In the novel "Pride and Prejudice", when Elizabeth Bennet knew that her sister Lydia had eloped with George Wickham and that George Wickham did not intend to marry Lydia, why did Elizabeth Bennet feel sad and cry? Did Elizabeth Bennet cry because she was afraid of "scandal"? Why are British people afraid of "scandal"?
In the novel "Pride and Prejudice", when Elizabeth Bennet knew that her sister Lydia had eloped with George Wickham and that George Wickham did not intend to marry Lydia, why did Elizabeth Bennet feel sad and cry? Did Elizabeth Bennet cry because she was afraid of "scandal"? Why are British people afraid of "scandal"?
Hey I think it’s because in those times when the novel is set, society was very damning and a “scandal” like that could ruin a family, leaving them with no options for marriage, no jobs and no income as they could be shunned by society.
Hey I think it’s because in those times when the novel is set, society was very damning and a “scandal” like that could ruin a family, leaving them with no options for marriage, no jobs and no income as they could be shunned by society.
Why are the British so against "premarital sex"? Apart from "premarital sex", what behaviors do the British consider "scandal"?
Why are the British so against "premarital sex"? Apart from "premarital sex", what behaviors do the British consider "scandal"?
We’re no longer so against premarital sex but in the time the novel was set, England was heavily influenced by the Catholic Church so things like premarital sex and divorce or even things like having boyfriends and moving in with them were deemed as scandals.
We’re no longer so against premarital sex but in the time the novel was set, England was heavily influenced by the Catholic Church so things like premarital sex and divorce or even things like having boyfriends and moving in with them were deemed as scandals.
What did the Catholic Church say? How does the Catholic Church make the British people think that "premarital sex, divorce, and women living with their boyfriends" are scandals? Can you give some examples?
We’re no longer so against premarital sex but in the time the novel was set, England was heavily influenced by the Catholic Church so things like premarital sex and divorce or even things like having boyfriends and moving in with them were deemed as scandals.
I'm a Christian, so I'd like to know about it if I can.
What did the Catholic Church say? How does the Catholic Church make the British people think that "premarital sex, divorce, and women living with their boyfriends" are scandals? Can you give some examples?
In the past (I’m not 100% sure if it’s still like this or not bc I’m not catholic) but the Catholic Church were against premarital sex because they said that sex was an act for procreation and to raise a child correctly the couple must be married since they said it is the best environment for raising a child. And as for divorce, the church takes marriage as a sacred commitment taken in the eyes of god so to break that is to go against god, in the bible Jesus said “anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery” showing that they don’t recognise divorce (they were also against remarriage then). Im not sure of any teachings on cohabitation in the bible but I think it was just something that generally wasn’t accepted in those times maybe because people tended to avoid opposite sexes having too much contact outside of marriage to prevent any premarital sex or god forbid a child born out of wedlock. The reason why this was so prevalent in British society then was because most people were catholic and the catholic church was very close to the monarchy at the time and so it had a lot of power and influence so the teachings trickled into the rules of society (especially in the higher classes)
I'm a Christian, so I'd like to know about it if I can.
Oh that’s cool! Honestly if you genuinely want to know I’d look it up because I’m not sure how reliable my answers are only because I’m not Christian myself and I’m using the bits that I can remember from my RS GCSE to try and answer but that was 2 yrs ago 😂 I hope I’ve told you the right stuff tho but I can’t remember many of the bible quotes
"In the novel "Pride and Prejudice", when Elizabeth Bennet knew that her sister Lydia had eloped with George Wickham and that George Wickham did not intend to marry Lydia, why did Elizabeth Bennet feel sad and cry? Did Elizabeth Bennet cry because she was afraid of "scandal"? Why are British people afraid of "scandal"?"
Elizabeth probably felt sad and cried because a) as people have mentioned, it was scandalous and taboo to elope; this incident essentially destroyed her sister's social standing, which was very important at the time in british society and b) she knew how manipulative Wickham was, but couldn't stop her sister from running off with him under the pretense of 'love' To answer why British people are afraid of "scandal", in modern times there is no sort of society divides. Historically, people being 'afraid' of scandal wasn't really limited to the British. I assume what you mean is why they were so concerned about 'scandal' and to that I will use a modern analogy. On social media, influencers try their best to appear perfect, and try their best to stay out of scandals. if they do get into scandals, they become 'cancelled'. Similarly, in Jane Austen's time, if someone did something scandalous like premarital sex/eloping, both of which were taboo, it would ruin their social status and diminish their standing, meaning they would be looked down on and talked about, likely lose all of their friends, etc. Hopefully this answers your question