Jane Austen's Lizzy was a woman who understood the patriarchal environment that she was born into, and being a woman meant that you were automatically born with a disadvantage. You had to marry for financial security and social status as opposed to true love and if you didn't have anything to offer the other another family, then the marriage wouldn't have happened. Despite the Bennet family needing financial security, Lizzy refuses the hand of Mr Collins (and can you blame her) because she refuses to endure a life married to a fool. She is extremely head strong and although she hade a few mistakes along the way, she is able to see the good in those who deserve it. Ahh, Mr Darcy.
