Marriages(Pride and Prejudice)

The Marriage of Pride and Prejudice "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). Jane Austen started her book Pride and Prejudice in this way clearly stating that one of her major themes would be marriage. The line implies that men who are financially stable must want to get married. In some cases this is true, but in others it is the exact opposite. It is the female who does not have any money who is in want of a husband. In fact in Jane Austen 's Pride and Prejudice, it is mostly the female characters that not only are in want of husbands but also are doing most of the pursuing. This shows that no matter whether you are speaking of marriage back in those times, or speaking of marriage in more current times it still has not changed much. Marriage can be defined and looked upon in several different ways. It can be a religious sanctity, a convenient partnership, and to some a quick way to get rich. Jane Austen 's Pride and Prejudice shows a wide variety of aspects of marriage through the four marriages previous the book and the four marriages that took in the book. Though marriage is constantly sought after for several different reasons, there are only two different outcomes possible. Either they work or they do not. However marriage is viewed, it is still the agreed commitment between two individuals. This being so ultimately gives the pursuer the power to control his or her own fate. The first marriage introduced in the book is the Bennet 's marriage, which is not the best marriage in the novel, but it comes out to be what is expected of it. The first problem is that the foundation of their marriage is questionable: "He consulted only his personal desires and made a disastrous marriage"(Magill 5331). Mr. Bennet obviously married Mrs. Bennet for physical reasons but did not realize that in time the beauty would fade. Mr. Bennet made a common decision that is made

Cited: Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. USA: Tome Doherty associates Inc, 1988 Bloom, Harold. Pride and prejudice bloom notes. PA, Broomall: Chelsea house publishers, 1996 Hand out from class Magill, Frank N. Masterplots. Pasadena, California: Salem Press Inc, 1996 Norman, Sherry. Jane Austen. New York: Arco, 1969