accomplished.

" 'It is amazing to me,' said Bingley, 'how young ladies can have patience to be so very accomplished as they all are... 'They all paint tables, cover skreens and net purses. I scarcely know any one who cannot do all this, and I am sure I never heard a young lady spoken of for the first time, without being informed that she was very accomplished.'

'Your list of the common extent of accomplishments,' said Darcy, 'has too much truth. The word is applied to many a woman who deserves it no otherwise than by netting a purse, or covering a screen. But I am very far from agreeing with you in your estimation of ladies in general. I cannot boast of knowing more than half a dozen, in the whole range of my acquaintance, that are really accomplished.'

'Then,' observed Elizabeth, 'you must comprehend a great deal in your idea of an accomplished woman.'

'Yes, I do comprehend a great deal in it.'

'Oh! certainly,' cried [Miss Bingley], 'no one can be really esteemed accomplished, who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved.'

'All this she must possess,' added Darcy, 'and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.'

'I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing any... 'I never saw such a woman. I never saw such capacity, and taste, and application, and elegance, as you describe, united.'"

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

[foto_decadent]

I was thinking about this passage from Pride and Prejudice the other day, what is the notion of accomplished woman in today's society? I know a lot of women are considered talented, as they can speak another language, or play an intstrument, or paint, but i think our idea of talented has changed over time as well. Today talents can range from being able to take beautiful photos/films, write well and sing to being beautiful (and capitolising on it as a model), being witty/sarcastic/funny, being charismatic and charming...

Some of Darcy's criteria for an accomplished woman were outdated, even for his time. As Lizzie so rightly points out, it would be incredible to find a woman, even then, who knew about modern languages AND music AND art AND literature AND had something extra, that je ne sais quoi in the way she walked, talked and carried herself. Today a woman can be 'accomplished' by merely being able to make someone laugh.

And i think that's a good thing. Relationships in Austen's time were fraught with dangers, and were a difficult road to tread. No love, at least, not most of the time. It was more about procuring your safety (if you were a woman) or raising your social status. Therefore, accomplishments and talents served as 'extras', as it were, as you commodified yourself. You were selling yourself as having the ability to do all these things, thus 'bettering' your prospects for a marriage merely by what you could do. Of course these were no the be all and end all, ultimately your dowry (or lack thereof) decided who and how high you could marry.

Today it's more about yourself as a person. And that is so much better, is it not? Your accomplishments are not value added extras that happen to be thrown into the 'deal' of marriage/relationships, but rather things that you (hopefully) enjoy and love to do, whether that be reading, music, fashion, film, photography or sport. They no longer represent a way for you to get picked as a marriage partner, but rather as a celebration of individuality and your personal likes/dislikes. So, be an accomplished woman, and celebrate your liberation! :]

what a sappy post! but i was just reading p&p, and got to thinking about accomplishments today and all... a return to more frivolous things soon!

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