The Marriage Proposals Within Pride & Prejudice

Authors Avatar by yasgianninicouk (student)

The Proposals Within Pride & Prejudice

“Pride and Prejudice is about how we make choices” the newyorker.com 2013.  Austen uses the novel to critique marriage during a patriarchal society, presenting two contrasting attitudes: liberal and conventional,  to demonstrate that marriage choices have life-long consequences.  This extract shows Lizzie’s unconventional feminist choice to say ‘no’.  In Regency times, a clergyman was a good marriage match for Lizzie’s social rank; it would secure her house and future.  The twenty-something gambles her security by rejecting Mr Collins (it could be her last offer).  Marianne in Sense and Sensibility sums up this risk, ‘‘A woman of seven and twenty could never hope to feel or inspire affection again’

In this extract, Austen pitches Liberal Lizzie against Conformist Collins, in an irony and humour drenched proposal; the juxtaposition and wit emphasise the ridiculousness of the situation. Steeped in irony, Collins mistakes Lizzie’s embarrassment as ‘modesty’, thinking his reasons for marriage (partly to please Lady Catherine), will persuade our feminist Lizzie; instead they repel her. Humour has the reader laughing at Collins, as this ‘boring’ man believes he’ll be ‘run away with by my feelings’, which has Elizabeth ‘near laughing’.  Lizzie’s rejections are ironically perceived as ‘encouragement’ - this ‘silly’ man just doesn’t take Lizzie seriously.  Lizzie ‘cried’  numerous times,  and this repetitive language stresses Lizzie’s exasperation, whilst ramping-up the humour. Collins insists on churning out a pre-learnt formal speech, almost like a monologue, whilst  Elizabeth fights for space to stop him ‘you are too hasty sir’ (the reader can’t help but laugh).  Collins talks only of ‘my happiness’, in the first person possessive pronoun, something that we later see mirrored in Darcy’s first proposal to Lizzie.  Using direct speech, Austen entertains us with a verbal match of wit from Lizzie and irony from Mr Collins, demonstrating how preposterous this conventional marriage proposal was.

Join now!

Throughout the rest of the novel, Austen continues to compare Lizzie’s feminist attitude, with that of the conventional.  Charlotte Lucas pragmatically chooses to accept Mr Collins, knowing that at most she can only hope for ‘happiness’ with this ‘conceited’ man. Mr Bingley almost lost happiness with Jane because the social barriers didn’t conform.  Whilst Mr Bennett is the result of a  fast fanciful proposal in youth, which led to an ‘end to all real affection’.  Lydia and Wickham’s “passions were stronger than their virtues”, and would lead to long-term financial and emotional struggles.  Convention brought unhappiness in Austen’s opinion.

However,  Lizzie ...

This is a preview of the whole essay