Marriage in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Essay

Bennet and she sees it as imperative that her daughters are married off. In Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth Bennet receives two proposals of marriage the first from her cousin the bumbling Mr. Collins. The Bennet family had received a letter prior to his arrival; the impression put across is that Mr. Collins is long winded and all over a bit of a fool. This letter prepares the family and the reader for the arrival of a pompous egotist.

Pride and Prejudice tells a story of a young girl in the midst of a very materialistic society. Jane Austen uses the setting to dramatize the restraints women had to endure in society. As the novel develops, we see how women have to act in a way according to their gender, social class, and family lineage. Elizabeth Bennet’s sisters represent the proper societal lady while Lizzy is the rebel. Through her characters Austen shows how a women’s happiness came second to the comfort of wealth. As the plot develops, events are laid out to illustrate how true love is unattainable when women marry for intentions of wealth. Women have very specific and limited roles in a society where men are the superior. In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

Today marriage is seen as an expression of deep love and respect for another person. In Austen’s time, a ‘good’ marriage was seen to be one where wealth and social status of the man and woman were socially suitable. There was very

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

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.

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice examines and critiques a society built upon gender roles. Austen does this by examining the obstacles women experienced in the Regency Period. Austen expresses how women were controlled, and objectified by men through their need to get married to a man. Additionally, the novel ridicules how women who could not afford to live without men were shadowed by their partner. This commentary is seen through the portrayal of the Bennet sisters. The females of the family are forced to marry because they do not inherit any wealth. The family is forced to comply with the same boundaries Austen was governed by. Therefore, Austen focuses on how the Bennet sisters overcome a society that suppresses them. This allows the reader to comprehend the strength, perseverance, determination, and assertiveness of the women in this time. Overall, Jane Austen addresses gender issues throughout the story. This is seen in the progressive image of Elizabeth, as she combats the inequality women experience. Although it was not common for women to criticize the patriarchy, the overall depiction of females is progressive. Elizabeth represents Austen’s feminist views, and the depiction of women in the novel is seen through her feminist image as she deals with Mr. Collins and Mr. Darcy.

In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen creates a unique environment which allows her characters to evolve and to transform. One of the characters, Elizabeth Bennet, the second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, faces challenges that impact her decisive demeanor. Likewise, Fitzwilliam Darcy, Elizabeth’s love interest, confronts many obstacles which come against his character as well. Through several key experiences, both Elizabeth and Darcy undergo internal transformations – Elizabeth’s quick judgments become humbleness while Darcy’s arrogance is replaced with humility.

It is truly impossible to believe that relationships have not changed at all since Austen’s time. Pride and Prejudice took place in a setting where the male had complete authority over the female, and primogeniture decided who received the family fortune. However, most of Austen’s main points about personal relationships still ring true today. For instance, Austen begins her novel by saying, “it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” (Austen 1). People in

“But Mrs Bennet’s obsession with marrying off her daughters at all costs stems from real practical parental concern—if they do not marry, they may starve, especially given that Mr Bennet himself has made no provision for his daughters' futures but seems instead to be in a form of denial—he retreats to his library” (Jones). Readers sympathize with Mrs. Bennet’s aggravating personality when they realize her actions stem from a place of worry for her daughetrs’ future. Since Mrs. Bennet is a woman, she can provide no other form of security but marriage for her daughters. Mrs. Bennet’s actions also originate from a deeply personal part of her life- her marriage. Compared to other men during this time period, Mr. Bennet has done little to give his daughters a financially sound future and sees the search for a husband as silly and dismisses it. Mrs. Bennet has no other way to support her daughters, causing her to obsess over the idea and constantly push her daughters to act proper in order to get a husband. “Mrs. Bennet makes herself ridiculous in her attempts to be overly feminine; she fancies herself a victim of others’ cruelty, constantly complaining that no one regards her ‘nerves’. She has little respect for decorum…her marriage, built on physical attraction, is now a loveless union” (Guggenheim). Mrs. Bennet’s desperation to find her daughters’ spouses can be attributed to the unaffectionate

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

The fact that Mr Bennet knows that his marriage is unsuccessful is important.  We know that he is conscious of it, as he warns Elizabeth against an unequal marriage,

Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is a canonical text set in Regency England which focuses on the Bennet family and their “business” to marry off their 5 daughters. Austen uses Elizabeth Bennet as the central character of this text to provide her insights on social divisions in her time. In Regency England, a woman’s marital status had a huge impact on their value in society and women who were not married were differentiated from society and were treated poorly. If a woman in Regency England was to be offered an advantageous proposal from a wealthy man it would be accepted blindly, however for Elizabeth Bennet it is not the case. Mr Darcy’s proposal to Elizabeth is rejected due to him being ‘unjust and ungenerous’.

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.

Right from the beginning we understand that Mrs. Bennet’s motive is to marry off her 5 daughters(Elizabeth, Jane, Mary, Catherine, and Lydia) to eligible suitors, particularly Mr. Bingley. Mr. Bennet, being “a mixture of quick parts” (7), is impartial to this and would rather not visit Mr. Bingley as Mrs. Bennet alludes that it is customary for the father to visit any potential suitor before the mother does. With this argument, we see that Mrs. Bennet’s happiness is directly linked to the well-being of her daughters. We also see that Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s views of what’s right for their daughters are very different from each other with Mrs. Bennet doing whatever it takes to ensure the happiness of her daughters while Mr. Bennet is not so proactive in this endeavor.

Marriage can be seen as a business, while men bring money to the family, women simply take out. Marriage was a definite concern for Mrs. Bennet due to two major reasons: to provide a future for her daughters and find a heir that would inherit their property as women cannot. Her views on who her daughters should marry are most explicitly expressed when she states “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” (Volume 1. Chapter 1. 5). Mrs. Bennet description of a man with great wealth represents the latter of society’s views on marriage. There is no emotional or physical basis of marriage, as it should be done in order to preserve the familial reputation and maintain societal connections. This notion is perhaps highlighted even further while Elizabeth discovers Mr. Collins’ intentions on marrying Charlotte. Charlotte is Elizabeth’s good friend while Mr. Collins is a clergyman andthe cousin of Mr.Bennett. Mr. Collins came to Netherfield seeking a woman for marriage but was rejected by Elizabeth. When Elizabeth finds out that Mr. Collins has decided to marry Charlotte, she is