Jane Austen expresses her opinion on all this clearly enough by the fact that only her silliest characters have such sentiments (while Mr. Bennet says “He is rich, to be sure, and you may have more fine clothes and fine carriages than Jane. But will they make you happy? “). However, Jane Austen does not intend to simply condemn Charlotte Lucas (who finds consolation in “her home and her housekeeping, her parish and her poultry, and all their dependent concerns”) for marrying Mr. Collins — Charlotte’s dilemma is a real one. Elizabeth has to learn to control her prejudices.
She forms her opinions very quickly and does not change them easily. Darcy has to learn to evaluate people on characteristics other than social rank. He is too proud of himself, as well as his high social class, and it affects his ability to relate to other people. Both Elizabeth and Darcy have to change a little and come to understand each other before they can be together. In the novel, the theme of pride and prejudice is first introduced in chapter three at the dance. Darcy, acting on his own pride, insults Elizabeth. He claims that she is not handsome enough to tempt him.
Elizabeth, overhearing his insult, considers his remark as a direct stab at her own pride. This succeeds in invoking a prejudice in her, against him that remains for the greater part of the novel. She feels that he is far too arrogant and proud. This is Austen’s way of emphasizing to the reader Elizabeth’s fault of extreme prejudice. Whenever Elizabeth complains of Darcy’s faults, she also touches upon one of her own. For example, Darcy’s disapproval of Wickham is very similar to Elizabeth’s disapproval of Darcy. Elizabeth is quick to see the faults of others, however she is reluctant to see her own faults.
Her first clue that she has allowed her prejudices to stand in the way of judgement is that she was wrong about Mr. Wickham, which consequently makes her wrong about Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth knows that she must learn to be less prejudiced. By getting together, they benefit each other. Elizabeth makes Darcy realize his faults and vice-versa. Other ways of looking at the novel come to the same basic conclusion of compromise. ”
Pride and Prejudice uses the familiar anti-thesis between art and nature as the ground of the book’s action. Elizabeth is portrayed on the side of nature, feeling, impulse, originality, spontaneity…. t wasn’t possible for Jane Austen to deprecate art all together.. the movement of the book is compromise, as Elizabeth learns to take class into account, Darcy comes to share Elizabeth’s genius for treating all people with respect for their natural dignities”(Klinger, Jane Austen and the war of ideas, 199) The difference between Pride and Prejudice and other eighteenth century novels, is that the heroines differ. “Instead of the innocent, impulsive fallible girl, the heroine of Pride and Prejudice dislikes, teases, and ends in part by debunking the hero…
Where other heroines were sycophants of social and masculine prerogative, Elizabeth Bennet is fearless and independent. ” (Butler, 199) The difference in the ovel, is in Austen’s approach to Elizabeth. By making her as independent, and lively as she does, perhaps she is trying to show society that this is acceptable. If society would learn to compromise and lose a bit of it’s rigidness, as Darcy did, then people would be able to fully appreciate characters like Elizabeth Bennet. Marriage is the only logical conclusion to this novel.
Had the novel ended any other way, it would have had no point. As said before, the movement of the novel is towards compromise. Through marriage, Elizabeth and Darcy are making the ultimate compromise. They are both changing a little about themselves, so hat their marriage can be successful. Had the novel ended without marriage, then the realizations on both Elizabeth, and Darcy’s behalf would have been for nothing. Also, through the novel we see that Jane Austen is using marriage as a way of representing society.
An ideal marriage is representative of an ideal society. If people used the same methods as a couple would use to obtain an ideal marriage, then perhaps we would be able to obtain an ideal society. By researching Jane Austen we know that most of the heros and heroines end up at the end of the story in an ideal marriage; “to do all her heroines justice, we must conclude hat they all marry for love, and not for other considerations. As to the social and monetary aspects of their marriages, Jane Austen makes them ‘all right’. (Sherry, 92)
By having Darcy and Elizabeth end the novel engaged in an ideal marriage is a significant detail. Jane Austen, in doing this is suggesting that society would be better if it followed Elizabeth and Darcy’s example. By controlling pride and prejudice, and by learning that compromise is sometimes the best way to happiness, society can hope to improve itself. Marriage in the end, is the perfect ending, since it is both an affirmation of the values of society as well as a It was certainly not appropriate that young, unmarried women lived outside the family although she might be an heiress.
Young women were thought of incapable of living their own lives, it seems, so the daughter stayed within the family til the day she got married and moved to her husband’s estate. A woman who never got married could therefore expect a life in her parents’ house for the rest of her life; what was called being a ‘dependant’. Marriage was accordingly the only key to a life outside the family. The case of an elopement, as with Lydia and Wickham, where the family is leaven without their permission, is looked upon as something ather radical and misfortunate for the family, for the reasons given above as well as financial ones in this very case.
When the daughter once had chosen her husband, the connection was a permanent one since divorces were very uncommon during this period (and misfortunate for the family’s good name, one can imagine). One way for a husband to divorce his wife would be on grounds of sexual infidelity on the wife’s hand. This was, however, not an easy path to a divorce. Except from getting the permission of the Parliament to sue the wife, these different steps costed a good deal of money, which lead to only the rich being able fford divorces. For the most part, women could not acquire money on their own without inheriting or marrying into good fortune.
Women who could not find a husband were often referred to as old maids and lived their whole lives with their parents. I can understand why Mrs. Bennet did not want this for any of her daughters. The Bennets’ marriage was not ideal. Mr. Bennet had married his wife because she was beautiful in her youth and her ability to supply him with children. Eventually though, her beauty faded and so did their enjoyment of each other. He enjoyed his time alone in his study where he could be away from his wife and daughters. Mrs. Bennet enjoyed gossiping about neighbors and finding future husbands for her daughters.
I do believe that Austen is showing the reader that marrying only for physical appearance is wrong – beauty fades with time. Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth’s dearest friend, marries Mr. Collins for money. The narrator plainly states that Charlotte accepted his proposal for the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment. She was twenty-six years old and her family was beginning to be worried. Upon hearing of her engagement, her brothers were relieved from their apprehension of Charlotte dying an old maid. Charlotte wanted nothing more out of marriage than financial stability and that is what she got.
In Hunsford it seems that Charlotte did nothing but tend to the chores of maintaining her home and pleasing Lady Catherine. I do not believe that Charlotte and Mr. Collins were in love at all and they did not really seem too happy in each other’s company. I think their marriage was an illustration of why you should not marry just for financial reasons. Lydia’s marriage to Wickham was simply for romance and lust. For a good while, the flirtatious teenager had had her eye on military officers. I elieve that when Wickham showed her attention she fell in love and henceforth came their marriage.
The sad fact is that she liked him a great deal more than he cared about her. Wickham had many debts and used the money he got from marrying her to pay them off. Therefore, Lydia is married to a man that doesn’t really care for her all that much and Wickham is married to a girl that cannot really offer him anything. This couple shows that you should marry someone who feels the same towards you or eventually you will be unhappy. The marriages of the two eldest Bennet daughters were pleasant and appear to be ideal. Jane had longed for Mr. Bingley for quite a while.
Bingley was handsome, rich, kind, and well liked. He and Jane shared many conversations and had complimentary personalities. They were pleasantly matched and I believe that they shared a happy life together. Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage was an excellent match. They were equal in intellect, had physical attraction and deep love for one another, financial security, romance, and companionship. They are the two I believe would be most happy in life. Austen wanted the reader to know that marriage should be approached as a package deal – a package of love, financial stability, physical attraction, and happiness.
