Relationships And Marriage In Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice

Due to both Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy’s prejudicial personalities, the two are eventually able to notice the intense love they had for each other. In the beginning of the novel, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy each

Jane Austen author of the novel Pride and Prejudice provokes readers to ponder marriage. She incorporates two proposals that represent conflicting motives. She first uses Mr. Collins character to express the social expectation held by society to marry. His character reveals the impact society has on the decisions we make. While on the other hand, Mr. Darcy’s character emphasizes falling in love and establishing a true connection.

The path to self discovery is the most terrifying, yet the most rewarding journey a person can experience. Jane Austen portrays this journey throughout her novel Pride and Prejudice. All through the novel the reader gets to endure the ups and downs of this journey with Elizabeth Bennet. She begins off the book very prideful on the fact that she is different than her society. As well, she prides herself on knowing people and being able to read them very easily, unlike her older sister Jane.

Her spirited personality causes her to ignore the craziness and extreme behaviors that happen in her society. Throughout the novel, Elizabeth works through overcoming obstacles that come in the way of her romantic life. Not only does Darcy change her influence with the relationships she has with other characters, but Elizabeth’s family members also influence her relationship with characters as well as other characters in Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth 's relationship does not have the best relationship with her family members. Mrs. Bennet is not close to Elizabeth, or any of her daughters that well.

Jane Austen wrote about two main characters that broke societal roles that should have been upheld. She put her personal beliefs of how Darcy broke out of this expectation when meeting the Bennets. Darcy was originally characterized as too prideful, based on his approachable manner at the dance, therefore giving a negative first impression to the Bennet family. Nonetheless, Elizabeth eventually chooses to let herself form her own opinion of Darcy. She also let herself open up to the idea of having a new perspective of him.

Elizabeth’s most significant change in Pride and Prejudice pertained to her regard for Darcy, which eventually revealed her new willingness to overcome her own prejudice. Early on, while talking to Jane about Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth declared that “to find a man agreeable whom one is determined to hate” would be “the greatest misfortune of all” (89). Throughout the first half of the book, Elizabeth served as the embodiment of prejudice, in that she was so insistent on hating that she would have found displeasure in discovering benevolence in another person. This was shown in her initial view of Darcy, in which virtually nothing could have redeemed him in her eyes from anything more than a conceited man of wealth. The most significant change of

Jane Austen Marriage is a paramount concern. Marriage is not only a personal question but rather it affects the whole social group, because marriage is just not a matter of love or companionship, but much more than that. It is a political, social and economic alliance between two people, and their families. One of the chief characteristics of Sense and Sensibility is the lack of a father figure, at that time the father’s used to take decisions on the future marriage of their daughters.

When Mr. Darcy first walks into the room with Mr. Bingley, “Mr. Darcy soon [draws] the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien, and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year” (Austen 8). This direct characterization helps gives insight of the society of this time. With in minutes of Mr. Darcy’s arrival, the

Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy met at a ball in Meryton that she and her sister Jane were invited to by Mr. Darcy’s friend Mr. Bingley. Mr. Bingley tried to get Mr. Darcy to give Elizabeth a chance and dance with her but his response was “She is tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt me”. Elizabeth automatically doesn’t like Darcy because he won’t dance with anyone who isn’t rich, and he comes across as snobby. Elizabeth then meets Mr. Wickham who also does not like Mr. Darcy. Mr. Wickham tells Elizabeth that Mr. Darcy has treated him unfairly.

After the failure of Mr. Collins and Mr. Wickham, Elizabeth’s had no hope to find herself the perfect partner. As she learned more of Mr. Darcy’s life however, she found him more and more desirable. She learned of his generosity to all: friends, family, subordinates, peers, and especially those who worked for him and his wellbeing. She also saw his wealth on full display with a visit to his estate. At this moment, Elizabeth new she had fallen for the same man she had so strongly hated just weeks before.

Up until chapter 34, Elizabeth had only heard bad rumors about Mr. Darcy, such as him interfering with the relationship of her sister, Jane. Nonetheless, Mr. Darcy’s feelings toward Elizabeth increased to the point that it will not be repressed, thus proposing her. Although she rejected him rather harshly, she knew not how to support herself, and contemplated about how she should receive an offer of marriage from Mr. Darcy. This scene is important in that it alters Elizabeth’s opinion towards Mr. Darcy, and turns the story around in a way that this company

In Jane Austen’s novel, Sense and Sensibility she discusses feminism through the challenges women may face in marriage. Austen’s portrayal of her characters Elinor and Marianne demonstrate the struggles and pressures women face. These challenges can be seen through primogeniture, Elinor and Marianne’s approach to love and marriage, and a man’s ability to ruin or help women. The familial succession of assets typically went to the first-born son or the next male heir. In the case of John Dashwood, he inherited Norland estate after the death of his father leaving his half-sisters and stepmother “to quit the neighborhood Norland” and move to a small cottage in Devonshire.

It is evident from reading Austen’s novel; Pride and Prejudice, that she possess a certain sense of empathy towards the female population and the roles they played in society. From the way in which the narrator speaks of the different female characters and how the female characters interact and develop throughout the plot, the women in this novel convey Austen’s distaste for the position women had in society during that period of time. In this essay I will discuss how the female characters view women and their roles in society and how they discuss topics such as; marriage, the ways in which a “proper” lady should behave, the roles of women in the family and finally how Elizabeth Bennet, the heroine in this story, portrays Austen’s subtle notion of rebellion towards these social constructs to which these women are tied to.

To begin with, Mr. Darcy’s pride in his high social status detrimentally affects his personality and relationship with others. Mr. Darcy is a young and wealthy man who is part of the upper landed gentry class, which he constantly makes known to others around him. Since Mr. Darcy knows he is rich and owns a lot of estates, it affects his personality eventually impacting his relationships with others. This is first seen at the Netherfield Ball when Darcy comments on Elizabeth by conceitedly saying, “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me” (Austen 8). Mr. Darcy first reveals his pride when he views himself as a superior to all the women in the room causing him to snobbishly judge Elizabeth’s looks rather too quickly.

During Jane Austen’s work on “Pride and Prejudice,” Romanticism started to reach its complex, and had strong influence on people’s life, but Austen chose to reject the tenets of that movement. Romanticism emphasized on the power of feeling, but Austen supported rationalism instead. She substantiated traditional principles and the established rules; her novels also display an ambiguity about emotion and an appreciation for intelligence and natural beauty that aligns them with Romanticism. Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” is one of her most well-known works and even though the text is hard to understand, I would recommend it for high students because to me, it is the most characteristic and the most eminently quintessential work of Jane Austen.