Aspects of Marriage Present in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen :: Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice Marriage Essays

Aspects of Marriage Present in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen There are lots of aspects of marriages in Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. There are marriages of love, convenience, physical attraction and mercenary. The marriage between Mr. Wickham and Lydia is partly due to physical attraction and mercenary. The marriage between Elizabeth ad Mr. Darcy and Jane and Mr. Bingley are due to love. The marriage between Mr. Collins and Charlotte Lucas is base on convenience. The Marriage between Mr and Mrs Bennet is also due to physical attraction. The novel was set in 1796 and was published in 1813. The England during this period of time was far more class conscious. The main characters in this novel come from a class called gentry; this is the class above the emerging professional class and below aristocracy. Class was more to do with breeding than with wealth. Rules were set for everything, rules for dressing, rules for travelling, rules or introducing yourself to others and rules for behaving. In this period of time women were not allowed to work. However they could become governesses. They could not inherit wealth from their father, and the Bennet sisters were no exception therefore Mr. Collins was their heir to Mr. Bennet’s property. The marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet was based on physical attraction. You can see that they do not understand each other. There is a contrast between both of their character. Mr.Bennet is intellectual and likes to spend time reading in the library while Mrs. Bennet is loud, hasty and likes to spend her time gossiping and trying to finding husbands for her daughters. Mr. Bennet enjoys mocking his wife â€Å"†¦ I have respect for your nerves they are my old friends†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Mr. and Mrs Bennet also have different opinions and ideas of their daughter’s future â€Å"†¦ Your mother will never see your face if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . You can tell that this is a marriage based on physical attraction because Mr. Bennet advises his daughter not to make the same mistake that he did my marring Mrs. Bennet â€Å"†¦I know that you could be neither happy nor respectable to your husband, unless you truly esteemed your husband†¦. My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect you partner in life†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he is in a way hinting that he cannot respect his wife. Mrs. Bennet is unaware of this as she dose not know her husband very well. Mrs. Bennet’s character is very similar to the character of Lydia. Both like officers and both act loud and hastily.