"You know what I am going to say. I love you (Dickens 1)." In modern day times, marriage proposals are seen as the epitome of love as demonstrated by the beginning of this proposal by Dickens; however, during the early 1800 's, the majority of people married for social reasons rather than love. These differing purposes are made evident in the proposals made in classic novels written by Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. Comparing these two proposals shows the development of marriage during the 1800s from a social device to an emotional and loving act through the different arguments, attitudes, assumptions, and diction both men use in addressing the woman as well as the effect it produced. The first proposal from Jane Austen 's Pride and Prejudice …show more content…
While Mr. Collins’s attitude was pompous and unaffectionate, the man in Dickins 's novel has an attitude of genuine and passionate love. Throughout the entirety of the proposal, Dickens writes about the love the man has for this woman. He says, "You could draw me to fire, you could draw me to water, you could draw me to the gallows, you could draw me to any death, you could draw me to anything I have most avoided. You could draw me to any exposure and disgrace (Dickens 5-9)." Through this quote, Dickens establishes the relationship between the two and how much the man cares about the woman. Rather than using an unknown patroness to be persuasive, the man in Dickens 's novel uses the woman 's brother to prove his good character when he states "your brother favors me to the upmost (Dickens 21)." These arguments are more effective because they are more meaningful to the woman, assuming she loves him back and the opinion of her brother is important to her. The man also argues that the marriage would not only make him happy, but would benefit her as well. He states that his “circumstances are quite easy, and you would want for nothing. My reputation stands quite high, and would be a shield for yours (Dickens 14-15).” Through this statement, the man uses material and social factors like Mr. Collins in Austen’s novel, but the purpose is different. Rather than using these arguments as the backbone of his proposal, the man in Dickens novel uses it as a side comment to ensure the woman of the comfortable life they would enjoy together. The man understand what marriage is and views his bride-to-be as an equal partner, rather than an object like Mr. Collins does. His diction throughout is clearly affectionate and well-planned out, but it is also very humble and vulnerable as well. He explains to
Abraham Maslow, a well-known American psychologist, theorized that human beings have innate needs that must be met in order to have a happy, healthy existence. The most necessary is, of course, the fulfillment of basic physiological requirements, followed by a feeling of safety. If these are fulfilled, every mentally healthy individual begins craving love and a need to belong. Love and being loved in return is, in fact, vital to an individual’s mental state. This, in addition to the feeling of euphoria, pleasure and joy it provides, and the sensual experience of romantic love, makes it a great obsession in nearly every culture. This craving humans to have their unrequited love returned makes great fodder for movies, songs, and novels. Many
Jane Austen's novels at first glance tell a story of romance set primarily within the landowning society amidst country estates, and their cultivation of tea parties, social outings, and extravagant balls; ladies sashaying in flowing gowns through precisely decorated rooms, and men deliberating over their game of whist. The storybook romance usually unfolds in these familiar settings, and inevitably involves the conflict of two lovers separated by differences in social class, and the resulting influence of the diverse societies they revolve in. Although these superficial aspects of Austen's stories are protruding at the seams, underneath the skin of these well-clothed dramas lie serious moral issues afflicting the culture of England during Austen's life.
But in reality, a male narrator gives a certain sense of understanding to the male audience and society’s understand of the male and females roles and responsibilities in a marriage. Just as men were expected to cut the grass, take out the trash, pay the bills and maintain the household as a whole, women were expected to cook, clean, nurture the children, and be a loving and submissive wife to their husband. The only stipulation required for this exchange of power was to establish a mutual love. In the Victorian age love was all it took for a man to take or alter a woman’s livelihood and
Marriage is the biggest and final step between two young people who love one another more than anything. In the marriage proposals by Charles Dickens and Jane Austen we are able to see two different reasons for marriage. While Dickens takes a more passionate approach, Austen attempts a more formal and logical proposal. Rhetorical strategies, such as attitude and diction, have a great impact on the effect the proposals have on the women.
Since the beginning of time, marriage exists as a large part of life. The values of marriage change on a year to year basis and as trends continue to change so will marriage. There have been numerous reasons for marriage throughout time such as arranged, wealth, love or many others. In the 18th century, many marriages were based on one’s class and wealth and not true love. Today, many marriages do not take wealth or class into account they focus on that person’s inner self and love. Marriage exists as an overlying theme throughout Pride and Prejudice and every marriage appears for a different reason.
Even though today Jane Austen is regarded for her writing, during her time she couldn’t even publish her work under her own name, because it was considered unladylike for women to be intellectual figures. Unlike J. K. Rowling and other English female writers today, who are well known for their works even without using their full names, Jane Austen lived within the sanctuary of a close-knit family and always published her works under a pseudonym that could not be traced back to her (jasna.org). Writing at the time was a male-dominated profession and women depended completely on men for their livelihood. During her upbringing she knew the importance of money to women in a severely classist and patriarchal society, and so marriage was the answer to the survival of women during this time (Helms 32). Even knowing these qualities were important in her life she criticized them. Jane’s writing is somewhat comical, because even while criticising those normal discriminations in her book Pride and Prejudice, the book was published with a prejudiced nameless cover, shedding even greater light on the lack of sense and shortcoming of sensibility of eighteenth century Great Britain. So in order for women to hide their identity while writing about things that were highly controversial they used male pen names. Female authors resorted to pseudonyms to become published and to not be shunned away by their readers, and only after they did this their work was taken as serious literature. Although we ask why do we see Jane Austen’s name printed on all her classical works? That is because we see it “today” in the current year. During her lifetime Jane Austen remained pretty much unidentified because all her novels were published anonymously unde...
Marriage in the 19th century has always been an important issue and thus, it is manifested in most of the novels of the 19th century. Pride and Prejudice as well as Jane Eyre are two novels in which the dialectics of marriage are strongly present.
Jane Austen’s career followed novelists such as Ann Radcliffe and Laurence Sterne, at a time when the Gothic and Romance novels were very popular. However, Jane Austen did not look favorably upon these styles, believing them to be harmful to both literature and the reader. In writing her own novels, Austen parodied these genres, but not merely for a humorous effect. She had specific messages that she wanted to get through to her audience, through this method. She wanted to impress upon her reader the value of that which is ordinary, but real, the importance of thinking for oneself, and to make logical judgments of characters.
Jane Austen, also criticizes marriage based on convenience and money. She criticizes through the experiences of Charlotte and Collins. The characters Charlotte and Collins are “perfect” for each other, they are both fake, selfish and scheming. In the nineteenth century, “most” not all women had this mindset where they wanted to marry successful and rich men to secure their futures. Love meant nothing to these types of women. Materialistic things meant everything. Charlotte Lucas is a character that only got married to secure her future. “Miss Lucas perceived him from an upper window...and instantly set out to meet him accidentally in the lane” After Charlotte finds out collins had been
Austen was raised in an unusually liberal family where her father was a part of the middle-landowning class. They had a moderate amount of luxuries, but were not considered well off. Unlike many girls of her time Austen received a fairly comprehensive education. She received this mainly through the undivided support of her family. Austen and her sisters, like most girls of their time, were homeschooled. Austen’s zealous parents encouraged the girls to play piano, read and write. Her parent’s encouragement led to her interest in writing. Austen’s father housed an extensive library filled with books which kept Austen occupied for years (“Sense and Sensibility” 119). Through her observant nature and passion to read and write, Austen was able to eloquently write of the many “hidden truths” of social and class distinction during her time. They included daily societal changes some of which foreshadowed future societal leniency. Familial support also extended societal norm of marriage. Her parents attempt...
Imagine living in a world where one gender was just focused on getting married. That one gender would endlessly look for anything to make sure that they were desirable for marriage. It sounds terrible and absolutely ridiculous. Right? Wrong. Way back in the 18th century, wealthy women were keen on finding their prey, the desirable husband. This man would support and cushion his wife’s life forever. Jane Austen uses her wit and mockery to critique and ridicule the subservient role of women in the 18th century.
In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen shows examples of how most marriages were not always for love but more as a formal agreement arranged by the two families. Marriage was seen a holy matrimony for two people but living happil...
It is difficult, if not completely impossible, to formulate Austen’s ideal proposal plot because different things matter to different heroines, but it is possible to explore the implications of the rejected proposal plot. This essay thus proceeds to an examination of what matters to two heroines who elect to reject proposals of marriage: Pride and Prejudice’s (1813) Elizabeth Bennet, and Mansfield Park’s (1814) Fanny Price. Elizabeth is the first of Austen’s heroines to come to mind in terms of rejected marriage proposals, given that she rejects not just one, but two, proposals. Framing an examination of Fanny Price’s rejection of Henry Crawford through Elizabeth Bennet’s rejection of Mr. Collins and Mr. Darcy, then, provides a better understanding of what matters to Austen and her heroines in
married. However, “for pragmatic reasons, the author’s conclusions favor marriage as the ultimate solution, but her pairings predict happiness” (“Austen, Jane”). Als...
Jane Austen's writing style is a mix of neoclassicism and romanticism. Austen created a transition into Romanticism which encourages passion and imagination in writing instead of a strict and stale writing style. It is very emotional and follows a flowing not structured form. Mixing these two styles was one of Austen's strongest talents, which gave her an edge in the literary world. No other author in her time was able to create such a strong transition between writing styles. Austen used her sharp and sarcastic wit in all of her writing including in one of her most famous works; Pride and Prejudice. She could create a powerful and dramatic scene and immediately lead it into a satirical cathartic scene. We see these in various locations in Pride and Prejudice. She was able to use her experiences as well as her intense knowledge to create meaningful insights into her words, regardless of what topic she would be discussing. She often talks about marriage, or breaking the roles of what a person should be. She made controversial works that praised imperfections which praised the...