6 November,2022
Hello dear friends, here I am writing a blog on the plot of 'Marriage' in 'Pride and Prejudice'.
Pride and Prejudice
∆ Write a critical note on the plot of 'Marriage' in 'Pride and Prejudice'.
Austen was a famous realistic woman writer of the late 18 century and early 19 century. Born in a clerical family and educated strictly. Jane Austen created six novels and three unfinished stories, during just 42 peaceful years, and was considered to be a prolific writer.
Among the works, Pride and Prejudice is the most successful and impressive masterpiece. The famous novel was written in 1813, and was very popular all the time and had been read widely. It showed the daily lives and values of the Middle-Class Englishmen of that time, which was Male-Centered. Many people simply regard Pride and Prejudice as a love story, but in my opinion, this book is an illustration of the society at that time. Jane Austen perfectly reflected the relation between money and marriage at her time and gave the people in her works vivid character.
The characters have their own personalities. Mr. Bennet is an old-style gentleman. Mrs. Bennet is a woman who makes great efforts to marry off her daughters. Mr. Bingley is a friendly young man, but his friend, Mr. Darcy is very proud. Mr. Darcy seems to always feel superior. Even the five daughters in the Bennet family are very different. Jane is simple, innocent and never speaks evil of others. Elizabeth is a clever girl who always has her own opinion. Mary likes reading classic books who actually is a pedant. Kitty doesn't have her own opinion but likes to follow her sister, Lydia. Lydia is a girl who follows exotic things, a handsome man, and is somehow a little profligate. The parents, the daughters, and even the young men are all representative personages of different groups. That's why when we read the book, we can easily find the same personalities in modern society now. Indeed, the book is representative of the society in Britain in the late 18th century and the early 19th century.
Pride and Prejudice is a love story, but its author is also concerned with pointing out the inequality that governs the relationships between men and women and how it affects women's choices and options regarding marriage. Austen portrays a world in which choices for individuals are very limited, based almost exclusively on a family's social rank and connections. To be born a woman into such a world means having even less choice about whom to marry or how to determine the shape of one's life. The way that society controls and weakens women helps to explain in part Mrs. Bennet's hysteria about marrying off her daughters, and why such marriages must always involve practical, financial considerations. As members of the upper class, the Bennet sisters are not expected to work or make a career for themselves. Yet as women they are not allowed to inherit anything. As a result, marriage is basically their only option for attaining wealth and social standing. Yet Austen is also critical of women who marry solely for security, like Charlotte.
During the Regency Period in England's history, marriage was often entered into by men and women for many more reasons than just love between two people. Discover examples of the types of complex marriages and the significance of dowries during this period of English history in Jane Austin's classic novel, Pride and Prejudice, which was published in 1813.
The beginning lines of the novel Pride and Prejudice, by British author Jane Austen, help the reader to understand the zeitgeist of marriage that took place in the time it was published in 1813. A rich man, either ill-favored or handsome, becomes the target of all the society mothers' attempts to get their daughters married off.
In Pride and Prejudice, the scheming matrons include Mrs. Bennet and Lady Catherine De Bourgh. And it's not just the mothers who are pushy when it comes to securing a husband. Throughout the novel, Caroline Bingley throws herself into the path of Mr. Darcy right and left. Her goal is to show her superiority of accomplishments and character and to demean Elizabeth Bennet,the woman Mr. Darcy is really interested in.
But in the novel, women weren't just seeking out marriage as some sort of prize; there was real societal risk involved in not securing a husband. Pride and Prejudice explores the real risks women face in regards to their reputation and what could happen if they wound up in a poor match or alone. It also showed that it was possible, despite these risks, to marry for love.
During this time period, a woman's reputation was worth its weight in gold. This is especially true of the young and unmarried. It is stated in the text that once a woman's reputation is lost, it's lost forever. Lydia Bennet and her sister Kitty act in a wild, unmanageable manner with the officers of the militia. When Lydia runs off with Mr. Wickham, she would be seen as a fallen woman if he was not induced by Mr. Darcy to marry her.
There are also several examples of couples who marry for love in Pride and Prejudice. The main characters of the novel, Ms. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, find themselves in a comedy of errors. He is too proud of his family and place in society. She is prejudiced because of a series of overheard insults and slights he makes about her.
Jane Austen, one of women writers, was famous for her realistic writing style. Among her works, Pride and Prejudice is a world-famous masterpiece, in which she created different marriages, and showed us her views on marriage. The views have some guiding significance to our modern women even now.
Jane Austen weaved different marriages in Pride and Prejudice. The marriages are all different from each other. Through these different marriages, Jane Austen showed us the true social problems and characteristics of that time, and implied her own values of marriage.
∆ Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy :
As the heroine of this novel, Elizabeth's love is very important. At the beginning, Elizabeth refused to accept Darcy's pursuit. Because in Elizabeth's mind, Darcy is very cold and extremely proud, he is rich and has high social status, and he looks down upon the middle-class girls. In particular, he insulted Elizabeth Bennet, a girl of spirit and intelligence and his father's favorite. But as time went by, Darcy began to admire Elizabeth in spite of himself.
For Elizabeth, love is the most important element of marriage. She does not accept a marriage which is not based on love. She doesn't love Collins, so she refused the future heir to the manor and the wealth. And at first she thought Darcy was too arrogant, so she also refused the wealthy gentleman. We can see a rational and intelligent girl in the novel, who is just Elizabeth. As they got to know each other further and further, Elizabeth cleared the misunderstanding between them, and Mr. Darcy saw the disadvantages in himself, they fell in love with each other on the basis of love. This is the best ending for them.
We know that, in the novel, Lydia, as Mr. Bennet's third daughter was spoiled by her mother, so she was very conceited and arrogant, and behaved frivolously. Wickham, he has no other advantage except for his attractive physical appearance. In his opinion, love is just recreation. Due to his trouble with a large debt, he entices Lydia and gets her love easily. When their love does not get the permission from the parents, they elope. When Elizabeth hears the news, she believes that their love does not have a happy ending. Indeed, Wickham would not marry Lydia, because she was not charming and had nothing to attract him. He doesn't love her but the wealth of her family.
∆ Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley :
Jane was the oldest of Mr. Bennet's daughters, a pretty girl of sweet and gentle disposition. Bingley was an imme diate success in local society. At the first ball, Jane has a good impression of Bingley, and it is the same to Bing ley. They were attracted to each other at once.
For Bingley, he had a good temper. He was so modest and had no opinion about his own marriage. No matter how obvious his attachment to Jane was, he believed Darcy's representation of Jane's indifference was true. Because Mr. Bingley's two sisters didn't like Jane, they thought Mr. Bingley should choose Darcy's sister as his. wife, who was of course "superior" to Jane. Under the influence of his sisters, Mr. Darcy Bingley began to doubt Jane's affection for him. Finally, he thought Jane didn't love him, so he left her without saying goodbye.
Later, when all the misunderstanding was clarified, he came back to Jane at Darcy's assistance. Bingley's indecisive character determines his happiness and results that this life was controlled by others. Later on a visit to Bingley's, Jane's love affair with Bingley is advanced. Even Bingley is apparently on the point of proposing to Jane. Bingley is attracted by Jane's tenderness and beautiful appearance, while Jane is attracted by his gentle manner. They love each other.
∆ Mr. Collins and Charlotte Lucas :
In the novel, when the homely and plain Charlotte decided to marry Collins, she was only satisfied, without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object, and we can see it was the only honorable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune. In fact what Charlotte asks is only a comfortable shatter, a higher social position and a better wealth.
For Collins, he is a man who does not know what love is at all. When Mr. Collins first proposed to Elizabeth, much to her mother's displeasure and her father's joy, she firmly and promptly rejected him. He almost immediately transferred his affections to Elizabeth's best friend, Charlotte Lucas, who, 27 and somewhat homely, accepted at once his offer of marriage. Collin's decision to marry Charlotte is only because of Elizabeth's refusal to him.
Thank you...
Words: 1679I
Images: 5
