Comparing The Regency Era And The Current Decade. Class...

There is an evident differentiation when comparing the Regency Era to the current decade. Class issues, racial barriers, and heredity are no longer as crucial of a factor as they were when Jane Austen began her literary career. In the time period, she was surrounded by a copious amount of expectations; for example, a woman was expected to marry into or above her class, marry before reaching a certain age or accept the dreadful future of a spinster, and marry into the family in order to aggrandize old English money in the family. When John Lauber analyzed the Regency Era, he stated, â€Å"marriage was a woman’s goal and fulfillment, it was a woman’s career- a doctrine accepted by all of Austen’s heroines†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Lauber 26). In addition, marriage was crucial for women because there were few occupations open to females during the time period. A woman could rarely become considered an independent because job opportunities that would pay well and be considere d a reverential career were not available; therefore, women relied on inheriting money through marriage (Jane Austen Information Page). Austen focused on portraying the importance of societal expectations throughout her novel, Pride and Prejudice; nevertheless, Austen emphasized the reality of marriage being a strict agreement between two families with the premise of the marriage benefitting the wealth and class of the family as a whole. â€Å"Love† was a foreign idea that had absolutely had no role in deciding on a suitor. In Jane