Discuss attitudes to love + marriage in Pride and Prejudice
Set in late 18th Century Regency England, Pride and Prejudice is the portrait of the struggles of women finding the inevitable 'husband' and of a society that believes in male superiority. Through Elizabeth Bennet's lively intelligence and desire in finding 'a man she truly loves' there is the contrast of her best friend, Charlotte Lucas marrying for convenience. Austen depicts the views of love and marriage in a time that matrimony to a gentleman of wealth was the goal of most women's lives: 'A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment'. We can see the importance of marriage from the start of the novel, Its influence over the characters and events of the novel is hinted at in the ironic opening sentence: 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife'. Through Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen portrays the commonly held beliefs about marriage at the time. She does this through her use of characters and their individual views on marriage and love. Society's view of marriage is evident through the many characters who express monetary views of the sacred institution. She uses Elizabeth Bennet to sho
It is the marriages which are rushed and forced by society that fail, such as George Wickham to Lydia Bennet and Mr and Mrs Bennet. Lydia will not be accepted into society again and although the situation is resolved, 'Who will connect themselves with such a family?'We can see from these marriages and marriages between minor characters that for generations, Marriage has been for convenience and rarely a marriage for love is established. They are clearly incompatible, Mrs Bennet's 'business of her life was to get her children married, its solace was visiting and news'. This relates to the idea that marriages at this time was the only socially acceptable avenue for a woman, Men at this time knew that women had to marry and thought they were providing women with a favour, both Mr Darcy and Mr Collins are shocked by Elizabeth's refusal to their proposals. We can see from the marriage of Mr and Mrs Gardiner that, however rare, these marriages can occur and this gives Elizabeth Bennet hope for her idealistic marriage for love. Alike to many marriages at this time, and similarly to marriage of their younger daughter Lydia to Mr Wickham, Mr Bennet had been initially 'captivated by youth and beauty' but soon the mask had faded and her 'weak understanding and illiberal mind' had already ruined any chance of a successful marriage. Through the marriage proposal of Mr Collins who was described as being 'a mixture of pride, obsequiousness, self importance and humility' to Elizabeth, we can see a typical view of the importance of marriage in the society. In this era, Marriage was the only answer to many couples. 'Lydia is a precocious and well-developed girl of fifteen', She inherited her 'mother's love of trivia and gossip but none of her father's intelligence' married Mr Wickham, described as a 'wild', deceitful soldier. From the way Mr Darcy convinced Mr Bingley never to marry Jane at the start of the book, We can gather that the family was not viewed 'highly' and regardless of 'love', 'beauty' and 'companionship' the social status of a family influences men's attitude towards women. Jane Austen confirms with the reader that the Bennet's' marriage does not form 'a very pleasing picture of conjugal felicity or domestic comfort'. The only other prospects were becoming a Governess and a spinster, both of which were vastly criticised by the society. We can see repercussions of this in the marriage proposal of Mr Darcy to Elizabeth Bennet when he explains that in spite of 'obstacles' relating to her family's low social position, he wanted her to be his wife. For many men, although they were not socially rejected for not marrying they needed legitimate children to inherit the estate. A woman had to marry to be able to provide money for the remaining members of the family and women from wealthy families needed to marry well to continue their extravagant lifestyles.
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