The Presentation of Marriage in Pride and Prejudice

The Presentation of Marriage in Pride and Prejudice

During the novel of Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austen, we

are presented with many marriages and relationships between the

characters. As each character is introduced to another (or if a new

character has been entered into the novel), Austen always tells us

about their social status and financial background as this was a major

contribution to marriage back then. In those times, one of the most

important reasons to marry was because of money and income; it wasn’t

common for people to marry for love alone. Charlotte Lucas knows this

and says “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance”. This

implies that the marriage could be a happy or unhappy time depending

on how well the characters know each other beforehand.

Austen created many single female characters in Pride and Prejudice

and she put each of them in a bad light, which is ironic as she never

married herself. Austen says in Pride and Prejudice that a woman who

never marries could only look forward to living with relatives and

therefore being dependant on them, as women didn’t have their own

careers; the only path open to them was marriage. This is why when

Charlotte Lucas marries Mr Collins at age 27, her brothers are glad

that she won’t ‘die an old maid’.

Women also married because they inherit nothing from their parents

(except when there are no other male relatives), so to marry well was

a necessity to support their lifestyles. However, it isn’t just women

who need to marry well to support their lifestyles; men who aren’t

first born need to marry well, also, as they inherit nothing from

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much they love each other; Mr Collins and Charlotte got married as a

business arrangement; Elizabeth and Darcy have to overcome their pride

and prejudice to make their marriage work and make it interesting; Mr

and Mrs Bennet fell in love at first sight and now don’t love each

other at all.

I think that people should only get married if they are sure they will

be happy with each other and it is the right step for them to take

together. For example, Elizabeth didn’t agree to marry Darcy until

she knew him well enough to know he would make her happy. A

contradiction to this is Mr and Mrs Bennet as they thought they would

be happy together but they aren’t.

To conclude, I agree with Charlotte’s statement ‘happiness in a

marriage is entirely a matter of chance’ as nobody knows how a

marriage will turn out.