Consequences Of Marriage In Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice

By the conclusion of Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth and Lydia are happily married to Darcy and Wickham, respectively. However, the reader finishes the novel with very different perspectives on the two marriages. The union of Elizabeth and Darcy is viewed as the happy ending of the novel. In fact, it is difficult to imagine a positive outcome for the novel where the two do not end up married. In contrast, Lydia’s marriage with Wickham is viewed in a negative light by the reader, and at times could even be seen as an obstacle in the way of the satisfying ending of the novel. The difference between our perspective on the two marriages is a product of the seemingly rash decisions made by Lydia when contrasted with the sound, well thought out

This is also one of the first moments where we are shown that Lydia’s marriage to Wickham is constantly viewed in a negative light by her sisters. When Jane writes to Elizabeth to inform her of their sister’s elopement, she says “poor Lydia” (260). This phrasing is deliberately used to give the perspective that Lydia’s decision is one that should be pitied rather than praised. The news of this elopement comes at an unfortunate time for both Elizabeth and the reader, as she was planning on eating dinner with Darcy that night. Since the eventual marriage of Darcy and Elizabeth is a prerequisite for the reader to be satisfied at the end of the novel, a dinner between the two of them makes it feel as though the novel is progressing in the correct direction to achieve an ideal conclusion. However, the news of Lydia’s departure forces Elizabeth to cancel these plans and return home. This delays an important interaction between Elizabeth and Darcy and as a result, the reader feels contempt towards Lydia for inadvertently delaying a union between Elizabeth and

Darcy was attracted to Elizabeth long before she reciprocated his feelings. In contrast, it was Lydia who was following Wickham before he paid any attention to her. Darcy also gives money to Wickham to persuade him to marry Lydia. He does this to try change Elizabeth’s opinion of him as well as to make amends for his past mistakes, as they were made clear by Elizabeth during her harsh rejection of his marriage proposal. Wickham must be paid in order to marry Lydia while Darcy is willing to give away money for even a small chance of changing Elizabeth’s opinion of him. When he and Elizabeth discuss it shortly before his second proposal is accepted, he says “your family owe me nothing. Much as I respect them, I believe, I thought only of you” (346). Austin sets bounds for the relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth by having them seek a relationship specifically with each other, rather than any relationship at all. Darcy never seeks another partner in the novel besides Elizabeth and Elizabeth rejects multiple suitors before finally accepting Darcy’s second proposal. This contrasts the relationship between Lydia and Wickham because Lydia seeks to marry any man, so long as he is in the military, and Wickham must be persuaded by money to marry Lydia. In this way, the relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy is one of mutual love and respect while the relationship between Wickham and Lydia is,