FREE ESSAY ON PRIDE AND PREJUDICE MARRIAGE

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE MARRIAGE

Pride and Prejudice: Marriage
Essay written by Maria Engstrom
Introduction
For this essay, I chose to read the perhaps most famous book by the English author Jane
Austen.
During the reading I was thinking about which theme I should choose to write about and
analyze, and
eventually I felt that marriage was the central keyword in the book. I will concentrate
on the situation
of the daughters in the family, since these are the best described in the novel. My
dealing with
different ideals and problems within a marriage will be illustrated with examples from
the text. 
Analysis
Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties
are ever so
well known to each other, or ever so similar beforehand, it does not advance their
felicity in the least.
They always continue to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of
vexation; and it is
better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to
pass your life. 
This is a quote from Charlotte Lucas, one of the female characters in the novel, and a
quote which
very well exemplify the general feelings against marriage for the period and the people
in upperclass
England. 
Marriage is central for all characters in the novel: not just daughters and sons, but
parents, aunts,
uncles and everybody else who has some interest in the subject. Though it is of course
most in the
interest of the daughter herself to get married, the interests of the own family can be
important for the
choice of husband and wife. It is not appropriate for the daughter to choose whoever she
likes for her
husband, which she- if she wants a happy marriage- is not very likely to do. I will
discuss the reasons
for the careful choice of a proper husband below. 
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune
must be in
want of a wife 
This is the first line in the novel, which clearly shows the connection between money and
marriage. It
lies in the interest of a woman to marry a man with a fortune, or at least some good deal
of money.
The husband is meant to support his wife, since he is the one with a profession and she
is not
(something that will be discussed further down). So, naturally, personal attractions are
weighed
against financial considerations. This is why Mrs. Gardiner does not think Wickham a very
prudent
man for Elizabeth; because of his want of fortune. Or as Jane says when she hears of
Lydia's
elopement with Wickham: So imprudent a match on both sides!...my father can give her
nothing.
Since money is so important, Wickham tries to elope with Georgiana Darcy only because of
her
fortune of ?30,000 since the property of a woman automatically becomes the property of
the husband
in the marriage. 
Marriage was therefore a great security for a happy life since there was nothing like the
social
security, old age pensions or health insurances we are provided with today. 
If you go on refusing every offer of marriage, you will never get a husband -- and I am
sure I do not
know who is to maintain you when your father is dead. 
The sentence above is the quoting of Mrs. Bennet to Elizabeth after the refusal of Mr.
Collins
proposal. The statement reflects the situation for women in the novel and during this
period. No
professions (politics, university-related etc.) were open for women of the genteel
classes, so
independence on the woman's hand almost never occurred. The only profession available was
that
of being a governess, which meant educating the daughters of a family, but this was a job
with low
working conditions and lowly paid. Therefore women had to marry their life into money,
happiness and
a secured future (if they did not by chance happened to inherit a large sum of money.) As
Charlotte
Lucas thoughts before accepting the proposal of Mr. Collins are pictured in the novel: 
Without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her
object; it was
the only honourable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however
uncertain
of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want. 
It was certainly not appropriate that young, unmarried women lived outside the family
although she
might be an heiress. Young women were thought of incapable of living their own lives, it
seems, so
the daughter stayed within the family til the day she got married and moved to her
husband's estate.
A woman who never got married could therefore expect a life in her parents' house for the
rest of her
life; what was called being a 'dependant'. Marriage was accordingly the only key to a
life outside the
family. The case of an elopement, as with Lydia and Wickham, where the family is leaven
without
their permission, is looked upon as something rather radical and misfortunate for the
family, for the
reasons given above as well as financial ones in this very case. 
When the daughter once had chosen her husband, the connection was a permanent one since
divorces were very uncommon during this period (and misfortunate for the family's good
name, one
can imagine). One way for a husband to divorce his wife would be on grounds of sexual
infidelity on
the wife's hand. This was, however, not an easy path to a divorce. Except from getting
the permission
of the Parliament to sue the wife, these different steps costed a good deal of money,
which lead to
only the rich being able afford divorces. 
Conclusion
Marriage is the main subject in the novel, as well as for people of this period. The
maybe most
important condition for a happy marriage is money besides love family relations. The
situation of the
women in the novel does not allow them any kind of deviant acting since a happy marriage
is the only
goal for them. Though this is the general atmosphere in the novel, I would like to end my
essay with
the words of Mr. Bennet to his daughter Elizabeth on her accepting Mr. Darcy's proposal,
which stand
like an anti-thesis of the otherwise general view of the perfect marriage: 
He is rich, to be sure, and you may have more fine clothes and fine carriages than Jane.
But will
they make you happy?