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Marriage And English Society Within The 1800 ' S

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Jane Austen provides her readers with insight into marriage and English society within the 1800’s. In Emma, the story establishes the idea that society could not function without marriage and how the institution of marriage defined one’s social status.
Marriage, a broad theme in this book, can be broken down throughout. Emma’s sister has gone off after getting married and left her alone. After her sister’s marriage, Emma proclaimed that she was not destined for love and made herself the town’s unofficial matchmaker. The entire novel is built around relationships and matchmaking, with Emma and Mr. Knightly, Harriet and Robert Martin/ Elton, and Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill.
The main conflicts in the novel revolve around marriage and social class due to the fact that everyone in the story is trying to find their ideal match: a partner who is compatible to them by wealth, bloodline, and social standing. Marriage was the foundation of social class and was paramount to the people of Highbury whose social status was usually defined in reference to a family name and a long line of wealth or even poverty. To people during the nineteenth century, marriage was extremely important as it acted one of the only ways to keep social/ economic status or change it.
Social mobility, the advancement of social status, was not commonly seen in Highbury and could only be attained through the acquisition of money. Family name (along with the possession of wealth) was the principal factor in

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