Money and Happiness——Views on the Marriages in Pride and Prejudice

◆徐永鑫

(杭州技師學院)

Pride and Prejudice is one of Austen＇s greatest works.In this book，Austen describes different kinds of marriages.According to these marriages，Jane Austen expresses her marriage views:regarding the marriage as a final settling place，which one is forced to find for life，and submitting to the money and power，just like the marriage of Charlotte;or regarding the marriage as indiscreet games for a short time＇s sexual passion，such as Wickham and Lydia＇s marriage;or regarding the marriage as the happy flowers watered by love.Its typical representative is the marriage of Darcy and Elizabeth.This paper focuses on the analysis of Elizabeth＇s and Charlotte＇s marriages.

Ⅰ.The marriage for money(Collins and Charlotte’s marriage)

In Pride and Prejudice，Jane Austen describes a ridiculously pompous clergyman－ －Mr.Collins.He is a stupid clergyman who always thinks highly of himself and likes playing up to the influential figures wholeheartedly.He lives a rich life with a house and a high income.But，Mr.Collins doesn＇t know what love means.For him，marriage only means finishing a task.So，after Elizabeth＇s refusal，he almost immediately transfers his affections to Charlotte.

Charlotte accepts at once his offer of marriage.In fact，Charlotte understands clearly Mr.Collins is neither a sensible nor an agreeable man.But she still wants Mr.Collins to become her husband.For her，at the age of 27 and without property，marriage has always been her object.Charlotte by marriage just wants to get a rich husband.But，is Charlotte＇s matrimony indeed happy?

From the description of the 28thchapter，we get to know the answer:Elizabeth pays visit to Mr.and Mrs.Collins，and when Mr.Collins says something of which his wife may reasonably be ashamed，Charlotte wisely pretends not to hear and she can leave him aside to show her sister and her friend around her house by herself，which makes Charlotte extremely pleased.So long as Mr.Collins can be forgotten，there is really a great air of comfort throughout.This is their marriage.What is interesting about the marriage is that the woman without property indeed got married to the single man with a lot of property，but the happiness the marriage brings to her is from something else but not her husband.

Through describing Charlotte＇s marriage，Jane Austen reveals that the marriage that is purely based on economy has no happiness at all.

Ⅱ.The marriage for true love

Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage is one of the happy，ideal marriages，which the writer describes as focal point.Elizabeth is a very clever，active and pretty girl.She has not been affected by the traditional concept that most girls have.The most important aspect is that she is a lady with dignity and upbringing.Darcy is a man with high status and good manner.He is handsome，rich and powerful.So he is the ideal husband in girl＇s eyes.But he has grown up in the surroundings with a strong sense of power，so he is always selfish and arrogant.

At first，he doesn＇t care for Elizabeth.He looks down upon Elizabeth＇s family and their social position.But，gradually，he is attracted by her very fine eyes，her vivacity，her frankness，her keen intelligence and genuine charm.So soon，Mr.Darcy falls in love with Elizabeth.Although he expresses his love to Elizabeth，he couldn＇t help showing his arrogance，which makes Elizabeth have prejudice on Darcy.Darcy loves Elizabeth，but looks down upon her social status.He considers that he has been lowing himself and doing something against his will，personalities and even moral standard.He thinks that his marriage would certainly suceed and Elizabeth is waiting for him to propose marriage.However，Elizabeth，deeply －rooted disliking him，resolutely refused his offer of marriage and condemned his pride angrily.The ultimate failure makes Darcy wake up.He is aware of his own shortcomings.He accepts Elizabeth＇s criticism，and faithfully corrects the mistakes.He is no longer arrogant and has a real love with Elizabeth.

The visit to Darcy＇s house made an important influence on Elizabeth ＇s feelings towards Darcy.Elizabeth admires Darcy＇s taste in decoration ，and his sense of responsibility is confirmed by the housekeeper＇s praise .The housekeeper＇s account of Darcy suggests that the proud impression he gives is mistaken.What E-lizabeth saw and heard at Darcy＇s home is a blow to her pride in her power of judgment.At last，she knows Darcy＇s true characters，and her prejudices against him begin to weaken，and her feelings towards him begin gradually to soften.She finally falls in love with Darcy.

In other words，Darcy changes the attitude of being arrogant，and this is the essential reason why Darcy wins Elizabeth＇s heart and love.We can imagine if Darcy doesn＇t change his mind，even if other misunderstandings have been resolved，they would not fall in love forever.

Through Austen＇s description of the different marriages，it is not difficult for us to understand that marriage is connected with，but not decided by money and social position.A happy marriage should be based on adoration and respect for each other.Austen opposes not only marriage for money，but also indiscreet marriage，and emphasizes love＇s importance in marriage.Her views are still of realistic significance.

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［3］奧斯丁，王科一譯.傲慢與偏見.上海譯文出版社出版發行，1990.