bennet exemplify class distinction? In Pride and Prejudice, each character's social level is apparent. Jane Austen uses this as an opportunity to display class distinctions through each character's personality. Mrs. Bennet is a a prime example of this. Being of a higher class, she is more haughty than those of a lower class in the novel. She, in turn, is portrayed as being obnoxious, setting the scene for readers that people of a higher class are often times stuck up and un-likable as people.