For Money or Love

In the early 1800s, women were second-class citizens. Women were expected to restrict their area of interest to the home and the family. Women were not encouraged to have a real education or pursue a professional career. Also, women were considered unequal to their husbands and all males legally and socially. The day-to day lives of men and women were quite clearly divided during the late 1800s. Woman in the late 1800s were treated inhumane because of society, class, and their rights.

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.

There was a very different scene in the household of American families. During the early 1800s, a woman’s life consisted of many obligations and few choices. Women were pretty much controlled by the men in their life, their fathers, brothers, and husbands. The life would consist of finding a husband, reproducing, and then spending the rest of their lives helping the family in the house. In fact, when women became married, legally all of her inheritance and belongings would belong to her husband.

According to the article “Rights for woman”, in the 1800 women were treated as subsequent class citizens, and they did not have many rights at all. They were not able to vote and were not encouraged to get an education, or even get a job that they enjoyed (Rights for Women, Par. 1). Women were expected to clean, cook, and find a husband. According to Juliet Levy, Marriage is an agreement that over all comes with substantial financial upbringing. (Levy, 427) As previously stated woman were worth less than men during that time, so the men were basically able to treat them however they wanted. Men were able to send their wives to insane asylums if they did not follow the rules or live up to the expectations of women of that time. According to an article on woman

In the late 1800’s women were tired of being put on the back burner. Women were not able to vote, work certain jobs and some were not able to get a basic education.

Roles of Women in the late 1800s Around the late 1800s, the roles of women were different than todays. Women could not participate in majority of the occupations that men are allowed too. Women could not vote, they were unauthorized to own property, and were restricted to working. Women were only seen as stay at home wives, and completed all the duties as a housewife.

The families of Elizabeth and Charlotte play a very important part in their lives, and in the prospect of their future companions. Elizabeth’s family are more prone to exposing themselves and being ridiculous , and it is partly down to her family that Mr. Darcy is so adamant on Mr. Bingley not marrying her sister Jane. However, unlike her family, Elizabeth is socially graceful, sensitive and conscious of her appearance in the eyes of others. This leads to her acute awareness of the social failing of some members of her family, particularly her mother and youngest sister.

To begin, readers can detect that Elizabeth is acting out of a moral compass because of her firm beliefs about marriage. While the main concern of most women during this time period was to find financial stability, Elizabeth sought to find a partner to marry out of love. This sharp contrast to the status-quo woman is found in the character of Charlotte Lucas, who repeatedly affirms the fact that she is only looking for a man with wealth and a comfortable home. Charlotte also accepts a marriage proposal three days after her fiancé had

In yet another example, Mrs. De Bourgh, in her discussions with Elizabeth, reveals that wealth, and the societal station it provides, should be the primary basis for marriage. In her meeting with Elizabeth, Mrs. De Bourgh discusses the importance of planned marriages and how her daughter should be marrying Mr. Darcy instead of Elizabeth, noting that, “While in their cradles, we planned the union; and now, at the moment when the wishes of both sisters would be accompanied, in their marriage, to be prevented by a young woman of inferior birth, of no importance in the world, and wholly unallied to the

Charlotte Lucas provides contrast to the protagonist Elizabeth Bennet throughout Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. During the Regency Era, marriage is considered to be of the utmost importance for both men and women, and “it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” (Austen 3). Both young women receive a marriage proposal from the same man, Mr. Collins, who Elizabeth finds to be the most undesirable bachelor she has ever come across. Elizabeth kindly rejects his offer only for Mr. Collins to propose not long after to Charlotte; she gladly accepts. Miss Bennet quickly receives another proposal from a man whom she finds much more desirable and makes her genuinely happy, leading her to fulfill her goal of marrying for love.

One of her most recognized works is the novel Pride and prejudice, which was very much valued during the Romantic Movement. Austen through her novel illustrates the importance of marriage, either with or without love. She is one of the most important novelists who through their novel is trying to demonstrate the historical preferences and a class separation. She shows the social proposal for that time by how people desired to marry into a higher class, and how the marriage should arise from love despite social standing. Austen through her novel is trying to bring awareness to inequalities between people of the same community. Some of these inequalities are the results of individual differences in ability and effort, but much of it also refers to the social differences regarding power, wealth, and prestige.

Charlotte is a neighbour and friend of Elizabeth, who is older and unmarried at the beginning of the story. She is simple in her values and does not question a women's role in society. Charlotte's main achievement in the story occurred when she was able to secure a proposal of marriage from Mr. Collins after he had been rejected by Elizabeth, who asked why she accepted. Charlotte explained "I am not a romantic you know. I never was. I only ask for a comfortable home; considering Mr Collins's character, connections, situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is fair, as most people can boast on entering a marriage state" By this Charlotte is questioning Elizabeth's values, believing she is over her head in her ideas. She is simply happy with what she has been dealt

Jane Austen's Portrayal of Marriage in Pride and Prejudice Marriage plays an extremely important role in Jane Austen's novel 'Pride and Prejudice'. The novel begins with the sentence "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. " This single sentence extremely significant in the fact that it is strongly connected with one of the main themes of the novel, and introduces a powerful irony that clashes with the events that unfold during the progress of the novel. In Jane Austen's day, women of high status were almost entirely dependent on men.

Jane Austen’s well-known novel, Pride and Prejudice, discussed multiple social themes in the 19th century. Austen mainly criticized marriage during her era, when she says that, “it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” (Austen 3). As she explains that it was valuable to women since it provided them with security and a social title. The author explored the diverse motives behind matrimony in her time period by using a humorous and romantic plot to discuss the social issues. For instance, Charlotte Lucas’s unreasonable marriage to Mr. Collins is a vital example of how women needed to secure a future and attain social status. To conclude, Lydia Bennet’s meaningless marriage to George Wickham shows that entering the marriage estate could have also been for mainly financial purposes. Contrastingly, Jane Bennet, the heroine’s older sister, marries Charles Bingley for love, security, and a social ranking. On the other hand, Elizabeth Bennet marries Fitzwilliam Darcy after months of misunderstandings and romantic drama for none other than true love. Thus, Austen uses her leading characters’ marriages in Pride and Prejudice to exhibit the various attitudes and reasons for marrying in the 19th century. (Lane 2015)

Pride and Prejudice is one of the successful novels written by Jane Austen. She uses more exquisite irony through the characters to criticise the society and challenge the values of the Regency period. She presents the values of roles of women, marriage is a business arrangement that women often marry for money and class is the most important in all the social situations.