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Through “Pride and Prejudice” Austen explores many values in place in her society and exemplifies just what value she applies to them. Marriage is the key issue addressed throughout this entire text along with her focus on women, which is Weldon’s focus as well; her approach is simple and abrupt. She accepts that marriage is a necessary goal for women yet believes that one should marry for love and happiness rather than financial gain or standing. Financial gain that results from marriage should be luck rather than the key factor for the marriage. This belief contradicted beliefs of society within that time as society dictated that the sole reason of marriage was to gain financial standing and as a result better standings within class and rank. Within the text there are many instances that show these contradictions of beliefs, of society and Austen.…
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Marriage in Austen's works is far from being mere union of two hearts, and each character involved is more or less concerned about such factors as wealth and social status, since they are part of a middle-class community in which comfort and happiness largely depend on material conditions. Marriage, in this sense, is not the simple advanced relation between a man and a woman, but "means a complete engagement between the marrying couple and society--that is, it means not only 'feelings' but 'property' as well. In many cases, marriage is even used as a tool to gain or secure personal and family interests, and sometimes Austen has completely taken romance out of the affair with her…
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“This is truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” (5) However in Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, we see that even a women is in desperate need of a husband. Austen spends a great deal of time explaining the rules of marriage in her time period, as it was a major theme in her novel. Jane Austen’s writing helps the reader better understand the historical point of view about how society in the late eighteenth century viewed marriage, as she describes how both the man and woman needed to have manners, wealth, and the parents had to approve the couple.…
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Jane Austen outlines her idea of the ideal marriage though Elizabeth and Darcy's union in Pride and Prejudice. Their marriage is based on love and intellectual stimulation rather than lust or push of social pressure that is displayed in Lydia and Charlotte's. Marriage is highly regarded in Austen's world in reference to permanence. Many marriages are described in Pride and Prejudice, but three unions that are born within the story line of the novel strongly express Austen's ideas and beliefs of marriage through Elizabeth's thoughts and actions. The three unions this essay will focus on are Charlotte and Collins, Wickham and Lydia, and Elizabeth and Darcy. Charlotte and Collins represent a socially-ideal marriage; they have married for money (at least on Charlotte's part), they have a nice estate, and Charlotte was able to escape being a burden on her family and the low-status position of an old maid. Since Collins is the beneficiary of the Bennet estate, it would seem as though a Bennet (specifically Elizabeth, Collins' first interest) would be the best choice. Despite the fact that Collins and Elizabeth would have been a better match, at least socially and financially, it is Charlotte who is tied to Collins in the end.…
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Social class within Pride and Prejudice plays a key role throughout the novel. Social class not only determines where one is placed in the class structure, but also the amount of land, money, and potential suitor candidates. Where one is placed within the social hierarchy is based on what one does for a living and their social status as well. For instance, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are considered ‘landed gentry,’ meaning they do not have to work for their income, much like Mr. Collins and many of the other characters mentioned within the novel. Social class also determines who one may marry, and this plays an extremely significant role within the lives of Jane and Elizabeth Bennet.…
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Universally known and acknowledged, courtship and marriage are the two inseparable aspects of life and are interconnected with each other. These aspects stem from the desire of many people that is widely common - love. In Pride and Prejudice, the author Jane Austen talks about how the four male characters in the novel, Darcy, Bingley, Wickham and Collins persuade the daughters of the Bennet household Elizabeth, Jane, Lydia and Elizabeth’s best friend Charlotte. The author traces their respective journey of how they find the love of their lives and describes the kind of situations they faced during this. The men in the novel, Darcy, Bingley, Collins and Wickham are in want of a wife for the reasons that suit their perceptions. Darcy wishes for someone of his social standard as his partner; contrasting to that, Bingley simply desires for a wife whom he likes. On other side, Collins wants a wife for his happiness and also because his patroness Lady Catherine has told him to do so, and Wickham wants a partner who will provide him financial pleasure.…
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In Jane Austen’s book ‘Pride and Prejudice’ she shows various attitudes of marriage and courtship through each character. Some of these attitudes to marriage and courtship are very different to the attitudes of most people today. This book is mainly about marriage so it is very easy and interesting to compare the opinions of marriage from the early nineteenth century to life now. Jane Austen mentions marriage for the first time, in Pride and Prejudice, in the very first sentence:…
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As the times advance, so follows in its example the structure of society but scant progress does the hunger for status see. Mr. Darcy’s initial prejudice of Elizabeth’s class and his contempt in wishing for her hand is exemplified in his proposal alone, “...he was not more eloquent on the subject of tenderness than of pride. His sense of her inferiority—of its being a degradation—of the family obstacles which had always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on…”(Austen 160). It is not laborious to recognize how doubtlessly prominence could outweigh love in the era of the novel as in the case of Charlotte Lucas and her husband, the dull Mr. Collins. However, so parallel is that singular want in this generation, as marriages continue to aid in the perilous climb of the social ladder to this day. The A-listers of the red carpet generally do not stoop to marrying the average joe when compared to the glitter of the fellow surrounding diamonds. The rich often utilize the union like a business merger with love unwritten as a clause. Amidst society, marriages occur between the lines of familiar communities as well as corresponding social circles. Although the idea of love has been sophisticated over time, it stays only an option among socialites.…
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Pride and Prejudice does somewhat follow the Three Act Structure. For the first act we are very quickly enlightened on the type of world the characters are living in. We see that it takes place in the early 1800's and that everyone (especially the women) is obsessed with not only getting married but marrying well. At the first ball some of the more important character traits emerge in the main characters. We are introduced to Mr. Darcy and soon find out that he is arrogant, cold, and thinks he is above all the people in Longbourn. This brings us to the inciting incident where Mr. Darcy refuses to dance with Elizabeth. Within earshot he says that there is nobody pretty enough to dance with him, even Elizabeth. This action turns everyone completely off from Mr. Darcy as they realize that no matter how rich he is, his personality is awful. Bingley is also at the party and soon starts to We also see Jane and Bingley start to fall in love, much to the dismay of his sister who don't see the Bennet girls as anyone that their brother should marry because of their falling social class.…
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Pride and Prejudice: Mrs. Bennet really wants her five daughters to get married as soon as possible. When a rich man named Charles Bingley moves to their neighborhood, she is thrilled! When the Bennet daughters meet him at a ball, they are impressed by his outgoing personality and friendly disposition. They are pretty much disgusted by Bingley 's friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy.…
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Throughout her writing, Jane Austen portrays the social pressures and limitations that women were faced with in the early 1800’s. Austen can fit in with some of the struggles and characteristics of the characters in Pride and Prejudice. She sees herself in Elizabeth and that is the reason that Elizabeth is Austen’s favorite character. There are many different traits that are displayed in the novel. The traits “pride” and “prejudice” are the most portrayed throughout the entire book.…
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“The Judgment” is perceived as one of Kafka's more important and autobiographical works. Written in 1912, this short story was initially published in Max Brod's magazine, Arkadia, the following year. Many critics view the story as a depiction of the tension between the isolation and alienation of the modern artist and the demands of family and societal expectations.…
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The fundamental importance and value assigned to marriage in the context of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice is explained through Weldon’s discussion of the options for women outside marriage and its purpose of providing financial security for women, revealing how the values of marriage have been shaped and reshaped into what they are in the modern cultural context. We see Austen’s attempt to reshape marriage conventions in Pride & Prejudice through Elizabeth who defies expectations and turns down Mr. Collins’ proposal despite the risk of not getting married and living without a source of income, stating “My feelings in every respect forbid it.” Weldon mentions about Austen that, “She believed it was better not to marry at all, than to marry without love.” In Pride and Prejudice, Austen constructs Charlotte Lucas as a character who does not think “highly of either men or matrimony”, and hence she marries Mr Collins despite not loving him, to ensure her financial security and elevate her position within society. In…
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The pivotal theme is that marriage is important to individuals and society. Throughout the novel, the author describes the various types of marriages and reasons behind them. Marriage out of economic compulsions can be seen in Charlotte’s marriage to Collins. Marriage due to sensual pleasure can be seen in Lydia’s marriage. The marriage of Jane and Elizabeth are the outcome of true love between well-matched persons.…
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