Essay on Marriage Without Love in Pride and Prejudice by...

The very first sentence of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen satirizes womens’ inability to be self sufficient and respected in society without a husband. Elizabeth Bennet resembles Austen as young women, as she chose to be old maid rather than be married inappropriately. Elizabeth cannot stand the frenzies her mother and sisters get in over superficial marriages. Unlike her sisters, Elizabeth is set on finding love, and will not sacrifice love for any absurd amount of money or status. Austen wrote during the uprising of the middle classwhich created an increase of individualistic views. Thus, Austen challenges class hierarchy by juxtaposing Elizabeth with the aristocracy in order to satirize the nobility’s divergence from the natural†¦show more content†¦Austen states that the aristocracy’s view of holy matrimony no longer reflects the natural love between two people, dropping their status below Elizabeth’s.Austen humorously disparages Charlott e’s superficial view of marriage by starkly contrasting them with Elizabeth’s to expose Charlotte’s low status. Charlotte believes that â€Å"happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance† and that â€Å"very few of us have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement† (14). This indicates that Charlotte believes love is not essential to the success of marriage and therefore she lacks status. Her satire commends Elizabeth’s rebellion against class hierarchy, and commends her refusal to marry without love even if it means passing up the most sought after bachelors, and thus raising her status above Charlottes. Similar to Charlotte, Ms. Bingley’s actions embody nobilities’ view of marriage as an artificial institution to secure status and wealth. Austen criticizes gentry’s marriage selectiveness based on blood line, not individualism, and thus substitutes their previously high status with the low merit of hypocrisy. Ms. Bingley opposition of Elizabeth’s marriage to Darcy, encompasses aristocracy’s divergence from natural love. She also considers Lizzy’s maternal blood to be unfit for Darcy and wants hisShow MoreRelatedSocial Commentary on Love and Marriage in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin1734 Words   |  7 PagesPride and Prejudice Love and Marriage Jane Austen shows the readers within the first sentence what the plot and main theme of Pride and Prejudice is and what social ideas she plans on presenting through this novel. The first sentence of Pride and Prejudice stands as one of the most famous introductory lines in literature. It states, â€Å"it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife† (Austen 5). This statement puts the novel inRead More Essay on Love vs. Society in Pride and Prejudice943 Words   |  4 PagesLove vs. Society in Pride and Prejudice    Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice explores the English social standards during the early 1800s. It shows the emphasis on marriage, or, namely, whom you marry. This story consists of three marriages. The first is socially based, the second is based on mutual admiration between two people, and the third represents one mans love and fight for a woman. This novel shows how marriage and love can arrest or improve social status and how love overcomes adversityRead MoreJane Austen s Pride And Prejudice1697 Words   |  7 PagesElizabeth Bennett: Outspoken in an Oppressive Society Jane Austen once said, â€Å"it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife† (Austen 1). In other words, women of the nineteenth century were deemed dependent on men. They were to join an advantageous marriage to remain respectable and achieve a higher social class. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice concerns the social norms of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries—a patriarchalRead MorePride and Prejudice: Exploring the Chasm Between Love and Marriage in Georgian England1675 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Pride and Prejudice†, is a novel which explores the huge chasm between love and marriage in Georgian England. Jane Austen’s presentation of passion and matrimony reiterates the fact that marriage is a â€Å"business arrangement†. Austen uses irony to make fun of polite society in this satire and Austen also emphasizes the point that social hierarchy dictates whom y ou can marry. The pressures of men and women in Georgian England are revealed through her exploration of the aristocracy’s prejudice againstRead MoreJane Austen s Pride And Prejudice1418 Words   |  6 PagesMarriage is a fundamental topic in Jane Austen’s famous novel, Pride and Prejudice. Readers become invested in the lives of the Bennet sisters who are constantly dreaming of relationships. Still unknown, however, is Austen’s reason for writing this novel that is so extremely concentrated on marriage. Some critics believe that Austen wrote the novel to portray how different social classes affected the lives of women such as the Bennet sisters. Others, however, believe that the novel was writtenRead MoreJane Austens Pride and Prejudice Essay1276 Words   |  6 PagesPride and Prejudice Essay: Own Prompt #8-The Obscurities of the Victorian Society In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen satirizes the superficially built society in Victorian Era by pointing out the flaws with the recurring themes of marriage versus love and gender roles through dramatic irony and character relations. All relationships and the idea of true love tend to be obscured by this materialistic society that is based on wealth, power, title, and connections. Jane Austen constantly paintsRead MoreLove And Prejudice By Jane Austen1722 Words   |  7 Pages Love and Marriage in Pride and Prejudice Yuexin Ma (Mandy) Dr. W. Smith ENGL 222 December 9, 2015 Love and Marriage in Pride and Prejudice No doubt, among Jane Austen’s works, Pride and Prejudice is one of the most well-known stories in the world and her greatest success. This famous novel was written in 1813, and was translated into many languages and made into films for several times. Pride and Prejudice has both love and money for the tone to the theme of marriage. The greatnessRead MoreYour Possessions And The Way You Expose Yourself1080 Words   |  5 Pagesstart off like modern love stories, it ends happily. The novel is also known to be a Bildungsroman, in which characters mature and reevaluate their actions, thoughts, and beliefs. Elizabeth seems to start off with an unforgiving personality. This essential prolongs her and Darcy being together. When she finds out Darcy paid off the officer Lydia eloped with, Elizabeth finally matures. She comes to the understanding that Darcy has only good intentions and that he truly does love her. He is not the manRead MorePride And Prejudice By Jane Austen Essay1724 W ords   |  7 PagesThe 18th century novel, Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, is a fascinating book about a young woman’s struggle with family and love. Pride and Prejudice was originally published in 1813, but, the most common version of the story, and the one used for this research, is from the version published in 1892, still by only Jane Austen, though many other authors have contributed to this book over time. Austen often references the class system at the time, often noting one of the multiple heroine’s struggleRead MoreThe Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth in Pride and Prejudice1184 Words   |  5 PagesThe course of true love never did run smooth in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† The idiom â€Å"The course of true love never did run smooth† implies that the path to love is never simple and straight forward. The path to true love is filled with difficulties and obstacles from society, religion, or culture. In â€Å"Pride and Prejudice,† none exemplify this idiom more than the couples Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth and Mr. Bingley and Jane. The idea behind the proverb plays a central role in constructing the plot of the