Pride and Prejudice

The education of women in the early part of the 19th century often depended on their parents and tutors and would consist less of traditional topics like classic languages and more of the “accomplishments,” described by Miss Bingley: “music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages” (39), as well as other traditionally feminine arts listed by Darcy, such as “paint[ing] tables, cover[ing] screens, and net[ting] purses” (38). Women would be encouraged to read books teaching of household care and female conduct, such as “Fordyce’s Sermons” (67), Mr. Collins’s reading choice at Longbourn. A woman seeking additional knowledge could, in Darcy’s words, “add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading” (39). Elizabeth reiterates this point to Lady Catherine, explaining that, while they had no governess to teach them, they “were always encouraged to read, and had all the masters that were necessary” (158). As women were not admitted to universities or most professions, and as estates often were left to the eldest son—the estate of Mr. Bennet, who has no sons, is entailed to Mr. Collins, and each of the five Bennet daughters will receive upon Mrs.