Importance Of Self Knowledge example essay topic

Love in Relationships vs. Love for Oneself In a day where loving yourself first is not only accepted but often expected, it is a stretch for the 20th (or 21st) century mind to see marriage as a necessity, as it was for Jane Austen and some of the greatest of her heroines. Marriage for money and convenience, as well as familial preservation, formally dominated matchmaking choices. Love and romance were but luxuries in the business-like fashion of marriage. Austen contested this reality and criticized it, but she also placed one thing above romance: the Self.

Austen undoubtedly prizes respect for the Self above social expectation and relationships. Handler and Segal (45) noted that themes of "independence, dependence, and choice" are recurring throughout all of Austen's works. Recent film adaptations to Austen have decided to downplay these themes, however, in exchange for playing up the romance. These films reveal the 20th century emphasis on romance at the cost of excluding the already established importance of self-knowledge. Pride and Prejudice, Austen's first written but later published novel, is a commentary on the importance in society of inheritance and achievement.

Austen obviously valued one's achieved virtues over inherited status, a revolutionary notion for a female of the day. Elizabeth Bennet, Austen's own mouthpiece to criticize her times, bridges the gap between 19th century sensibility and 20th century self-exploration. Lizzy, though given the opportunity on more than one occasion (Mr. Darcy's first and Mr. Collins's only proposal) to save herself from her impending poverty as well as preserve her family's estate, choose rather to be alone than to be in a situation that would compromise her principles. She is a woman of a strong-willed character who puts herself above her society's expectations of her. If Elizabeth's parents had known of her initial refusal of Darcy their disbelief would have probably outweighed her reasons for rejecting him. Even Mr. Bennet, though a staunch supporter of Elizabeth, may not have felt that she had acted prudently considering the family's situation.

This was before her sister Jane was engaged to the wealthy Mr. Bingley, and concern over the future entailment of the estate to Mr. Collins was still great. She didn't even consider Darcy until her began exhibiting signs that he respected her, such as his treatment of she and her aunt and uncle as well as his desire for Lizzy to know his sister better. These actions of Elizabeth are easier to understand in today's context, however. We presently live in a society and culture that emphasizes the Self over family and even wealth. A little tidbit of American wisdom explains this well: "it doesn't matter what you do as long as you enjoy doing it". Of course the desires for riches and success are still present, but it is certainly more acceptable for someone to abandon his job on Wall Street to "follow his dream", whatever that may be.

And as for disappointing one's family, well young people today are almost always anticipated to do so. "Finding" oneself is even now considered a step in normal development. Elizabeth Bennet would have probably fit right in. It should also be noted that Austen ignored the world outside of her respective settings. Pride and Prejudice does not make one direct mention of the on-going Napoleonic wars other than to state the presence of soldiers in Meryton. This is evidence of her investigation of the Self and how the quest for self-knowledge may overshadow the major events of the day.

Today we still deal with this nasty exchange of concern for the world in favor of the concern for ourselves. Although Austen put emphasis on the Self she did not by any means ignore romance. Pride and Prejudice does include love-stories reminiscent of Shakespeare's comedies, like The Merchant of Venice, with the happy-ending-for-all-who-deserve-it conclusion. Jane and Bingley live happily ever after with lots of money and love for one another while Lizzy and Darcy do even better. Theirs is a relationship sprouted from dislike but later maturing to mutual respect and even love. And is was definitely a plus for Elizabeth to become mistress of Pemberley.

The 1995 BBC adaptation to the novel chose to stress the romantic aspects of the story. Great conversations about the importance of making yourself happy before making the world happy were conveniently omitted and replaced with scenes of Lizzy gazing at herself in the mirror or Darcy brooding over her "fine eyes". Such importance on romance is strictly a 20th century ideal. We have already achieved in placing one's own happiness above the happiness of others, so Austen's highlighting of that feature has less weight today than it did two hundred years ago.

The Self is already supreme, so this concept is no longer revolutionary, it is now the standard. We do seek out romance still, and it has, in many cases, become the single most important factor to base a marriage on in Western society. This is not to say that marriage for convenience does not still occur, but those who do are often snubbed and condemned (i. e., Anna-Nicole Smith and her dubious marriage to an eighty-year-old oil magnate). Our society is saturated with love and romance, so it seems to be a logical theme to play up in the film adaptation, especially when one considers our present underlying acknowledgment of the Self. Other than adapting Pride and Prejudice to reflect our present values, a recent update of the book was just released in April 2001. Bridget Jones's Diary, a film based on a book by the same name, is a loose translation of Austen to modern times.

Bridget Jones is today's Eliza Bennet, but instead of being "revolutionary" she is reviewed as being "reactionary", (Haskell). She is a product of her times, neither ultra-feminist nor ultra-needy, Bridget lies somewhere in between an independent, empowered woman and a confused, destructively romantic girl. What Elizabeth learned from her society, like the rules regarding the genders, matrimony, class, and necessity, Bridget extracts from self-help books and often-misguided advice from her singleton friends (web). For Lizzy, discovering and achieving a certain level of self-knowledge is important as is achievement and virtue in others. She is disgusted with people when she sees "merit and sense" being abused or abandoned (Austen, 117). Bridget, on the other hand, seems indifferent to the shortcomings of others and, as is the case with the obvious cad Daniel, seems to overlook it altogether.

Her emphasis is also less on self-knowledge but more on self-improvement, a goal that she fails at on a daily basis. Bridget doesn't exactly know who or what she wants to be but seems to think that whatever she will do that will make her happy can be gained by losing ten pounds and drinking less. She, like Elizabeth, is mostly ignorant of the current affairs in the world, as seen by her lack of information when she begins her television job (Fielding, 170,210). Both characters are also witty and unique women. They appear to be idealized and realized extensions of the authors themselves. Elizabeth Bennet is Jane Austen's prettier version of herself, though Jane may be considered gutsier than her heroine.

Austen never married although she had been proposed to and chose a solitary life over one with more financial perks to maintain her self-respect and independence. Lizzy was given a storybook conclusion with the perfect husband and a lot of money all the while retaining (and increasing) her self-respect. Austen gave Eliza the life she never had but persevered in her own life with dignity. Bridget is Fielding's overly critical depiction of herself who also has a happy end with Mark Darcy.

But Bridget is not by any means an idealized woman, she is much too realistic. She is a chubby, chain-smoking, hard-drinking thirty something who frequently speaks without thinking and is quite accident (and embarrassment) prone. However, Bridget is also endearing with her playfulness and liked for her sharp tongue. She is the typical picture of the modern working girl. Where Elizabeth was the exception, Bridget is the norm. Furthermore, Austen's Elizabeth required respect, but in Bridget we see her constantly forfeiting respect.

Bridget had several opportunities to speak up for herself to avoid bullying by her mother (in regards to match-making attempts) and when being used by Daniel. She traded self-respect for both pacification (of her mother) and to hang on to her loser boyfriend. The far fewer occasions where Bridget asserts herself are in situations where no one really sees her, like her encounters with Aussie Dan and the young Gav. Whether or not she is conscious of this forfeiture is debatable, she may just grown helpless in fighting off her mother, but she appears to be slightly more aware of what she is doing with Daniel. Their first date, when he stated that it was just going to be sex and nothing more, she walks out. But back at the office she continues to flirt with this man whom she knows to be a lout (Fielding, 39).

Both characters also wanted romance, only Elizabeth to a lesser degree. Lizzy appears to be more concerned with her own family dynamics than for want of a lover, but getting a husband was not completely out of her mind (Austen, 271-272). Bridget's main priority is to attain a boyfriend, an aspiration she spends a great deal of time fantasizing and strategizing over. Bridget is also concerned with her family's estimation of her, but only concerning her acquisition of a man.

Lizzy is concerned about what her family (namely her father and Jane) thinks about her, but rather in regard to her sensibility and opinion. All these changes from Elizabeth to Bridget reflect a new attitude towards the Self. Recognition of the Self has been accomplished but has now been marginalized since becoming the standard. In a later work Austen wrote Emma, a book about a wealthy and self-indulgent young woman. Emma is recurrently oblivious to the harm she causes by meddling in the lives of others for essentially her own entertainment.

This story was updated into film about Beverly Hills teens, aptly titled "Clueless". The film is about a wealthy and self-indulgent young woman who is recurrently oblivious to the harm she causes by meddling in the lives of others for essentially her own entertainment. The ease in which Emma was translated to the Nineties America is almost frightening. Clearly one can Austen's message on the dangers of too much Self.

For although she wished for people to be more independent, Austen appears to have realized that there is a limit to this freedom of self. Austen despised snobbery, and Emma is the queen of such folk, but she is quite unaware of this trait. Only after being chided by her friend Mr. Knightley, the only person who tells Emma of her faults (Handler & Segal, 84). Cher, the modern Emma, is likewise unable to see her deficiencies until her ex-step-brother points them out to her.

Here are two characters that have lost real and unselfish concern for others as they have made themselves the centers of their own universe. Unlike Elizabeth Bennet, Emma has the privilege of marrying most anyone she wished. This luxury served as a kind of handicap in Emma's finding self-knowledge. With little other than the pursuit of amusement did Emma (or Cher, for that matter) have to concern herself with, thus denying her a real opportunity to contemplate her own nature. She only becomes cognizant of herself with Knightley's critique, and for that she decides that she is in love with him.

That Emma would fall for Knightley because she respected and admired him makes sense, but Knightley's interest in Emma is nowhere near the caliber of respect experienced by Lizzy and Darcy. It seems more like a fleeting fancy, but results in a happy ending nonetheless. Austen did enlighten Emma and by doing so redeemed her as a person of quality and deserving happiness with Knightley and her family. The story is paralleled in "Clueless" as Cher learns that she is viewed as merely a selfish shopaholic, thus inspiring her to "make a difference" in the world and impressing her love interest.

She is redeemed by her good actions and worthy of romance. Jane Austen spun these stories from the fabric of her own existence. She documented the problems of her society and replaced them with her version of how it should be. Merit deserves happiness, knowledge deserves respect, and good people deserve true love. Austen wanted her audience to see the value of self-knowledge and of the pleasant results possible from it, like romance.

Over the years self-knowledge has become not a struggle to attain but more of a requirement for well-rounded development, and as it has become more common, its importance has been taken for granted. How Austen would deal with this present reality is unsure but likely with some disdain. Austen did not preach revolution and women's' rights, she only presented her world as she saw how it was and how it should be. Now that the Self has now been placed on the back burner for romantic interests or has been ballooned to the point of excess is only a creation of the present, a true novelty in human history.

That our mediums for entertainment reflect this is only as expected to fit our cultural ideas.

Bibliography

Austen, J. Pride and Prejudice. Penguin Putnum, Inc. New York: 1989.
Fielding, H. Bridget Jones's Diary. Penguin Putnum, Inc. New York: 1996.
Handler, R., Segal, D. Jane Austen and the Fiction of Culture. Rowman & Littlefield, Inc. Maryland: 1999.
Haskell, M. "The Innocent Ways of Renee Zellweger". New York Times, April 8, 2001.
Bridget Jones's Diary 2001 directed by Sharon Maguire.
Clueless 1995 directed by Amy Hecker ling.
Emma 1996 directed by Douglas McGrath.
Pride and Prejudice miniseries 1995 BBC / A & E.