The focus of Ahearn’s argument is on the connection between the
relationships of characters in Pride and Prejudice and the
evolving social hierarchy of England at the time. He discusses
how the mingling and eventual marriages of both Jane and
Elizabeth to Bingley and Darcy (respectively) represent a new
shift in societal thinking as class lines shift and the old
class lines (especially) around the aristocracy dissolve into
the (then) modern world. Ahearn notices some interesting
instances of symbolism in the novel, such as the sickness of
Anne de Bourgh and Georgiana Darcy and how the intended uniting
of the two families was ill-conceived and impossible to execute.
According to Ahearn, this shows how the aristocracy is failing
and that the idea of nobility mixing only with nobility is
flawed, not only in the book, but also in the real world as
well. Ahearn identifies more examples of the slow, but steady
downfall of the aristocracy through an analysis of Lady
Catherine de Bourgh’s actual aristocratic ties. He