The Analysis of Marriages in Pride and Prejudice

傅為

【Abstract】Jane Austin is one of the most notable female writers in the world. More than 200 years passed， her novel， especially the value of love and marriage in her novels， still makes great influence on people today. As we know， her best-known novel is Pride and Prejudice， in which she shows people several couples.

【Key words】love； marriage； value

1. Charlotte and Collins

Collins who doomed to not know the importance of love was just a vulgar， arrogant man in want of a wife. In his mind， for having a good house and very sufficient income， he intended to marry according to Lady Catherines suggestions. What he needed was not a wife in love， but a wife could follow him under Lady Catherines orders. For him， he would never understand Elizabeths refusal， which could also infer that a woman marry to him was impossible to acquire a fortunate love and marriage. Even in this case， Charlotte married to Collins， which more or less indicated the English society at that time. The reason why she chose that marriage was that she was not young any more， all she wanted was a comfortable home and steady life which Collins can gave to him. Thus， it was a humiliating marriage. Under the background of that time England， probably it was the most vivid picture for lots of marriages in that century. That kind of marriage the women chose was impossible to be tolerably happy in the lot for them.

2. Lydia and Wickham

Lydia and Wickham had the most ridiculous marriage which they did not concern any factors and responsibilities that a marriage should be contained. Lydia was a girl simple-minded and no manners whose life was always enjoying assemblies to play and dance with young men. Wickham was a rounder whose father had been used to be the steward before dying. He was good at flirting girls. Lydias elopement became the most shameful incident to her family， which almost ruined two fortunate marriages for her two sisters. Eventually， with Darcys money support， Wickham agreed to marry Lydia and their marriage lives were all relieved by her sisters family while Wickham just went out for fun almost without any salary. They had a horrible marriage life， which indicated that a marriage just had love cannot be fortunate. With time passing， love without any property will ultimately decrease and fade away.

3. Elizabeth and Darcy

The most romantic and fortunate combination in the novel is Elizabeth and Darcy` s love and marriage. Elizabeth was an intelligent， clever and independent girl. Firstly， she had not just attracted by Darcys outlook or property， but she disliked him because of his conceit and pride. She looked forward to a kind of romantic marriage with love and comprehension. She was independent by obeying her mothers demand on Collins proposal and insisted her love on Darcy without daring the threats by Lady Catherine. Even when facing Darcys first proposal， she did not accept when not being respected and regarded equally. By getting the lies that Wickham told her， she gradually put down her prejudice on Darcy and grateful for his help to Lydias ridiculous marriage. Darcy was a wealthy， sagacious man. At first， he owned pride and looked down upon those with low manners. Gradually， he loved Elizabeth so much that he put down his pride， especially after he met Elizabeths well-educated uncle and aunt and recalled her sisters affair with Wickham. Then he helped Elizabeths family with Lydia` s marriage and gave money to Wickham， the man that make a large number of bad effects on his family. Elizabeth and Darcy did not like each other in the first place， there were lots of obstacles for them to cross. On those conflicts and mistakes， they knew more about each others characters and principle， which had built a bridge on their mental communications. According to Austin， this was a fortunate love in her mind.

4. Conclusion

In Austins value， a fortunate marriage should include love， money， social status and manners. The crucial point is that the four factors cannot live without one in a marriage. Elizabeth had once said： “I am determined that only the deepest love will induce me into matrimony.” “Marriage should not be driven by thoughts of money.” In that case， Austin indicated that a marriage cannot exist without love which was the foundation and should not be driven by property. On the other side， Austin also demonstrated her value in discussing money often in the novel that only enough property could cultivate the marriage tree in a healthy and strong way. By contrasting to the people at that time England who just considered about property as the factor of a marriage， there was no doubt that Austin owned an advanced value of love and marriage.

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