Another reason Charlotte accepts Mr. Collins’ marriage proposal is the financial security. Charlotte would not inherit Lucas Lodge as it always went to the eldest male in the family in Jane Austen’s time who was Charlotte’s brother; therefore Charlotte had to marry somebody who could support her with a steady income. Mr. Collins’ income was good and his prospects offered even more potential as he was to inherit the Longbourn estate. Although Mr. Collins’ manner was not an attracting quality, his situation in life, financial security and Charlotte’s final chance of settling down was what persuaded Charlotte that accepting his proposal would be beneficial to her.
Charlotte justifies her choice in marrying Mr. Collins, who she is neither physically nor emotionally attracted to by saying,
“I am not romantic you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins’s character, connections, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair, as most people can boast on entering the marriage state.”
Elizabeth is initially shocked by this, as she herself had already rejected Mr. Collins due to the fact she was not in love with him and although he offered a secure life in society it was not enough for her as she was romantic. Her emotions on this were extremely similar to Jane Austen’s as Jane Austen went through a similar situation in that she was proposed to by a man who offered security but did not love him and although initially accepting him, changed her mind as she felt she didn’t love him and principally it was wrong.
Although Elizabeth was shocked at Charlotte accepting Mr. Collins, she was already aware of Charlotte’s practical and pragmatic view of marriage as Charlotte had previously explained,
“It is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life.”
This could also explain why the marriage was hastened and carried out so soon after the proposal. Charlotte did not have any desire to know her future life partner any better before the marriage, considering his character.
In their marriage, Mr. Collins is happy as he believes he loves Charlotte and is especially pleased Lady Catherine de Bourgh approves of her. He is oblivious to Charlotte’s strategies in avoiding him which suits Charlotte as she invents as many as possible so she did not have to spend time with him. An example of this is when Elizabeth visits Hunsford, where Mr. Collins and Charlotte live and Charlotte explains that she encourages Mr. Collins to garden,
“Elizabeth admired the command of countenance with which Charlotte talked of healthfulness of the exercise, and owned she encouraged it as much as possible.”
The reader can derive from this that Charlotte’s real thoughts are that she does not want to be around him but very cleverly invents convincing excuses.
Another example of the way Charlotte avoids Mr. Collins is:-
“The room in which the ladies sat was backwards. Elizabeth at first had rather wondered that Charlotte should not prefer the dining-parlour for common use; it was a better sized room, and had a pleasanter aspect; but she soon saw that her friend had an excellent reason for what she did, for Mr. Collins would undoubtedly have been much less in his own apartment, had they sat in one equally lively; and she gave Charlotte credit for the arrangement.”
Overall, the marriage between Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins is materialistically based, however it is also successful as each of them are happy in the situation they are in. Charlotte is happy with the social class and security she has gained and is happy avoiding her husband to make the most of her situation. Mr. Collins is pleased to have a wife so he sets an example to his parish, pleases his patroness Lady Catherine de Bourgh and he is blindly infatuated that he is in love with Charlotte although this is derived from the convenience, showing his naivety and simple-minded personality.
The second marriage was that of Lydia Bennet and George Wickam. Like Mr. Collins’ and Charlotte’s marriage this was also not based on love, however many of their reasons differed dramatically.
Lydia Bennet is Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s youngest daughter. She is described as, “a stout, well grown girl of fifteen with…high animal spirits, and a sort of natural self-consequence, which the attentions of the officers…had increased into assurance.” Mr. Bennet describes her and her sister Kitty as “two of the silliest girls in the country.” Lydia is particularly immature, always flirting with the officers and often embarrassing Elizabeth and her family. Elizabeth was fully aware of the consequences that could possibly arise if Lydia was allowed to visit Brighton and expresses her concerns to her father. However, it was never imagined by Mr. Bennet or even Lizzie that Lydia would be imprudent enough to elope with an officer, especially Mr. Wickham whom the readers and Elizabeth know is dangerous as he has a reputation for eloping with young women and was unjust towards Mr. Darcy. Lydia describes that she would be most happy, “seated beneath a tent, tenderly flirting with at least six officers at once”, before going to Brighton. This proves that she is infantile and “silly”. The reader has a premonition that something will happen in Brighton causing Lydia to disgrace her family; in knowing her characteristics, behaviour around officers and Lizzie’s objections to her going as Lizzie is portrayed as a sensible and knowledgeable character. Lydia’s reasons for marrying Mr. Wickam are firstly that he is handsome. Lydia judges very much on position and appearance rather than personality, once again portraying immaturity. Mr. Wickam and Lydia both have high sex drives, attracting them to each other. Not long after Lydia leaves to go to Brighton the Bennet’s receive a letter informing them that Lydia had run away with Mr. Wickam presuming to elope with him. Mr. Wickam and Lydia were traced as far as London where they were assumed to be living together. This was disgraceful not only to Lydia but affected her whole family as during Jane Austen’s time it was considered disgraceful for a woman to live with a man whilst not being in the marital status. Jane Austen portrays this disgrace that the Bennet family are then judged with very well. Writing it from Elizabeth’s point of view as well as an outsider’s view from Mr. Collins, giving an insight into what living in the 19th century was like. An example of this is a view from Lizzie upon hearing the news of Lydia’s ‘elopement’.
“Lydia-the humiliation, the misery, she was bringing on them all, soon swallowed up every private care;”
Another example is in a letter received from Mr. Collins shortly after;
“They agree with me in apprehending that this false step in one daughter, with be injurious to the fortunes of all the others, for who, as Lady Catherine herself condescendingly says, will connect themselves with such a family.”
Lydia is ignorant to the disgrace and problems she has caused her family and also ignorant to the fact that Mr. Wickam’s intentions were not initially to marry. Mr. Wickam’s reason for marrying was that he was forced to and offered a large sum of money by Mr. Darcy. His initial reason for running away with Lydia was merely the sexual attraction. Mr Wickam is portrayed as a deceiver and a wastrel who only pays an interest in Lydia for his own sexual benefit, making her believe he cared for her in order to seduce her and not caring about the consequence it could lead to for Lydia and her family of whom he is fairly well acquainted.
Mr. Wickam and Lydia’s marriage is not successful. As they are both immature and not committed people they do not lead an organised or happy lifestyle. Lydia’s infatuation for Mr. Wickam soon dies away leaving her with no excitement for their relationship. They become in debt and reliant upon the fact that Elizabeth is married to Mr. Darcy for money, as Lydia enquires so in a letter to Elizabeth. This portrays that a marriage based upon sexual drive and infatuation between two people without sensibility is not successful as their similarity causes them problems, unlike Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth who have conflicting characteristics; aiding each other in lacking areas each of them have.
The final marriage Jane Austen portrays is of that between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Jane Austen portrays this marriage with the most detail, basing the storyline mainly upon the relationship between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth throughout the novel.
Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth’s marriage is based around first impressions and how they can change. The novel’s original title was ‘First Impressions’ and so the reader can observe that Mr Darcy and Elizabeth’s relationship is based upon this concept. Elizabeth originally dislikes Mr. Darcy upon meeting him at a ball. Mr. Darcy is first perceived to be a proud, unnameable and pompous man. He originally slaughters Elizabeth, initiating an immediate dislike from her. He does not dance at the ball, showing his pretentious behaviour and when asked by his close friend of his opinion on Elizabeth says,
“She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me;”
Elizabeth instantaneously loathes him upon hearing this insult and expresses it to her mother in saying,
“I believe, Ma’am, I may safely promise you never to dance with him.”
From then Elizabeth holds a prejudiced view of Mr. Darcy, and uses this to ridicule him when a situation arises. For example,
``There is a fine old saying, which every body here is of course familiar with -- "Keep your breath to cool your porridge," -- and I shall keep mine to swell my song.'' She says this whilst gravely glancing at Mr. Darcy in trying to make a point, subtly attacking his pride using irony to cover its intention. This shows that Elizabeth is not intimidated by Mr. Darcy’s affluent position in society and mocks him in which she believes is unusual for him to receive as he holds an heir of control as if he is the most significant person in the room, hence his pride.
Another example of Lizzie’s attempts to satirize Mr. Darcy is when Sir William presents Elizabeth to dance with Mr. Darcy whilst she is walking past them and she draws back saying,
“I entreat you not to suppose that I moved this way in order to beg for a partner.”
She does not want to give Mr. Darcy any satisfaction after he had already insulted her and rejected her himself and also as she knows Sir William intended the dance she does not want to dance with Mr. Darcy when she knows he had no intention. Mr. Darcy then asks her himself, but in vain. Elizabeth says, “Mr. Darcy is all politeness” whilst smiling, before turning away and leaving. Once again this shows that Elizabeth is not intimidated by Darcy’s high position in society and that she has the confidence to reject him.
Elizabeth forms this prejudice against Mr. Darcy herself; however it is contributed to greatly by Mr. Wickham. When the Bennet sisters first meet Mr, Wickham he immediately shows affection towards Elizabeth and she shares that affection towards him too as Mr. Wickham is charming, handsome and holds a fine countenance. Whilst in the company of Mr. Wickam, Elizabeth sees Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy and upon their leave notices contention between Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy. Later on that evening, at an engagement at Meryton, Mr. Wickham explained that Mr. Darcy’s father, who was his godfather, has originally intended to be living within the church and therefore being much higher up in society than an officer but Mr. Darcy prevented this from happening. This increases Elizabeth’s prejudice about Mr. Darcy considerably as she has respect for Mr. Wickham and believes Mr. Darcy is in fact a scoundrel who took away Mr. Wickham’s prospects.
Whilst Elizabeth’s dislike is increasing towards Mr. Darcy, although originally he barely tolerates her, Mr. Darcy feels himself becoming unwillingly attracted to Elizabeth. Her dark eyes and witty care-free behaviour are the reason he finds himself falling for such an inferior, lower-class woman of whom he would not unusually, and neither would society, consider acceptable for him. Her confidence, non-stereotyped character and her playfulness seem to intrigue Mr. Darcy; however he had already managed to gain her hatred through his pride. He becomes more and more attracted to her. Although his pride prevents him from getting close to her; he feels she would want to be with him due to his status and situation in life and does not expect anybody to reject him because of this. This leads to his proposal. He approaches Elizabeth when she is visiting Charlotte and Mr. Collins at Rosings, of where his aunt is patroness. His proposal is completely unexpected by Elizabeth and comes as a great surprise to her. Although Mr. Darcy thought this surprise would be a good one, Elizabeth’s view differed dramatically to what he had imagined. He proposes in a bad manner, expressing that her situation in life and connections were not good enough for him but he would have to make the sacrifice, thinking this would be taken as a compliment. This shows that although he is often portrayed as sophisticated he is naïve when it comes to women and love. Mr. Darcy’s pride is dramatically affected after this rejection, especially as he was rejected due to many false accusations. He writes a letter of explanation to her, explaining the truth about Mr. Wickham and his involvement in preventing a relationship between Jane and Mr. Bingley. Elizabeth scarcely allows herself to trust anything within the letter, reading it with a prejudiced view. However, the information withheld in the letter shocks her and brings her to a realisation that her perception on Mr. Darcy’s character was biased.
This in turn contributes to Elizabeth’s gradual attraction to Mr. Darcy. After realising that Mr. Darcy is not the man she had learnt to believe he was, she takes a less prejudiced approach upon meeting him. Their next meeting was at Pemberly. Elizabeth was staying with her aunt and uncle and they decided to take a trip to Pemberly, as Mr. Darcy would not be present. When Elizabeth is looking around Pemberly she finds it amazing and Mr. Darcy’s description from the housekeeper is far from her perception, intriguing her and opening up feelings she did not believe possible to exist.
Coincidently, Mr. Darcy arrives at Pemberly, and there is an awkward collision between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. However, Mr. Darcy makes the utmost effort to entertain his guests, being extremely polite to Elizabeth’s aunt and uncle in order to gain at least some respect from her. Elizabeth is awe-struck by this sudden transformation. She shows her astonishment in repeatedly saying:-
“Why is he so altered? From what can it proceed? It cannot be for me, it cannot be for my sake that his manners are thus softened. My reproofs at Hunsford could not work such a change as this. It is impossible that he should still love me.”
This demonstrates that Mr. Darcy’s feelings are unchanged and he is still in love with Elizabeth. It shows that he is trying to impress Elizabeth and prove he can be amiable and kind and he is trying to win over her affections. Austen is introducing the Lizzie-Darcy relationship subtly and cunningly, making the reader interested and subconsciously wanting a relationship to form between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. The reader, like Elizabeth, also starts to change their views on Mr. Darcy’s character.
Elizabeth then starts to feel an attraction towards Mr. Darcy. He invites Elizabeth to meet his sister upon their acquaintance, which Elizabeth takes as a great compliment. Austen expresses the attraction between them subtly but importantly, intriguing the reader to read on in hope that they form a relationship.
When Mr. Darcy, Miss Darcy and Mr. Bingley visit Elizabeth at the inn in which her aunt, uncle and her are staying, Elizabeth starts to feel a nervousness that she had not experienced before. This informs the readers of her growing feelings towards Mr. Darcy. As their acquaintances and the time they spend together increases, so does Elizabeth’s feelings towards Mr. Darcy.
When Elizabeth receives the letters from Jane informing Elizabeth of Lydia’s believed elopement, she explains her feelings to Mr. Darcy who visits her. Mr. Darcy does not seem to come across as extremely sympathetic but helps to comfort Elizabeth as well as possible, considering his feelings of awkwardness and shyness. Elizabeth then returns to Longbourn to be with her family and sort through the problem. When the problem is sorted, it is originally believed that Elizabeth’s uncle sorted the problem by paying Mr. Wickham a large sum of money. However, Elizabeth discovers the real reason when Lydia accidentally tells her of Mr. Darcy’s presence at the wedding. Elizabeth’s feelings towards Mr. Darcy are then grateful and this sparks of a new feeling inside Elizabeth, a feeling of love and affection.
Elizabeth receives a surprising visit from Lady Catherine de Bourgh at this point. Lady Catherine de Bourgh visits Elizabeth in order to ask her of a possible engagement to her nephew Mr. Darcy. She insults Elizabeth, mentioning her low status in life and her sister’s disgrace to the family and how these things could possibly ruin Mr. Darcy. She also mentions that Mr. Darcy is engaged to her daughter, who she sees as a far more suitable match, considering her status and situation in life. This once again displays the importance of status in marriage in Austen’s time and how people were expected to marry to gain status or it could ruin their reputation and also how it was very rare to marry on the concept of love. Elizabeth informs Lady Catherine de Bourgh that she is not engaged to Mr. Darcy but does not satisfy Lady Catherine’s purpose for visiting in promising never to enter such an engagement, once again displaying her affection towards him to the readers.
The next meeting between Elizabeth is when Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy return to Netherfield. Mr Bingley and Mr. Darcy visit the Bennet’s. However it is not known by the Bennet’s of Mr. Darcy’s non-repayable favour towards them, of his changed character or of Lizzie’s growing affections towards him. Mrs. Bennet is rude and obnoxious towards him, making him feel uncomfortable to be in their presence and embarrassing Lizzie. However, there is a clear physical attraction between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. This leads to the second proposal, of which Elizabeth gratefully accepts. Both of their reasons for marriage are love. Mr. Darcy’s affection being gained from the very beginning and Lizzie’s overcoming the affects of pride and prejudice, hence the title of the novel. Elizabeth then has to explain her reasoning to her father, of whom is oblivious to the bond between his daughter and Mr. Darcy. However, after hearing Lizzie’s reasoning and knowing her character he accepts this marriage in knowing it would make his daughter happy. Mrs. Bennet is happy with the engagement due to Mr. Darcy’s very high status, but is not concerned about the concept of her daughter being married as her primary concern is having her daughters married and gaining status. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy’s relationship works out. It is the best relationship, even though it started out to be so unlikely as both of them love each other and they live happily. Jane Austen creates this fairy-tale like ending, pleasing the readers. The readers held this premonition from the start of the book, showing that this type of ending is very predictable. However, this is perhaps what makes the book so valuable in that it was one of the first, and most important, feminist novels of it’s time. This predictable ending is within the reader’s safe zone in that it is what they want to happen and therefore satisfies them, making them enjoy the novel.
Even with this happy and probable outcome, there is deception which separates this novel from fairy-tale fiction and real life. Austen used her knowledge of the world to create one of the most loved novels in history. In conclusion, Austen portrays marriage in the novel with many different views and aspects on each. She uses love to support the main characters, yet involves deception and the importance of status within the book, displaying what it was like to live in 19th century expectations. She presents marriage from her personal views of the lifestyle of the 19th century, yet enlightens the readers with her irony and sarcastic edge.
