Jane Austen’s critically acclaimed novel, Pride and Prejudice, is a guaranteed classic that provides excellent social commentary on the pressures of marriage for women and men alike. Right from the beginning, Austen bestows the well-renowned line, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”, already painting a tone of light-hearted humor and sarcasm. With an abundance of intriguing and vivid dialogue that immerses the reader into a soap opera, she delves right into the social fabric of the early 19th century; a patriarchal society where women must aspire to attain the richest of husbands to lead a healthy life. The whole gamut of marriages are present in Austen’s novel, …show more content…
Bennet, aims to find each of her lovely daughters a husband so that they can be truly sublime. One instance of marriage playing a pivotal role in the Bennet household, among all others, is that if they do not marry before their father dies, a pompous clergyman named Mr. Collins would be entailed to the Bennet estate. Filled with subtle irony, Mr. Collins’s proposal provides commentary on the absurdities of valuing convenience and wealth over true love and connection. Centering his argument around chance and a hierarchy of marriage, Joel Weinsheimer describes the irrational fear that women have over the “marriage lottery”, as women seem to have no control over their own financial status. In regards to Mr. Collins, Miss DeBourgh expresses that a clergyman like him must “find a woman as soon as he can”, and even further describes that she must be “active, useful sort of person, not brought up high” (Austen); reinstating the idea that was brought up from the first page of the novel. Of course, Austen denounces such reasoning for marriages, and it is shown through Elizabeth’s disagreement with Mr. Collins. Weinsheimer states, “The entail typifies the financial insecurity of the middle-class woman, which participation in the marriage lottery is intended to remedy” (Weinsheimer). Elizabeth’s individuality, Weinsheimer concludes, is a coping device that women must maintain in order to avoid the “threatening” powers of chance. According to Weinsheimer, choices play a pivotal role in who people marry and how people marry, as shown with Elizabeth’s disapproval to Mr. Collins, and her gradual endearment for Mr. Darcy. The reader is well aware that Elizabeth had no desire whatsoever in listening to Mr. Collins, and previously had struck down the idea of marriage based on social or economic status, as it was her choice of turning down such a beneficial offer. His proposal clearly portrays his self-absorption, arrogance,
In Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, the necessity of marrying well is one of the central themes. In Austen’s era a woman’s survival depended on her potential to acquire an affluent partner. This meant a choice of marrying for love and quite possibly starve, or marry a securing wealthy person, there was a risk of marrying someone who you might despise.
During Jane Austen stayed single and spent much of her life writing and going to fashionable parties like the one Miss Bennet and Mr Darcy assembles at. Jane Austen observes the biased views of marriage of the upper social class in the novel. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of good fortune must be in want of a wife. " Is the ironic suggestion that Jane Austen begins Pride and Prejudice with. This introduces several of the major issues and themes that have been explored in the novel throughout the past two centuries: marriage.
Most women, till this day, seek to marry men with money, in order to live a life of stature. One would rather stay at home and raise children than work and sustain themselves. In the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, in the eyes of women, the same ideals persevere to this day. That "Smart women marry rich". Mrs. Bennet's sole purpose in life is to marry off her five daughters; Jane, Elizabeth, Lydia, Mary and Kitty.
In Austen’s time, the inability to see past wealth when considering marriage is a cultural tie to the era and its norms. It’s a pitiable and vain cultural upbringing that is frowned upon in this century. One does not simply marry for the sake of wealth and reputation. Without love, marriage cannot last. It ends in a deadlock, or with two people living together but leading separate lives behind closed doors.
In 1813, a woman’s main goal was marriage. Females wanted to find a man who could provide for them and take care of them; not all women wanted love. Many were fine with living on a wealthy estate and living in an upper-class manner. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is a novel about the Bennet sisters, five girls whom, in the time of 1813, are all unmarried and are looking for husbands. The central conflict is based around two young women, the eldest of the five Bennet daughters, Jane and Elizabeth. The girls have their similarities and differences, and can be compared and contrasted in many ways; in terms of which is stronger at handling the pressure of relationships, context clues give a valid answer. What the reader must interpret for his
It is not unusual for an individual to disagree with social customs or expectations. Some people are only happy when they can rebel against society. Most mature adults eventually realize that compromise is necessary to achieve happiness. This is the case in the early nineteenth century England setting of Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. In the novel, Miss Elizabeth Bennet is a lively, independent woman, whose family's financial situation and whose strong mindedness suggest that she may never marry. Mr. Darcy, is a rigid and proper man, who falls in love with Elizabeth, despite their differences. By the end of the novel, Elizabeth and Darcy learn to compromise, and, in doing so, become truly happy. In marrying, they not only fulfill themselves as individuals, but also affirm the principle values of society. The marriage at the end of the novel shows Jane Austen's ideal view of marriage as a social institution.
Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is well noted for its ability to question social norms. Most importantly, Austen explores the institution of marriage, as it was in her time, a time where many married for security rather than love. Her characters Elizabeth and Charlotte are renowned even more for their outspoken nature and different views on marriage. Though both Elizabeth and Charlotte yearn for a happy marriage, Charlotte has a more pragmatic and mundane approach while Elizabeth is more romantic and daring with her actions. Through the romantic involvements of both Elizabeth and Charlotte, Austen shows that happiness in marriage is not entirely a matter of chance, but is instead contingent on an accurate evaluation of self and others
Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice portrays varying attitudes to marriage. "The intricate social network that pervades the novel is one that revolves around the business of marriage". Through her female characters the reader sees the different attitudes to marriage and the reasons that these women have for marrying. These depend on their social status and their personal values. The reader is shown the most prevalent and common view of marriage held by society in Austen's time, and through the heroine, a differing opinion of marriage is explored. We are shown how marriage is viewed by the very wealthy and the values they emphasise in marriage. Through the characterisation of these women and use of irony, Austen has influenced the reader's opinions on the characters attitude about marriage and that of their contemporaries.
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen’s famous novel, is, in large part, a study of marriage. It is an interesting novel for Austen since she was never married. The social culture of Austen’s day made marriage a crucial aspect of a woman 's life. A women in that time was dependent on a man for money and social standing. Synonyms for marriage are union and alliance both have very different meanings. Marriage as a union implies a fully joined couple. A marital alliance suggests that marriage is an association for mutual benefit such as money, social standing, or physical desires. Austen 's characters are developed to emphasize these differences in the reasons for marriage. She makes abundantly clear through her development of these marriages
Jane Austen’s famous novel Pride and Prejudice promotes change in the way the English society during the 19th century viewed marriage. Through the use of conservative characters that were socially accepted in England during this time, Austen provides the reader with necessary details that show how insane these people were. On the other hand, Austen gives her dissentient characters more credit for their rebellious deeds. Austen’s campaign against social prejudice seems to succeed when Elizabeth marries Mr. Darcy for love rather than money.
The roles of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice are contrasted between a father who cares about what’s inside of people and a mother who only worries about vanity and appearance. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s parental guidance is unique to their personalities. Because of their two opposing personas, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s ideas of marriage are contradictory for their daughters; Mr. Bennet believes in a loving respectful marriage whereas Mrs. Bennet values a marriage which concerns wealth and social status. Their aspirations for Lydia, Jane, Mary, Kitty and Elizabeth mirror their conflicting ideologies. Mr. Bennet seems to have a quiet deep love for his daughters while, on the contrary, Mrs. Bennet’s love is over-acted and conditional. Both parents help to shape their daughters’ characteristics and beliefs: Lydia reflecting Mrs. Bennet’s flighty and excessive behavior while Elizabeth inherits Mr. Bennet’s pensive and reflective temperament. Looking past their dissimilar personality traits and contradicting convictions, both parents hold the family together and play an integral role in the household structure.
Pride and Prejudice is the most enduringly popular novel written by Jane Austen. It talks about trivial matters of love, marriage and family life between country squires and fair ladies in Britain in the 18th century. The plot is very simple. That is how the young ladies choose their husbands. Someone said that "Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of the novel, flatly rejected William Collins' proposal, who is the heir of her father's property and manor, and refused the first proposal from the extremely wealthy nobleman Fitzwilliam Darcy later,"(1) all this makes it clear that Elizabeth "seeks no fame nor fortune, but self-improvement and high mental outlook."(1) It's right. From the view point of Austen, Elizabeth's marriage, who finally marries Darcy, as well as Jane-Bingley's, composing money and love, is the ideal marriage people should after. But in other marriage cases in this novel, we can see that if money and love can't be held together in one marriage, love would always make a concession to money because of the special social background. After reading through the whole book, we will find that money acts as the cause of each plot and the clue of its development. It affects everybody's words and deeds, even Elizabeth Bennet. Tony Tanner once said, "Jane Austen, as well as other authors, is very clear that no feeling could be extremely pure and no motive could be definitely single. But as long as it is possible, we should make it clear that which feeling or motive plays the leading role." (2)
...Bennet up as the protagonist whose unusual actions place her outside the social pale and who does not fit any of the four main female stereotypes, it can be suggested that Austen does to an extent challenge the idea of women being subsidiary to men. However, the ultimate concern of the majority of characters is marriage and how they can achieve a good one. Structurally the novel ends with marriage and this is seen as the resolution as the females are completed by marriage. For example, Lydia Bennet is only seen as a restored woman after she marries Mr. Wickham and as a reader this is the end of her story- her marriage resolves her journey. It is in this that, despite the appearance of strong characters such as Lizzie, Austen does not challenge traditional female roles as the conclusion of the novel centres around the characters reaching fulfilment through marriage.
Society, as Austen describes it, is similar to the survival of the fittest. In order to get to the top, one must do everything he or she can to get there, including manipulating marriage. In the novel’s society “family and marriage occupied a far more public and central position in the social government and economic arrangements” (Brown 302). The members of the society in Austen’s novel, specifically Mrs. Bennet, will do anything, including marrying their daughters off to wealthy men, in order to gain a respectable status amongst there peers. Marriage, therefore, becomes a way of getting to the top of the social ladder. This focus on the importance of the social order significantly influences the idea of love and whom to love because it changes the people into thinking that marriage is not about love, but about status. It shapes the individuals into thinking that societal gains are what truly matter in a relationship. In
Here, the main aspect of the novel is revealed by Austen presenting to the reader, what marriage was thought of at the time of writing. This quotation contains no utterance of marrying for love, only doing so on the grounds of obtaining a greater social standing and increased financial security. This quotation also goes to show how important the “want of a wife” would have been at the time of writing; not singly to the man himself, but also “in the minds of the surrounding families”. The consideration of marriage as being vastly important lies with the surrounding families as well due to the fact that they will inevitably be hoping to offload an eligible daughter into the hands of the man in possession of a good fortune; not only for the benefit of said daughter, but for the social standing...