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The theme of marriage in the Jane Austen novel
Jane Austen's point of view on marriage
The theme of marriage in the Jane Austen novel
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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.
Passage One, portrays the relationship between Marianne and Willoughby. Marianne was blinded by her love, ‘He was exactly formed to engage Marianne’s heart.’ Marianne is someone who can show no concern for wealth if she believes she has found true love. Willoughby was estimated to be ‘Faultless as in Marianne’ Willoughby was all that Marianne fancied, her affection for him was beyond everything else. This is rather ironic for Willoughby the man she loves holds a wholly contradicting viewpoint on the matter. Willoughby is willing to sacrifice even the greatest of loves if it cannot secure status and wealth.
Passage one also indicates the necessity of marrying well. Mrs. Dashwood illustrates a shallow reaction to the situation ...
The angry tone of Wollstonecraft’s “Vindication of the Rights of Women” significantly contrasts with the cautionary tone of Austen’s “On Making an Agreeable Marriage,” seeking to reform society rather than guide people to live in that society. When Austen describes the drawbacks of loveless marriage, she writes that “Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without affection” (Austen 72-73). Austen uses “preferred” and “endured” to warn her niece against marrying too quickly, creating a cautionary tone. Moreover, “anything” emphasizes the miserableness of a marriage without affection, beseeching Austen’s niece to verify her love before diving headfirst into a marriage. In contrast, when demonizing the education system, Wollstonecraft
The Attitudes Toward Marriage in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Jane Austin wrote the novel Pride and Prejudice in 1813. The novel provides a great deal of information and gives us a detailed insight to the different attitudes towards marriages at the time. Pride and Prejudice is focused and written about the lifestyles among "gentry". The "gentry" was the middle to upper class citizens in England. In the novel Jane Austin shows us that social status is a very important factor and that is was essential to have connections with people higher up in the gentry.
... She first criticizes Hero’s choice of a ruff; then she indirectly denigrates Hero’s wedding gown by contrasting its simplicity with the duchess of Milan’s lavish garment (3.4.14-23); finally, she mocks the prim and proper Hero by making a coarse sexual allusion (3.4.27). When Hero rebukes her, Margaret refuses to be shamed and defends herself: “[ashamed] of what, lady? Of speaking honorably? Is not marriage honorable in a beggar? Is not your lord honorable without marriage? (3.4.28-31). By implying that honor is achieved not through any marriage but through a “good,” socially suitable marriage, Margaret implicitly criticizes the inequality in her society and expresses her desire for a marriage that will not leave her “below stairs” (5.2.10). But she is acutely aware that she has no such marriage prospects as she resentfully watches Hero’s wedding preparations.
The problem we find in this story, and in puritanism, is that it presents contrasting views of love. Attachment to earthly possessions, to other people in fact, is discouraged, because everything physical leads to temptation and damnation, and ultimately hell, while the road to salvation of the individual wanders through a spiritual discipline, rigour, austerity. A man should not love his wife more than he loves God; in fact, it is recommended that he not derive pleasure from his wife, but rather seek suffering, in order to redeem himself from his earthly condition, his impure state.
The Canterbury Tales has many stories with multiple meaning and messages, but love is one subject that is argued throughout the book. There are two stories of the book that are discussed quite often on this subject “The Franklin’s Tale” and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”. “The Franklin’s Tale” argues that a marriage where everyone is considered equal is superior while the “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” supports the idea that a marriage best works with a woman being in charge. These two stories argue the two dramatically different opinions of gender relations in marriage, with their own tales as examples to support their position. Since the Wife’s tale is based off of inequality in relationships while the Franklin’s tale is centered around equal gender relations. Due to this the Franklin’s tale is of course the ideal situation.
little, if nothing at all based on a good love match. This can be seen
Elizabeth and Darcy's relationship could be seen as the ideal state between two extremes because they are marrying for love and financial security whereas Lydia and Wickham's marriage is one of physical attraction and emotions. On the other hand Charlotte and Mr Collins are marrying for financial security alone, which is in direct contrast to Lydia and Wickham's relationship. Lydia and Wickham emotions dominate their reason. Their marriage is one of 'little understanding of one
Marriage was not kind to Mrs. Mallard, her life was dull and not worth living, her face showed the years of repression. If she did love this man, why was marriage so harmful to her? Marriage was a prison for her
Marriage is a beautiful bond, where two people who love each other unconditionally, promise to love and take care of one another for the rest of their lives. Through the experiences of Lydia and Wickham, Charlotte and Collins, and Elizabeth and Darcy. Jane Austen criticizes marriages based on Infatuation, convience and money and emphasizes that marriages can only be successful if they are founded on mutal love.
...e acts as a social construct since she details her own rise to riches as a result of marriage, but society ignores the larger significance of marriage: procreation. This major aspect never receives any attention from either Lady Bracknell or Victorian society due to a cultural taboo. Wilde uses her views on marriage to illustrate the fundamental perversion of the Victorian matrimonial ideal since it uses marriage as a social construct while ignoring the sexual construct.
We can sit around and deny that time have changed but we know good and well they haven’t very much. Wealthier people marry wealthier people and lower class marry lower class. It seems that society is set up to kind of separate us into those stereotypes. You hardly ever see a wealthy man interested in a not so wealthy woman because that’s just simply not how it goes in this world today or really ever. People in my opinion feel out of place or they feel like they will disappoint or let their family down if they marry under them. Sense and sensibility is all about not marrying under your class or anyone who isn’t as wealthy as you are because it is wrong. Austen expresses her thought on the system of society In the structure of society and the desire to marry into a higher class. she can expose her own feelings toward her society through her characters. Through Marianne and Elinor she displays a sense of knowing the rules of society, what is allowed and what is not, yet not always accepting them or abiding by them. Yet, she hints at the unimportance and fakeness of the society in which she portrayed slightly and clearly through Willoughby, John Dashwood and Edward Ferrars. Austen expertly reveals many layers to the 19th century English society and the importance of having both sense and sensibility in such a shallow
In the novel Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen, the Dashwood family is left with much less money after their father dies. When their cousin takes them in, they move to a new home and start their new life. In this time period money and social rank were the most important things. For most marriage has nothing to do with love, it is about gaining property, money or rank. This is why Elinor and Marianne’s, two of the Dashwood sisters, answers to the question: “what have wealth or grandeur to do with happiness?” (122) are so important. Elinor, the eldest Dashwood sister has all the characteristics of sense and responds, “grandeur has but little . . . but wealth has much to do with it” (122). She is implying that to be happy in life one must have money. Marianne seems to be the opposite of Elinor and embodies sensibility; she disagrees and claims that money “gives no real satisfaction” (122). This theme is seen throughout the novels with many characters specifically with the characters of the two Dashwood sisters, Edward, Mr. Willoughby and Colonel Brandon. These ideas influence the characters’ decisions and have many consequences.
Austen?s tone is condemning when talking of marriages based on money, which on one hand shows her recognition of romance and sentimentalism but on the other can be seen as her bitterness for never finding love and marrying. For a novelist so concerned with the theme of marriage, it would seem that Austen believes in love with marriage being the just way to display affection. Austen?s condemning tone towards marriages based on class and wealth could be Austen recognising that marriage is not the only important thing in life. Austen would have had time to contemplate this, being so close to the end of her own life and realising that her life was complete without marrying.
...nce is more important than love. This view portrayed through the figure of Lady Bracknell.. Lady Bracknell married well, and her primary goal in life was to see her daughter Gwendolen do the same. Lady Branknell states“I am not in favour of long engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each other’s character before marriage, which I think is never advisable”. This shows how society has made the institution of marriage more about politics and social status and less about love. A socially respectable marriage has nothing to do with chemistry between the couple and everything to do with each individual’s heritage and wealth. Marriage is supposed to be based on love, Wilde in the play does not represent the ideologies of the time period in which it was written, it is a critique on the structure and attitudes that upheld in the society of the time.
...e, allowing the narrator to mirror the opinions and voices of our protagonists. By infusing the narrative voice - a typically trustworthy figure - with the same sarcastic sentiments Elinor and Marianne share, Austen aligns her opinions with theirs. Historically, this would shed light on why Austen decided to refashion Elinor and Marianne to be about two unmarried sisters; it also gives light as to why the aut Some critics have argued that “Austen at last broke into the world of publication by melting into the generic background rather than by asserting her difference,” but those critics are missing the subtle feminist beliefs, which Austen often uses, in the story of Elinor and Marianne. By positing the two sisters as our protagonists against the “target [of the] ‘unfeeling, unintelligent world’ in which the sisters have to live,” we understand that they are not f