Pride And Prejudice V Bride And Prejudice

The way of life in this modern society has developed itself over hundreds of years. Still, however changed, the values of today's society remain from the period of Regency England. Regency England, being the super power of the world in the 18th century, imposed the morals and ethics upon the world as they did their own country, where people were expected to abide by. Jane Austen illustrates the values of this prejudiced society through Pride and Prejudice, which involved the role of women as a major, governing over their marriages for economic sustainability and their lack of authority. Austen's controversial novel was adapted into a feature film which presented the real and gritty society as how it truly was during the time of Regency England; before the adaptation was released, Austen's work was paralleled in 20th century India as the transformation, Bride and Prejudice. These films realise for their audience the significance of Regency England to the forming of modern society's own values, and how it became the foundation of such principles with their own being the role of women.

In the late 18th century England, women were demoted to secondary roles in society with respect to property and social responsibilities through the many laws and morals binding women's rights. Rather than being capable of owning property, women were subjected with the role of marrying for economic sustainability. By remaining true to the novel, Pride and Prejudice (film) supported this view throughout the film during the scenes such as immediately after Elizabeth Bennet, the heroine of this romantic comedy, flatly refuses the awkward marriage proposal offered by Mr. Collins, stating fiercely that "[he] could not make [her] happy, and [she is] the last woman in the world who could make [him] happy". Soon after Elizabeth's rejection, her best friend, Charlotte, arrives with the news that "Mr Collins and [she] are... engaged." Pathetic fallacy is employed to portray the dreaded effect of displeasure this has on Elizabeth that her best friend is engaged to such a "ridiculous" man. In her own defence against Elizabeth's disappointment, she claims that "[she's] been offered a comfortable home and protection. [She's] twenty seven years old. [She has] no money and no prospects. [She's] already a burden to [her] parents, and [she's] frightened." Charlotte's desperate actions executed against her will to obtain financial security exemplify the exact reason why most women initially married during the time of Regency England - which was entirely out of the benefit of their families. The source of Charlotte's distress stems from the fact that women are unable to inherit their family's fortune unless they marry a man who can. From birth, women are thrown into a race to wed in fear of being disowned or becoming a burden to the family when the father of the household dies. Marriage, at the time, was mainly viewed as a commitment solely for the purpose of economic sustainability rather than a one of love and care.

In 20th century India, these laws and morals of Regency England that bind women are not so strict that they are fated to ruin without marriage, but are continued in the customs and way of living. In Bride and Prejudice, the situation remains similar for Chandra Lamba to Charlotte's from Pride and Prejudice. The counterpart of Elizabeth, Lalita Bakshi, too rejects Mr. Collins' parallel, Mr. Kholi in his proposal to marry her. The fretful mother, Mrs. Bakshi, scolds and begs for Lalita to accept, just as Mrs. Bennet did Elizabeth. The fear that her daughters will face misery is reflected in Bride and Prejudice when Mrs. Bakshi predicts the worst of her nightmares, stating that "[her] fate is to live in that rotten house full of spinsters and no grandchildren". It is apparent here that the circumstances have merely left unmarried women to live without the luxuries obtainable with marriage, such as secure finances, and the consequences are not as damaging to women as they were during Regency England. However, the fact is that women live on as second class citizens even in this modern world in traditional countries such as India, the setting of Bride and Prejudice, where the values of Regency England still have their effect. These values have driven the "simple and traditional" women of India to marry even without the factor of love, as depicted in the transformation where Chandra Lamba (Charlotte's parallel) manages to disappoint Lalita just as how Charlotte disappointed Elizabeth. While Lalita discusses with Johnny Wickham (Lieutenant Wickham's counterpart) over Chandra's acceptance of Mr. Kholi, Johnny comments that "people do horrible things for money - and a Green Card, too" - this note is of course, ironic on Wickham's part as it was he who impregnated William Darcy's younger sister, Georgina in order shame her family into marrying Georgina off to him to obtain her inheritance. Nevertheless, Chandra once again portrays the women's desperate need to marry in order to acquire a comfortable living in a country that offers more opportunities than one of binding traditions. Chandra's predicament in Bride and Prejudice represents perfectly how the morals and ethics of Regency England still affect parts of the world and have modelled their principles from their own.

The fact that women rely so dearly on marriage demonstrates what little power they hold over their own wellbeing and status. In Pride and Prejudice, circumstances have left it so that women held absolutely no authority at all, as women, at the time, were simply second-rate to the presence of men. This inferiority of women is evident