Love and Marriage in Pride and Prejudice

3422 Words7 Pages

Explore the variety of attitudes towards love and marriage in regards to

chapters one, nineteen, thirty-four and fifty-eight in Pride and Prejudice.

Pride and Prejudice

Introduction

Jane Austen was born in 1755. She was the seventh of eight children.

The family was well educated and affectionate. Her father was a

clergyman and they lived at the rectory in the parish of Steventon in

Hampshire. She wrote several novels one of which was ‘Pride and

Prejudice’. It is full of romance, drama and humour. The novel was set

in pre 1914 in a society were women had no vote, were unable to voice

their opinion and had no income of their own so they had to rely on

their husbands.

Pride and Prejudice’ stands upon the affirmations of love and

marriage. Jane Austin believed that the perfect relationship existed

between two people who respected and loved each other. She illustrates

the idea of a perfect relationship and also demonstrates how some

relationships are not ideal.

I am going to explore the variety of attitudes towards love and

marriage in regards to chapters one, nineteen, thirty-four and

fifty-eight.

Chapter One

The opening sentence immediately links money and marriage without

referring to love.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in

possession of a large fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

It is a very bold statement and very presumptuous. In those days

people were more concerned with status and money rather than love,

that’s the way that society operated. If you were married to somebody

of a high class who had good connections then people would admire you

and respect you. This is what Mrs Bennet believed. Attitudes towards

love are based on material wealth not em...

... middle of paper ...

...open and the truth is known. Darcy explained

his actions and Elizabeth now understood him.

This is Jane Austen’s portrayal of the ideal marriage.

Conclusion

Jane Austen has created a variety of relationships so show us that it

is important to marry for love, respect and common interest. Beauty

fades so don’t go for physical attractions and money is not

everything, although it is important it is not necessary. Darcy and

Elizabeth, Jane and Bingley will be happy together because they love

each other and that’s enough for them but people like Mr Bennet and

Mrs Bennet will never be happy because they don’t know each other and

neither one of them makes an effort to make it work. Jane Austin was

trying to get the point across that things change. Not everything

starts of perfect but with a bit of love you can get there in the end

and things will be ideal.

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