In Pride and Prejudice, do any of the characters actually have jobs?

Question

It appears that the Bennets, Bingleys and Darcys... and many others... have no occupations other than searching for proper (rich) spouses. Is this really the case? Or do some of them work for a living?

Answer 1

The gentry in that time period really didn't work. Darcy inherited money and a house and land and the people on that land, his tenants, worked the farms and everything and then turned over a certain amount of money to him and that is what he lived on. Mr. Bennet and Mr. Bingley were the same, they inhereited money and land and lived off the proceeds of what was called their estate. Mrs. Bennet's brother was an attorney in Cheapside of London and Sir Lucas used to be a shopkeeper before he was knighted. Those people were called in trade or in practice and they were considered lower class because they actually had to work for their living. And obviously, girls in that time period really didn't work unless they were teachers or governesses.

Answer 2

Good information so far. The aristocracy never worked: it looked down upon "Trade". In those families, it was considered acceptable for a younger son to join the military (officer class, of course, and in a fashionable regiment), or to go into the church. Ladies would not have worked if they were aristocratic or had any pretensions that way. If impecunious, one would have to scrape a living as a governess or lady's companion - both generally thankless tasks unless in the romantic novel!

The way forward in life for a lady would be to marry well; for a gentleman, if he was rich he could choose any well-born bride he wished. As long as she was not "Trade" or anything lower, it would be acceptable. It was also done, given the lifestyle of gambling, etc, in those days, for a poor nobleman to seek out a rich bride; in that case, even if she came from "Trade", it was just about acceptable - although the lady in question would not then be able to enter the best circles.

Mr Darcy had good connections - Lady Catherine de Bourg (if I have that correctly); he would have inherited his land and lived off that, as would Mr Bingley to a lesser extent.

Does anyone remember exactly what Mr Bennet did?

The class system in the early 1800s was pretty well defined, and there were boundaries one could not cross. The Bennet girls would not have been able to hold out for a Duke, for instance. A man of law would certainly be better class than a farmer, but still not quite acceptable in upper circles. Also, remember that a daughter would be given a dowry on her marriage, or a marriage portion which would have been settled on her by her father. This would be given to the husband (no rights for women), and she would be given "pin money" for her own spending - remember how glad Mrs Bennet was when she realised how much Lizzie would get from the wealthy Mr Darcy!

Answer 3

Not exactly. Other than Mr. Collins, they are all aristrocracts which mean they don't "earn a living." They own land and live off that - either through leases or by having someone else work the land.

If you remember, Mr. Bingley's sisters are always making fun of the Bennets because Mrs. Bennet's brother is a lawyer and has to work for a living. That was considered "low class."

Answer 4

That it appears that they have no jobs is due to their class. The upper classes in that time period generally got their money from their land where tenants pay rent to be able to farm that land, this is how Darcy gets his money (we know that he is kind to his tenants). Or they get money from investments, that is they have an inheritance and they live off of the interest, I believe this is how Bingley gets his money. Mr. and Mrs. Gardner we know work in trade, but we only see them when they are on vacation visiting the Bennets. I believe the Bennets also have land to provide money for them, (just not nearly as much as Darcy) and it is entailed away making it useless as an inheritence for the girls. They have only their mother's inheritence to split between them, which is why they are not considered as marriageable. Women of the upper classes never worked at that time, so it is true that they have no occupations.

Answer 5

Ok, the Bennets are land owners, tenants live & work the land and they pay you rent.

Darcy, BIG time land owner, big time rent.

Bingleys, land owner I think.

Mr. Gardener, Elizabeth's uncle on her Mother's side was a solicitor.

But, the women born into a Gentleman's house during that time, do not take jobs outside the house. So, the only way to improve your life as a woman, is to marry well.

And, the story is about the women not so much about the men, so it doesn't really go into detail about what the men do.

Answer 6

One of the reasons that Jane Austen wrote her books was to point out that even wealthy women, or "upper-class" women had no choices in life except marriage or spinsterhood:

1) Women either married "well", which at that time meant they married someone of their class who had money. The older Bennett women were different, since even though they were "middle" to "upper-class", and had barely any money, they both had the audacity to want to marry someone they loved, who loved them, regardless of the financial situation of their partner.

Most women "settled" for a good man, of moderate means, and hoped he treated her well (which one of the Bennetts female friends did-she married a most annoying clergyman to avoid spinsterhood). But men could also marry someone in haste and come to regret it, as the Bennet's father had...he obviously was not happy with his air-brained emotional wife.

2) Middle to upper-class women could never marry for whatever reasons, and live in spinsterhood. Often spinsters were at the beck and call of the relatives who supported them...if they were lucky, they had family members who were not living in poverty, who also cared about them not only financially, but emotionally...

Middle to upper-class men were pressured to marry, but it was ok to stay single-and they had quite a few choices about what they could do for a living to support themselves.

3) The lower-class to poverty stricken men and women worked themselves to death trying to get enough food and clothing and shelter to survive, as Dickens wrote about so well. Once women had children, it made them much more dependent on their husbands for support, but many took washing in, did needlework at home, cleaned people's houses, etc. Men had many more choices of occupations, but both men and women were usually treated brutally by their employers and patrons.

The men's occupations:
*Mr. Bennet had an estate (which Mr. Collins will inherit at this death), and many unmarried daughters.
*William Collins is a clergyman.
*Charles Bingley is leasing property near the Bennetts estate, and is wealthy, and supports his sisters.
*Mrs. Hurst's husband is more fashionable than wealthy, but because of his brother-in-law, Mr. Bingley, is "settled".
*Mr. Darcy is a very wealthy landowner and has a "wonderful" estate. He also supports his young sister.
*Mr. Wickham is a "militia man:.
*Edward Gardiner, the younger brother of Mrs. Bennet and is in "trade" in London
*Colonel Fitzwilliam, another nephew of Lady Catherine and friend and cousin of Mr. Darcy, is a "militia man".

The women are married or spinsters, except for:
Lady Catherine de Bourgh who seems to have inherited quite a wealthy estate, and is Mr. Collins benefactor.

Answer 7

I have watched this movie twice...thought the same question. I have never seen anyone work, it seems they are just living on the wealth of some other relative! Great and fun question.

Answer 8

obviously Darcy is a business man. he also inherited so that helps but its only the men that have jobs and such. you'd have to investigate more on that cus i think the jobs back then were a little different, but they definately earned their money.

Answer 9

well all of them are basically rich or poor i dont think they have jobs from what i remember from the book

Answer 10

Heavens no, that was the 1800's, only the peasants worked...