What different aspects of marriage are presented in Pride and Prejudice?

James Reynolds

Jane Austen opens the novel with her famous saying which quite sets the whole theme for the rest of the story.- "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife". We can see just by reading this that Jane Austen did not share traditional views about marriage. She lived in times where marriage was a necessity for all women or else they would live a life without independence or freedom as maids or governesses, and not to forget the social neglect they would face if they remained single throughout their life. However in her writings, Austen displays quite comical and at times satirical themes towards marriage, which was quite the contrary to what people thought in the 18th century.

Mrs Bennet is portrayed as an annoying woman who focuses every aspect of her life into marrying off her five daughters. She appears to be an overprotective character and she never fails to cease a chance with encounters between her daughters and rich men. The main candidates for her daughters include Mr Collins, Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley. All five girls are brought up to show good manners which were well suited for attracting rich men. It was common for families in the 18th century who faced financial and social pressure to raise attractive girls who would easily marry.

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We can see that Mrs Bennet could face financial difficulties in the future because Mr Bennet’s estate is left to Mr Collins, should he die, leaving Mrs Bennet homeless as a widow. This brings to mind another aspect of marriage during the time of the play. Women relied very much on male support, whether it was financial or even physical. This trait meant it was even more vital for women to marry rich, stable men. However it was not all give but no get for men. Women did their bit for their husbands too. Even though rich men tended to commute often, women waited on them hand and foot to ensure they had a very comfortable existence. Women enabled bloodlines to continue by producing children who would grow up to control their fathers estates and their own, keeping the family going. It should also be said that it was regarded as quite the fashion for men to acquire attractable and agreeable wives and therefore there was sometimes rivalry between the ranks which Austen portrays amusingly. She also displays views in her characters which opposes the statement that men wanted agreeable wives. “”

During the romance period and the early 18 hundreds if a rich and respected man proposed to a woman, it was extremely rare, and rude to decline the proposal. “It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage.” However we can see in pride and prejudice that in the cases of both Mr Darcy and Mr Collins proposing to Elizabeth, she turns both men down initially. Later on we find out Elizabeth’s true feelings for Mr Darcy and they do in fact get married. These two examples of declined proposals in pride and prejudice strengthen the fact that Jane Austen shared rather radical views which were frowned upon for her time. She was a strong and confident writer who displayed her honest views.

We can see that the marriage between the Bennets is an interesting one. In her early days, Mrs Bennet was a rather attractive lady. Mr Bennet fell for her over her good looks and the ability to produce children. However good looks did not last forever and soon Mrs Bennet was not the lady Mr Bennets remembered marrying. He spent most of his time cowering away in his study to escape encounters with his wife. From reading this I would say it would be a bad choice to marry a woman simply over good looks, as they will not last forever.

Another marriage we can examine is the one between Mr Collins and Charlotte Lucas. Here we can see that the twenty year old Charlotte marries simply for the financial support and the security Mr Collins could provide. She ends up managing the estate in Hunsford where she waited on Lady Catherine. The couple display no pleasure in being together and we see little evidence of them spending time in each other’s company. I believe there is a mutual agreement with this relationship in that Charlotte marries for financial stability and Mr Collins marries Just so he can have yet another lady doing his chores- there is little or no love displayed between the couple. I think this marriage is a fine example of why you should not marry for financial status.

The marriage between Mr Wickham and Lydia sparks the issue of marriage for lust. Later on we can see that actually she loves him a great deal more than he does her. In this case, it is in fact Mr Wickham who is marrying for the financial support, as before he had many unpaid debts but he used the money they got from marrying to pay off the debts. So we can see that in this relationship some of the main aspects are in reverse.

Elizabeth’s and Mr Darcy’s relationship is without doubt the sweetest and loving relationship in the novel. Although Elizabeth gained great wealth and support from this marriage, they were not her reasons for marrying Mr Darcy. The couple were genuinely in love with each other.

I think Austen is trying to tell us that successful marriage has to contain all of these characteristics: physical attraction, financial stability, social status and security. But above all the most important reason a woman should marry should ultimately be down to mutual love between a couple.

James Reynolds