Themes of P&P

One thing that may not be obvious is that it is always more "genteel" to be a rural land-owner than to be actively involved in commerce, no matter how much money you're making in business (thus "trade", or business, can be a disparaging word). This is why Mr. Gardiner is looked down upon by the Bingley sisters and Lady Catherine. Charlotte Lucas is a victim of Sir William Lucas being taken in by this myth of rural land-owning gentility.
But why is it so popular? Perhaps because, in our era of gender roles in flux, it presents an earlier age where these roles were clearly defined and understood by all. Interestingly though, Elizabeth Bennet (Lucy Taylor) stands out as an unusually independent woman. Although she knows she cannot break through society's constraints, she insists on the maximum freedom within them. The story of her and Darcy's reluctant romance is one of two people coming to know and like each other in spite of society's expectations, with neither having the whip hand. It...