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Elizabeth is a strong willed intelligent young woman in Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice. In the book, Elizabeth’s community of friends and family are obsessed with the idea of marriage. It is her mother’s greatest wish to get all five of her daughters married to eligible gentlemen. But Elizabeth cares about more than marriage, she is looking for love. Elizabeth wants to feel affection and respected for the man she marries. Surrounding Elizabeth is a society that pressures woman to marry, not for love but for money and good social standing. In 1813 when Pride and Prejudice was published, women did not have many rights, just what their husbands allowed them. They could not even own or inherit property (Abrams). Sometimes marrying was the only option for women to gain independence.. In English society, women were property to their fathers and then given to their husbands (Abrams). Women were thought to be inferior to men.