Laurel Alpern Post 1

“… the men think us incapable of real friendship you know, and I am determined to shew them the difference. Now, if I were to hear anybody speak slightly of you, I should fire up in a moment:- but that is not at all likely, for you are just the kind of girl to be a great favorite with the men.” (Austen 39,40).

I found this quote interesting because up to this point in the book, it seems from the character dialogue that friendships between women is hard to come by. I wonder if this is more common in the younger women because they are in competition to find a husband. I also wonder if parents in this book, shield their young daughters from other young girls because they are trying to raise their daughters to be the best possible wife. I also thought it might be interesting to relate the relationship between Isabella and Catherine to that of Mrs. Allen and Mrs. Thorpe. The younger generation of women seem to be in competition for who is with the best husband or who has the best opportunity to find one. In contrast, the older generation of women, Mrs. Allen and Mrs. Thorpe seem to be in competition over whose children are the best. In the case of Mrs. Allen she does not have children so it seems that she struggles with feeling lesser than Mrs. Thorpe in their friendship. The purpose of me choosing this quote is to call upon the fact that it seems like women in the book have to prove to men that they are capable of friendship. It seems like women in the book cannot have productive friendships because they are constantly in competition with one another in the society they live in. Overall it seems as though women’s objective is to find the best husband, have many children, and raise their children to be as successful as possible in order to be high in society.