During the Romantic Era, young women struggled to balance the traditional values ​​of their elders with the revolutionary ideals of the period. Radical writers like Jane Austen attempted to give women a voice in the literary world so that they would have the opportunity to overcome restrictive social views that limited them to the roles of obedient wives and mothers. In the novel Pride and Prejudice, Austen's character, Elizabeth Bennet, is representative of contemporary young women of her time who were looking for love rather than "suitable husbands." However, in her characterization of Charlotte Lucas and Charlotte's views on marriage, wealth, and social status, Austen reveals how less fortunate women like Elizabeth were forced to conform to the roles they were born into or risk being alienated from their communities. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In his adaptation of the novel, Joe Wright attempts to capture the essence of Austen's classic and its characterization of Charlotte Lucas on film. Without the narrative element of the novel, however, Wright uses casting, camera angles, and dialogue to reveal Austen's theme without having to resort to creating voice-over narration that would distract from the overall atmosphere. Austen does not address Charlotte's appearance in the novel until Mrs. Bennet mentions Charlotte during her visit to Netherfield. In her conversation with her daughters, Bingley and Darcy, she makes it clear that Charlotte “is very simple. Lady Lucas herself often said so, and envied my Jane's beauty” (Austen 30). Charlotte is not as beautiful as Jane or Elizabeth, and Mrs. Bennet believes that her plain appearance is a shame because it is necessary for a woman to be attractive to find a wealthy suitor who is similar to or superior to her in class. Charlotte herself realizes that her lack of beauty may be the reason she hasn't found a husband; therefore, his views on marriage are exactly the opposite of Elizabeth's. Discussing the idea with Elizabeth, Charlotte explains: “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of luck. If the dispositions of the parties are well known to each other or so similar in advance, it does not in the least benefit their happiness... and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom one is about to spend one's life” (Austen 16) . As Charlotte and Elizabeth discuss the flaws of their suitors, the mention of personal flaws leads the reader to question Elizabeth and Charlotte's personal character flaws. For Charlotte, whose personality is pleasant and kind, her flaw would definitely be her lack of beauty. She has no control over her appearance because it was completely by “chance” that she was born simple. Therefore, her inability to be selective about a potential husband is directly related to her bad luck regarding her appearance, and she realizes that she must take a "risk" in accepting any offer of marriage she might receive and hope that happiness is the final result. In Joe Wright's adaptation, Charlotte's marital beliefs and personal appearance are revealed to the viewer at the same time as the Netherfield ball scene. Wright cast Claudie Blakley as Charlotte, placing her alongside Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) and Jane (Rosamund Pike): by conventional standards, she is perhaps not as beautiful in appearance as any of the other actresses, as she is not thin or tall like Knightly. or pike. When Charlotte is first seen standing next to Mr. Collins at thedance, their dark features and shorter builds complement each other. The similarities between their appearances are striking considering the contrast between Mr. Collins and Elizabeth, who is at least half a foot taller than him and much more attractive. Casting an actress who is relatively plain-looking and similar in appearance to Mr. Collins foreshadows their connection and eventual marriage. While the reader must discern Charlotte's desperation to find a husband through her conversations with Elizabeth, the film reveals her interest in pursuing Mr. Collins the moment he is introduced to her at the ball. While Elizabeth and Jane appear shocked and confused that Mr. Collins is asking Elizabeth to dance, Charlotte pays attention to him and has a friendly, hopeful smile on her face. Additionally, as Collins dances with Elizabeth, Charlotte can be seen in the background standing directly behind him as she watches him dance. Charlotte's voice is also very nice throughout the scene. She never sounds annoying or negative, and unlike Elizabeth's, her voice has less strength behind it. The qualities that Austen develops in Charlotte throughout the beginning of her novel are all present in this opening ballroom scene when the viewer is introduced to Charlotte for the first time. Before Collins proposes to her, the viewer knows that she will accept based on his plain appearance, his age, his kindness towards her, and the apparent lack of other proposals, although Wright never fully addresses any of these issues outwardly in the dialogue that has taken place in the film so far. Wealth and material possessions are not as important to Charlotte Lucas as the social implications surrounding them. Although Charlotte never believes she will have the opportunity to marry someone as rich as Mr. Bingley or Mr. Darcy, one of the reasons she sets her sights on Mr. Collins is that "his prospects of future wealth were extremely fair" (Austen 83). Mr Collins will be the heir to the Bennet estate and by marrying him Charlotte will not have to burden her brothers with taking care of her. The prospect of such financial stability is the best I could hope for as a twenty-seven-year-old single woman. Charlotte sees Mr. Collins as her "chance" to conform to the role of wife and mother and find happiness in a domestic lifestyle. After Charlotte marries Mr. Collins and goes to live with him near Rosings, Elizabeth visits her and notes that she has made her new home "tidy and comfortable" and that the living room is "in good proportions... in its appearance and in his furniture” (Austen 104). Charlotte clearly takes pride in her home and belongings and takes great care in making it look as beautiful as possible. She is happy with her family because to her social acquaintances she seems like a financially secure, decent, married woman. Charlotte believes in the importance of making the most of the opportunities offered to her: she feels lucky to have found a suitable husband and takes comfort in being able to conform to a more traditional role because, unlike Elizabeth, she would prefer to be married to a man who she doesn't like being thought of as an old maid. Wright introduces Charlotte's need for wealth and material possessions into the film through the dialogue between her and Elizabeth, particularly when she tells the news of her engagement and in the scene where Elizabeth arrives home. Charlotte's new home. When Charlotte arrives at the Bennet house to tell her closest friend of her engagement, she smiles and quickly tells Elizabeth that she will marry Mr. Collins. She says that she should be as happy with him as with any other man and that by marrying Mr. Collins she has been offered a comfortable home and protection. Although Elizabeth seemsStunned that her friend would marry someone she doesn't love, Charlotte makes it clear that she will marry Mr. Collins because with him she has the opportunity to elevate herself socially as a married woman. She tells Elizabeth that she would never have this same opportunity as an "old maid" and that Elizabeth should not judge her for making the decision to conform to the role of housewife. Later, when Elizabeth is invited to visit Charlotte in her new home, Charlotte tells her that she has a living room of her own and that she likes being able to run her own house. She never believed she would ever have control over her own affairs and seems very happy to be able to contribute nationally to her marriage. Her happiness undoubtedly comes from her newfound social status as a married woman supporting a fairly large family, rather than from the joy of being Mr. Collins' wife. However, as illustrated by the dialogue with Elizabeth, the fact that it is her husband's house that gives her happiness rather than her husband himself does not change the fact that she is happy with her new life. A married woman, Charlotte follows society's rules of conduct regarding her new domestic activities. He strives to gain the approval of Lady Catherine (the ultimate exemplar of the upper-class elite), which could help the Collins family achieve valuable social connections. Even when Lady Catherine insults her by instructing Charlotte on how “everything should be regulated in so small a family as hers” (Austen 128), she remains calm and listens politely to the advice, even though Lady Catherine most likely never cleaned or she took care of a house herself. Charlotte knows that pleasing Lady Catherine will have a positive effect on how the rest of the community sees her, and this kind of esteem is consequential in her mind. Her status as a newlywed and middle-class wife did not provide many invitations to social engagements in the community because "the lifestyle in the neighborhood in general was beyond the reach of the Collinses" (Austen 112). This is why Charlotte feels she must be diligent in praising Lady Catherine, so that she will be invited to dine at Rosings more often. If Lady Catherine approves Charlotte as a wife, Charlotte believes the rest of the community will agree. Although she may never be fully embraced by upper-class society, Charlotte is content with her middle-class status and believes that her decision to marry Mr. Collins has pushed her upward socially. In Wright's film adaptation, Charlotte's desire for social approval is revealed through the use of different camera angles in the scene where she, her husband, and Elizabeth visit Lady Catherine at Rosings. As they enter the room where Lady Catherine is waiting for them, the camera switches from Mr. Collins who enters first, to Charlotte who arrives second, and then to Elizabeth who enters last. As the camera shows Charlotte entering the room, her lead on Elizabeth seems somewhat aggressive. It seems like she wants to be seen behind her husband and in front of his unmarried friend. When Charlotte addresses Lady Catherine moments later, the camera first stops on her face as she speaks and then moves to a close-up on Lady Catherine's face, as if Charlotte is seeking approval in her expression. The camera angles here reveal Charlotte's ideas about her self-importance as a married woman and her need for approval from a woman of Lady Catherine's stature. During the dinner scene, the camera once again switches from Lady Catherine to Charlotte; however, Charlotte is slightly blurry and all the viewer notices about her actions is that she is imitating the.