Women's Concessions in 19th Century society.
Within a society of any nature, all individuals must make some concession or compromise concerning their personal beliefs, values and actions, and those held by society. There is no such thing as a wholly autonomous individual, for if one endeavors to do so, they will invariably find themselves ostracized and unable to function within society. .
In the regency period, mid 19th century, operating within high society was of paramount importance in order to procure a financially secure future. This was especially applicable to women of this patriarchal Victorian era, as women were considered to perform an ornamental role as opposed to a functioning component of "A mans world" form of society. .
In this day and age, through decades of growth and acceptance of the way in which society operates, it is hard to comprehend the suppressive nature of 19th century society, the way in which women were regarded and the subservient roles that they played.
Many of the authors and poets of that time used literature as a means of addressing, analyzing and satirizing the social conventions of the 19th century and recognize the struggle that women endured, in order make equitable compromises within such a rigid civilization. Composers such as Robert Browning, Jane Austen, Ibsen and Thomas Hardy have all explored the social hypocrisies of the regency period and admit that not all people can make such compromises between their personal convictions and social convention and in some cases the extremes of this social prejudice do adversely affect people. In delving into these themes these authors provide their fictional characters as a guide and example of the true society in which they occupied. .
In Langton's film adaptation of Jane Austen's masterpiece, Pride and Prejudice, the responder is initially introduced to Elizabeth Bennet, who remains to be the central character in the story.