When the character of Mr Bingley enters the novel, Mrs Bennet automatically thinks of him as a potential husband for one of her daughters. Her statement “Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the North of England” portrays her thinking. She wants her daughters to get to know him, as a man of large fortune is a very sought after husband. Her next statement shows her thoughts even more “a single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls”
The character of Mr Bennet, I believe is included for his sarcastic humour towards his very emotional, excitable wife and his lack of involvement in the family life. He takes advantage of Mrs Bennet’s gullible character in such ways as when she tells him of Mr Bingley’s arrival: “What a fine thing for our girls” to which he replies “How so? How can it affect them?” I think that Mr Bennet’s character is one which shows another example of Austen’s view towards marriage. He probably married hoping to have a son to carry on the family name and take over his estate but ended up with no son, and instead has to put up with a very lively, demanding household of females. Due to this, whenever any sort of fuss blows up he goes to his study.
I think that the book is written in a humorous way towards the subject of marriage. The fact that the Bennets cannot be happy until all of the daughters are married off I think shows again the attitude towards marriage at the time. If a woman was not married she would never get very far in life on her own so therefore this was frowned upon. Another thing which it was thought vital to do, was for a woman to marry a man with a large fortune if possible. This was shown in the novel when Mr Darcy arrives at the first dance at Netherfield. Mr Bingley was described as “good looking and gentleman-like”. However when Darcy was seen, the news got around that he was much richer than Bingley: “Within five minutes after his entrance the news was in general circulation of his having ten thousand a year”. This made him more appealing than Mr Bingley and “the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr Bingley”.
When Mr Darcy’s true character was revealed he was not so admired. “He was discovered to be proud, to be above his company” was the way in which he was described. This pride in himself was displayed when he refused to dance with Elizabeth. He stated “she is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me”. After this ball he was thought of by most that encountered him as very rude. Later in the book, his views are contradicted when he falls in love with Elizabeth despite his earlier rudeness and the attitude of Bingley’s sisters towards her.
This part of the book shows a break in the normality of relationships at the time. Darcy, who believed himself superior to most and was of a higher class than the Bennets, fell for Elizabeth not because she was from a respected family or because he could add to his wealth, but because he had true feelings for her.
Throughout the book Elizabeth and Jane Bennet declare their wish to marry “for love” rather than wealth or a secured future. Their sister Charlotte however does not have this wish. She chose to marry Mr Collins; a distant relative of the Bennets who was set to inherit Mr Bennet’s estate when he passed away. She merely felt the need (as many women of the time did) to marry so that she would not be on her own with very little money after her father died.
Overall I would say that Jane Austen’s attitude to marriage is shown quite subtly in a humorous manner throughout the book. She uses examples of marriage for love and marriage for wealth through the characters and puts across her view that the ones married for love were actually better off. It follows that Austen did not share the views on marriage of many at the time.
