In the novel Austen uses techniques of contrasting actions of couples leading up to ones family marriages and the different kinds of marriage and their outcomes. The family is called the Bennett’s, they have five unmarried daughters and no sons, and this proposes a problem to them because there estate is entailed to inheritance, to Mr. Collins, a family cousin. This will leave the Bennet daughters, once Mr. Bennet dies, without a home or money. Mrs. Bennet is very determined to find all her children a husband, and has a bad outlook on what a marriage should entail. We can see this in the quote in the very beginning of the novel when Mrs. Bennet states, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good …show more content…
Lydia Bennet is the youngest of the five sisters and part of the novel revolves around her shameful elopement with Mr. Wickham and the disgrace and drama it brings to her family. We see Lydia through the eyes of her sister Elizabeth where she states “"Our importance, our respectability in the world, must be affected by the wild volatility, the assurance and disdain of all restraint which mark Lydia 's character."(118)
Lydia is described as being incapable of listening to her oldest sisters advice because they she is too stubborn pursue her own interests. She is described as being “Vain, ignorant, idle, and absolutely uncontrolled! (p. 118). Elizabeth even warns her father if he does not start controlling Lydia soon, “she will, at sixteen, be the most determined flirt that ever made herself or her family ridiculous” (p. 118). Her family is worried that she is going to ruin her own and her family’s reputation through her inappropriate actions, through her flirtations with every officer she comes across. Austen represents Mrs. Bennet as the direct cause of Lydia’s misfortunes. Mrs. Bennet is described by Austen as, “a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper (p. 60) Mrs. Bennet fails to educate Lydia socially, and by spoiling her and encouraging her flirtatious, she contributes to the Elopement. Lydia should not be the one to blame for her actions, Mrs. Bennet should be. Mrs. Bennet values marriage as something that concerns wealth and
In the novel Pride and Prejudice, Austen conveys her opinion about marriage. Through Lydia Bennet and George Wickham, Austen clearly shows how a relationship on the basis of infatuation contributes to an unsuccessful marriage. Lydia is an immature, foolish young woman who presents a relationship based on physical gratification. Wickham too, is similar - he is self-indulgent, manipulative and would never deny any pleasure. Just like Wickham, Lydia has an aspiration to “attach herself to anybody,” as she experiences a passion for men in uniform. As a result of Lydia 's immaturity, she demonstrates that her love towards Wickham is only for enjoyment and imprudent motives; he being part of the regiment is the only reason her affections fluctuate for him. Despite the absence of admiration in their marriage, Lydia and Wickham suffer the consequences of their marriage with indifference for one another. They live a short period of happiness as their marriage is based on convenience, attraction and passion rather than love and
Austen opens the novel by telling us, “It is a truth universally acknowledge, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”(7) The act of marriage during this time period an act of comfort rather than love. A woman married a man when it was ensured she would live a prosperous and wealthy life. Affection was not enough for women to marry; however, Elizabeth knew that in order for her to be happy, love must be there. In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth was promised of a comfortable life by three gentlemen but turning all three down because her affection was
Mr and Mrs Bennet's marriage is spoken about in the book from Mr Bennet?s point of view. The reader may wonder why if they do not love each other, then why did Mr Bennet marry Mrs Bennet? This is explained in the book where Jane Austen says ?Her father (Elizabeth?s), captivated by youth and beauty, and that appearance of good humour, which youth and beauty generally give, had married a woman whose weak understanding and illiberal mind had very early in their marriage put an end to all real affection for her.? This basically explains that Mr Bennet married her because she was young and beautiful, but then realised she wasn?t very intelligent and he didn?t end up loving her. This has affected their marriage, as there are a lot sniping comments and complaining throughout the book to each other and about each other.
Considering that Lydia is the youngest of five sisters, as already mentioned before, and that she was introduced to society by her mother at a young age (cf. PP 45), it is likely that she has been feeling ignored. As Jane and Elizabeth have been in the centre of attention due to their mother’s attempts to marry them to Mr Bingly and Mr Collins (source?), Lydia decides to regain the attention by her elopement on the assumption that especially Mrs Bennet would be overcome with joy. At the same time, she would surpass and triumph over her sisters by being the youngest daughter to be married first, which she ultimately accomplishes: “[Elizabeth] then joined them soon enough to see Lydia, with anxious parade, walk up to her mother’s right hand, and hear her say to her eldest sister, ‘Ah! Jane, I take your place now, and you must go lower, because I am a married woman” (PP
Of the five Bennet sisters, three of them get engaged/married throughout the book. Of those three, Jane and Lizzy have happy, loving marriages. The other marriage, Lydia’s marriage, was forced due to her scandalous relationship. Jane was ecstatic to be engaged and was truly in love with her fiancé: “Oh! Lizzy, why am I thus singled from my family, and blessed above them all! If I could but see you as happy! If there were but such another man for you”(Austen 300). Jane, and later on Lizzy, got engaged to a wealthy upper class man who she truly loved. Lydia’s relationship did not begin as joyfully as her sisters’. Lizzy demonstrated the issues of the marriage perfectly: “How Wickham and Lydia were to be supported in tolerable independence, she could not
From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. ---Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do’” (97). Mrs. Bennet makes a fuss over trivial things and is partial to exaggeration. These attributes prompt her children and husband to see her as unimportant and harmless. Although her word is ineffective in her household, Mrs. Bennet’s persistence to marry her daughters is ceaseless: “Not yet, however, in spite of her disappointment in her husband, did Mrs. Bennet give up the point. She talked to Elizabeth again and again; coaxed and threatened her by turns” (97). Mrs. Bennet can’t see past her marital ideals for her daughters and can’t understand why they don’t concern themselves as ardently as she does with them. In a fit of anger, Mrs. Bennet claims to disown Elizabeth for refusing Mr. Collin’s proposal by stating, “’But I tell you what, Miss Lizzy, if you take it into your head to go on refusing every offer of marriage in this way, you will never get a husband at all --and I am sure I do not know who is to maintain you when your father is dead’” (98). Elizabeth’s mother thinks that her threats have weight but all the Bennet children know her warnings are hollow. Even when Lydia runs away with Wickham and brings shame to the Bennet family, Mrs. Bennet is only concerned with the fact that Lydia is getting married: “She was now in an irritation as violent from
Bennet exclaims, “Oh! Single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls” (2). Considering Mrs. Bennet’s lines, the reader acknowledges Austen’s first claims on marriage. Mrs. Bennet not only exemplifies the opening statement of the novel, but also justifies the effect it has on mother figures. As Mrs. Bennet’s character develops, the reader recognizes her obsession with the marriage of her daughters. Mrs. Bennet understands the importance of marrying ‘well’ in order to maintain a high standing in the social realm. However, understanding the consequences directly affects Mrs. Bennet’s desperate behavior. This interpretation becomes an inevitable experience for each of Mrs. Bennet’s daughters.
This stands in stark contrast to what Miss Elizabeth Bennett wants. Mrs Bennett wants her daughters to marry because it’s thea only way for them to solidfy that they will have food on their plates and a roof over their head. Mr. Collins is Mr. Bennetts brother and is set to inherit his estate when he dies. He comes to visit in the middle of the book and his main intentions are to ask on of the daughters to marry him and to observe what he will in time own. Mrs. Bennett says in response to all this “Oh! Single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousnd a year. What a fine thing for our girls!” (57, Austen) The single man she speaks of his Mr. Collins, the Bennett kids uncle. Austen describes Mr. Collins as a self retious kind of man who thinks he is above the Benntt’s just because he is set to inherrit their estate. This gives him a villeness quality. Austen is commenting on the blindness of Mrs. Bennett to the qualitys of Marraige. She only shes Mr. Collins as money but Elizabeth sees him as a bad person to spend the rest of her life with and theirfore turns down his marraige purposal. Which causes trouble between her and her mother. This is the best example of the contrast in what the two women see as the meaning of Marriage.
Their limited education consisted of needlework, fine handwriting, singing, dancing, playing piano, and reading (3). Marriage at this time was the only thing that could give a woman any sense of security. If their fathers were to die, it was custom that only the eldest son could inherit the money and property. Unfortunately, if the family did not have a male son the land would be given to the closet male relative, which left the women in a very delicate position. Austen show’s readers this aspect of her society by having the Bennet sisters in the same situation. Without a male sibling their land and home will be entailed to a Mr. Collins. If Mr. Bennet were to die, his five daughters and his wife would be left homeless or at the charity of others because Mr. Collins would not have it in his heart to let them reside in the house with him. Their only way to escape this fate would be to get married. However, there was many obstacles that middle class young women had to deal with that kept young suitors uninterested. One was their social station. The society of this time was so stratified that even one class could be broken down into more distinctions of rank (2). The people did not often marry outside of their social rank, which left middle class women with middle class men. Unfortunately, money also played a big part in the determination of whether
Elizabeth also possesses moral strength. She constantly tries to restrain Lydia's frivolity and inability to do what is fitting, or just plain good manners, in what looks to be a losing battle. When Lydia interrupts Collins' reading aloud of a sermon, Elizabeth bids her to hold her tongue. She strongly feels the impropriety and shame of Lydia's constant and avid seeking out of male attention and company. When Lydia is invited by Mrs. Forster to join the regiment in Brighton, Elizabeth endeavours to make her father stop Lydia. Unlike her father, who never restrains Lydia but rather enjoys the sight of her making a fool of herself,
situation is best summed up in the book by Jane Austen as we are given
In Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet, the mother of the protagonist, Elizabeth, is generally portrayed as a buffoon who is an adversary for he daughter that is trying to force her into a marriage she does not want. One may wonder how she can be justified in any way, considering that she is known to embarrass her family members and behave idiotically. However, in the time period they live in, a marriage is necessary for all of the family to avoid a terrible fate. Mrs. Bennet, while often behaving improperly, does try to do the best for her daughters based on the world she lives in.
The obvious purpose of the written letters is to inform the reader of the events at hand regarding Lydia Bennet and Mr. Wickham. However, these letters allow changes to take place in other relationships as well. Jane Bennet
At this point in the novel, Mrs. Bennet knows absolutely nothing about this man that she is more than willing to let one of her daughters go off with, other than his income and the existence of his wealth; yet she is still certain that it is a fantastic idea for one of her daughters to end up with him. It is extremely relevant that Mrs. Bennet pays no mind to which daughter should be with him- it simply does not matter to her. She takes no time to think of which daughter may like him best or if any of them will even like him at all. She is primarily concerned with the surface level issues of her society, and the importance of marrying well in society without regard to the compatibility of the two people. All that matters to Mrs. Bennet is social ranking, wealth, and marriage. While these are all extreme conservative views, Austen is actually mocking Mrs. Bennet with the exaggerative manner in which she has Mrs. Bennet go about life. Austen describes Mrs. Bennet as “a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented she fancies herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news” (4). A woman of “little information” can only mean a woman without much of a brain or smarts. The fact that Austen would describe a character with such conservative views as an ignorant being proves that Austen’s goal of Pride and Prejudice was to stray away from conservative
Similarly, Mary's awkward and reclusive actions promote her as an agreeable suitor; this makes her the only Bennett sister to not have the opportunity to be married. The two oldest sisters contain the most agreeable and independent personalities among the Bennett sisters, which foreshadows their successful relationships. Jane’s positive attitude causes Bingley to be attracted to her, but Darcy questions Bingley’s choice. By the end of the novel, Bingley realizes that he made a mistake to leave Jane. Jane’s marriage is the first marriage bring prestige to the Bennetts. As for Elizabeth, her personality first comes across unagreeable to suitors, but suitors realize that she is the next respectful Bennett sister besides Jane. Darcy's entitled personality clashes with Elizabeth's prideful attitude; eventually, Darcy discovers that Elizabeth's odd behaviors results from taking care of her family. He admires her commitment; like Elizabeth, Darcy values his sister more than anyone. Darcy and Elizabeth family values cause them to find common ground away from their previous views of each other. Austen wrote the Bennetts' family dynamics to foreshadow the success of the sisters’ future marriage; they also demonstrate the importance of family values in a relationship.