Consider the variety of attitudes to marriage as expressed by the different characters in Pride and Prejudice. What do you think Austen believed were the ingredients of a successful marriage?

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Consider the variety of attitudes to marriage as expressed by the different characters in Pride and Prejudice. What do you think Austen believed were the ingredients of a successful marriage?

By Lauren Hewett

Miss. Lloyd 10 V

        “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”  The maxim that starts Austen’s Pride and Prejudice elucidates the parallel themes which traverse the novel: money and marriage.

        The main subject of the novel is stated in the first sentence. In this statement Austen has skilfully done three things:  she has declared that the main theme of the novel will be courtship and marriage, and by taking a simple subject to elaborate and to speak intelligently of she has established the humorous and satiric tone of the novel, and Austen has also prepared the reader for the chase of either a woman in pursuit of a husband, or a husband in search of a wife.  

Love was not generally the main motive for marrying in the 19th century as society’s ideas of a successful marriage were very different to ours of today.  Pride and Prejudice contains an array of marriages which are successful and others which are not.  It is through these marriages that Austen’s own opinions on what were the ingredients of a successful marriage, are revealed.

Being directly introduced to the marriage of Mr and Mrs. Bennet is structurally significant as the reader is prepared for the carelessness of it and is lead to disregard it and marriages if this kind, which were typical of the society, early on.  The poor relationship that the couple have with each other is a result of their reasons for marrying one another.  Mr. Bennet found a mother for his children and was “captivated by youth and beauty.”  Alternatively, Mrs. Bennet was presented with a life with status and security.

Although their characters certainly do not complement one another, their differences are elucidated throughout the novel and show that the superficial reasons that they primarily married for “had very early in their marriage put an end to all real affection.”  This lack of love is clearly shown after Mr. Collins’ proposal to Elizabeth, the second eldest daughter.  While Mrs. Bennet is constantly trying to marry off her daughters to wealthy men, Mr. Bennet is not quite so eager and would rather see his children happy.  “Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.”  This emphasizes the couple’s differences of opinion towards marriage.  It could be said that Mrs. Bennet is irrational for pushing her daughters to get married so early on in life; however on the other hand, people may admire her for not wanting her daughters to end up as governess.  In Austen’s time few occupations were open to women who were not married, and those few that were, such as being a governess, were not highly respected, and generally did not have very good working conditions or a good pay.

Mr. Bennet, arguably a chauvinist, believes that marriage is a women’s business and it is something for them to talk about with their friends, “Next to being married a girl likes to be crossed in love a little now and then.  It is something to think of, and gives her some sort of distinction among her companions.”  For him, marriage is no more than a game that “silly and ignorant” girls participate in and one that he has little interest in.  However, Mrs. Bennet’s attitude towards marriage could not be more different, “The business of her life was to get her daughters married.”  This is clearly shown at the beginning of the novel by the possible prospect of a future son in law, Mr. Bingley.  Naturally, Mrs. Bennet wants to know if he is “single or married,” and asks Mr. Bennet to go and introduce himself.  She immediately tries to make connections with this eligible bachelor before other families in the community as “if [she does] not venture somebody else will.”  This shows the contemporary battle in society for unattached young men and it is one that Mrs. Bennet does not want to lose.

Mrs. Bennet’s ambition to have her daughters married is also highlighted when she sends Jane, the eldest Bennet daughter to Netherfield, on horseback in the pouring rain, in the hope of her catching a cold and having to stay for a long phase of time, for “as long as she stays there, all is well.”  Her husband’s reaction to this match making is completely the opposite of her own.  “If your daughter should have a fit of illness, if she should die, it would be a comfort to know that it was all in pursuit of Mr. Bingley, and under your orders.”  This highlights Mrs. Bennet’s urgent and extreme need to get her daughter married; she would go to extreme lengths and let her fall ill, all in pursuit of getting her married to Mr. Bingley.

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Mrs. Bennet is possibly Austen’s best known comic character.  Her obsession with marrying off her five daughters results in all kinds of absurdities, comic subterfuges and violent mood swings between depression and ecstasy. She is the centre of numerous scenes of acute embarrassment, such as the occasion when she loudly professes her dislike of Mr. Darcy within his earshot,  “That is my idea of good breeding; and those persons who fancy themselves very important and never open their mouths, quite mistake the matter.”  Within the context of an essentially light hearted story, Mrs. Bennet, like Mr. Collins, may seem ...

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