Pride and Prejudice No 2-Elizabeth Bennet

Continued from previous Blog...Pride and Prejudice from another angle...

Elizabeth Bennet like most women is attracted to status this is what it is all about even though in fact this society of Napoleonic England is quite open about it. I think in some ways this society is more open than todays in that they acknowledge this. We deceive ourselves (both sexes) in to thinking it is all about falling in love or it is romantic love. There is these elements but reality women are looking for high status men who can provide them with high quality offspring and the means to support them and her. I know this may be a shock to you but in biological terms this is the truth.

In Elizabeth’s times to marry the right male was not only a matter for her own and her own offspring’s welfare but would have an impact on her whole family. In fact this is the gist of the story in Pride and Prejudice. In today’s world the female  imperative to find a suitable partner to make a suitable match is coloured by the fact that the cost of raising children in Australia now is over AUD $1,000,000 for each child.   For that sort of money, women need to be on the lookout for a great partner who can help provide for their offspring. The care and nurture scenario in evolutionary terms is in overdrive. In scientific terms, this is called ‘partnership investment theory’.

What did Elizabeth have in common with females throughout time have to achieve this? Women bring to the mating game and life the endowments they are genetically programmed for by evolution. What I am basically saying here is that women compete at an evolutionary level mainly with those things that nature has given them. Women in biological terms are endowed by nature with the equipment to get the job done. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to work out what that equipment is! Women have to appear youthful, (reproductive value), be attractive and act selfishly. (Act selfishly-On a biological level, safeguard their wellbeing and ability to raise offspring or moderate neuroticism) To attract a desirable mate and provider they have to be attractive (Reproductivety) attractiveness and reproductively go hand in hand here and because this usually denotes younger women than that is what is most attractive to males. Mr. Darcy despite himself was very attracted to Miss Bennet.

Elizabeth and her sisters had many ways to enhance their attractiveness but they pale into insignificance with what is available to modern women. In today’s world woman have the ability to enhance, prolong and emphasize their attractiveness by modern cosmetics, plastic surgery, pharmacology and modern fashions. They also have the ability to be much better informed about the desirability of certain looks and how to obtain them by the proliferation of women’s magazines and media. Thus when women use padded bras, liposuction, botox, rouge, high heels, corsets or any number of devices or procedures it is all in the interests of attracting males and competing with other females. It is not a light matter this is life and death.

In biological terms this is deception, a game in which both sexes are adept. Why wouldn’t a reproduction/survival machine be deceptive, this is a matter of survival after all! Both sexes will deceive either subconsciously or consciously in order to obtain the best results in the reproduction game.

Elizabeth Bennet is magnificently equipped by nature to acquire a partner who will ensure the best survival chances for her genes.

John Condliffe is researching for his new book -Sons