Theme Of Marriage In Pride And Marriage

Marriage is a driving force in Jane Austen 's novels because the manoeuvring by which a man presents himself to a woman (and her parents) as a possible husband often comes before any signs of love. Austen’s novels, show the pressures of family expectations, they trulytruley endorse the aim of marrying for love. In the beginning of the novel, you see the impact of family in the process of marriage often try to command their sons and daughters whom to marry. Lydia Bennet marries at 16 and her mother talks of her sister Jane attracting the attentions of a well-qualified suitor at the age of 15. At a certain age, somewhere between 15 and 19, a young woman was said to be ‘out’. That meant that she could be courted. Lady Catherine de Bourgh quizzes Elizabeth Bennet about how many of her sisters are ‘out’ and is rather astonished to find that they all are. Every one of them is in the marriage market, which is Mrs Bennet’s obsession from the first page of the novel. Courtship was a semi-public process, acted out

‘Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. Conduct books of the period tend to represent marriage as a solemn religious duty but in Austen’s novels the harsh economic reality of a young woman’s value in the marriage market is what preoccupies most of the characters.

The marriage proposal itself followed a certain protocol, which Mr. Collins pretends to understand. The rule in Austen’s novels seems clear: if a man proposes as if he cannot imagine that the answer will be no – the answer will be no.

Austen relishes the equally disastrous proposals of Mr Collins and Mr Darcy. Both men are amazed when Elizabeth refuses them. He likes the country and his books, and these must console him for his error; he has made his choice and can never unmake