The Second major reference to marriage is on page sixty one with Mr. Collins need for a wife. “Having now a good house and a very sufficient income, he intended to marry; and in seeking a reconciliation with the Longbourn family he had a wife in view, as he meant to chuse one of the daughters, if he found them as handsome and amiable as they were represented by common report. This was his plan off amends—of atonement—for inheriting their father's estate; and he thought it an excellent one, full of eligibility and suitableness, and excessively generous and disinterested on his own part.” From this quote the reader can see that Mr. Collins is in want of a wife because he feels that he has to and that it is the right thing to do. This quote also shows love is not an issue with Mr. Collins, his wife must be attractive and that is all that is important. This really shows how shallow many of the characters are in this novel.
Up until this point the reader has seen how the characters are only interested in marriage, if the spouse is wealthy or attractive. It is not until Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth Bennet that this changes. Elizabeth refuses Mr. Collins preposition of marriage because she knows that she does not love him and can there for never be happy with him. Elisabeth is the only person in the novel that wants more out of a marriage than a place to live and to be economically stable. She wants to actually feel something towards her spouse and be happy with him; this is what makes Elizabeth a unique character.
Charlotte Lucas on the other hand is an example of the complete opposite. Charlotte, is six years older than Elizabeth and is lacking fortune, she is a very down-to-earth person, and feels she must capitalize on any opportunity that presents itself in order to avoid been an unmarried woman without a fortune in a male-dominated society. She accepts Mr. Collins proposal “solely from the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment."
Mr. Wickham is an attractive well mannered man. His good looks and charm attract Elizabeth and this is the first person in the novel that she is attracted to. From this we can see, once again that Elizabeth would like her spouse to be good looking and someone that the will be able to love and be happy with. This shows how influential the powers of sexual attraction are in this novel.
After Elizabeth finds out what Mr. Wickham is really like, her feelings towards him change rapidly and as a result the romance is lost. Lydia finds her self in “love” with Mr. Wickham. The romance leads the two to run off together. This so called “love” is purely based on sexual attraction and the fact that it will impress her mother and make her other sisters jealous. Once again we see how influential the ever apparent theme of sexual attraction is. This marriage is really a disaster, Lydia is unaware of all the trouble she has caused to her family and personally I can not see this marriage to be a success. Personally I feel that this marriage will turn out to be the same as Mr and Mrs. Bennet’s marriage, once containing love based on sexual attraction, but soon to wear away.
Elizabeth is an extremely strong and patient character. She is willing to wait for true love, unlike other ladies in the novel, who take the first opportunity of marriage. Elizabeth has refused two opportunities of marriage; once to Mr. Collins and the second time to Mr. Darcy as she feels that his proposal is not sincere. Elizabeth is looking for true love and a person that she can be happy with and grow old with. Elizabeth is neither governed by sexual attraction or economic motive. This is evident because first of all she refuses to marry Mr. Collins even though he is economically sable and also because she refuses Mr. Darcy’s first proposal even though he is handsome and extremely wealthy. At first Mr. Darcy does certainly not seem to be what Elizabeth is looking for, but as the novel progresses and his essential goodness eventually overtakes her initial prejudice against him.
Mr. Darcy comes across as a very proud person. It seems as though he is not that interested in marriage, and his general impression of the girls in Longbourn are all uncouth and narrow minded. But this soon changes as he realises that Elizabeth certainly is not narrow minded and uncouth and in fact she is the complete opposite. This is what draws him closer to her and eventually leads to romance. He is looking for a wife that has a certain degree of intelligence and shares the same interests. Personally I can see their marriage to be a success, because they are both extremely strong willed and both share many of the same interests, plus they are both rather intellectual. This marriage is based neither on sexual attraction nor economic motive. This is a marriage placed on love and this is what will make this marriage a success.
The marriage of Jane Bennet and Charles Bingly seems to be a marriage that has not had much thought put towards the matter. Both of the people are very understanding, Mr. Bingly ignores class differences and Jane always tries to find the best in people. Their marriage seems to be rushed and as if no real love is involved. Jane is said to be the most attractive daughter and one may say that this is what attracts Bingly to her. Although Jane is extremely different to her mother, she still has some of her traits, one may say that she has married because it is the right thing to do and because she does not want to be alone for ever. It is hard to say whether this marriage will be a success or not.
In conclusion, Jane Austin’s “Pride and Prejudice” teaches the reader a lot about the powers of sexual attraction and economic motive and how they can change the path in which a marriage will take. From the novel the reader learns how influential the powers of sexual attraction are and how they can lead to an imprudent marriage. In the nineteenth century, marriage was very different from what it is today. We also learn that marriage in the nineteenth century was a woman’s only key to economic independence. In “Pride and Prejudice” most of the marriages are typical marriages of that time, for social convenience, the woman needs security and the man needs a wife, and it works out fine except no feeling is involved. The only marriage based neither on sexual attraction nor economic motive, but on true love is the marriage of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet.
Word Count: 1438
