“Very few days passed in which Mr. Collins did not walk to Rosings, and not many in which his wife did not think it necessary to go likewise.”
Wickham and Lydia were a couple who eloped because at the beginning they had affection for each other. Jane Austen disapproves of marrying for physical attraction. Wickham began to love Lydia less than she loved him:
“His affection for her soon sunk into indifference; her’s lasted a little longer.”
Jane Austen approved of the fact that it was out of love that they eloped but she disapproved of the fact that they were in debt and were not thinking of the consequences:
Two persons so extravagant in their wants, and deedless of the future, must be very insufficient to their support.”
Mr. Bennet was attracted to Mrs. Bennet even though she was of a lower status to him, he was attracted to her because of her physical appearance. Jane Austen does not believe physical appearance should be made an issue for the basis of a marriage. During the novel he realises he has little in common with his wife. He feels that he has a miserable marriage which is shown when he spoke to Elizabeth about her proposal from Darcy, he does not want her to make the same mistake that he did:
“My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life. You know not what you are about.”
Jane Austen also believes that marriage should not make material possessions more important than the friendship and happiness between the couple this is shown through Mr. Bennet who wanted to help Elizabeth make the right decision about Darcy’s proposal to her:
“He is rich, to be sure, and you may have more fine clothes and fine carriages than Jane. But will they make you happy?”
Mr. Bennet had little respect for Mrs. Bennet:
“I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least.”
Jane Austen believes that marriage should be based on affection and equality of status.
Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley’s relationship began with mutual attraction. They both are equal in status and have enough money to be comfortable with each other which Jane Austen would think to be a perfect match.
“Mr. Bennet’s property consisted almost entirely in an estate of two thousand a year” which was less than what Mrs. Bennet’s family had so he married beneath his status which meant they were not a good match. Jane’s affection grew throughout the novel for Bingley.
Elizabeth and Darcy’s relationship did not begin well but grew into affection and respect and money was not important to Elizabeth. That was known because when he proposed to her for the first time she turned him down. Elizabeth’s later decision showed that they had true love between them and she regretted how much she spoke against him before she found out the truth about Darcy:
“My behaviour to you at the time, had merited the severest reproof. It was unpardonable. I cannot think of it without abhorrence.”
When Elizabeth told Jane she accepted Darcy’s proposal Elizabeth told her that she “did not always love him so well as I do now” and Jane told her to marry if it was for happiness which is what Jane Austen believes:
“Oh, Lizzy! Do any thing rather than marry without affection.”
When Elizabeth stayed at Rosings she met Colonel Fitzwilliam who would not have been able to marry her because of status and due to the fact he was a younger son: “Younger sons cannot marry where they like.”
It is the older son who takes over the father’s land; the younger sons have to find another way to keep up their living such as by marrying a richer woman for their money which is not approved by Jane Austen:
“Our habits of expence make us too dependant, and there are not many in my rank of life who can afford to marry without some attention to money.”
When Darcy first proposed to Elizabeth he made it clear that connections and status were important to him:
“Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your connections?”
Lady Catherine sees that Elizabeth wants to ruin Darcy by marrying him:
“You are determined to ruin him in the opinion of all his friends, and make him the contempt of the world.”
She did not want Elizabeth to marry Mr. Darcy; she and his mother had planned for him to marry her own daughter to unite the wealth of their families:
“While in their cradles, we planned the union: and now, at the moment when the wishes of both sisters would be accomplishes, in their marriage, to be prevented by a young woman of inferior birth, of no importance in the world, and wholly unallied to the family!”
Elizabeth was aware of her status and believed that she was equal to Darcy:
“In marrying your nephew, I should not consider myself as quitting that sphere. He is a gentleman; I am a gentleman’s daughter; so far we are equal.”
Jane Austen’s view of love and marriage is clear in “Pride and Prejudice.” She believes that marriage should be based on affection, love and respect but at the same time also based on long-term security and happiness which is not far from the truth of our present day and age.
