pride and prejudice love essay

Pride and Prejudice: Love and Marriage Theme

Though, marriage is the end of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice , yet it evolves more than the conclusion of a simple love story. There is a depth, variety and seriousness in Jane’s treatment of these topics.

Marriage was an important social concern in Jane Austen’s time and she was fully aware of the disadvantages of remaining single. In a letter to her niece, Fanny Knight, she wrote:

Single women have a dreadful propensity for being poor – which is a very strong argument in favour of matrimony.

The only option for unmarried woman in Jane Austen’s time was to care for someone else’s children as Jane Austen herself did; as there were no outlets for women.

The novels of Jane Austen’s – especially Pride and Prejudice – dramatize the economic inequality of women, showing how women had to marry undesirable mates in order to gain some financial security.

The theme of love and marriage is one of the major themes in Pride and Prejudice . Through five marriages, Jane Austen defines good and bad reasons for marriage. Charlotte – Collins, Lydia – Wickham, Jane – Bingley and Elizabeth – Darcy are the four newly-weds. The old marriage is that of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet.

Mrs. and Mr. Bennet are poles apart in their natural attitude . Mr. Bennet is sharp and witty. Mrs. Bennet is vulgar and discreet. Together they constitute a very ill-matched couple.

Her father, captivated by youth and beauty … had married a woman whose weak understanding and liberal mind had very early in their marriage put an end to all real affection for her.

Mr. Bennet married for beauty. Soon he realized that Mrs. Bennet, due to her intellectual bankruptcy and narrow vision, would not make him an ideal wife.

Mr. and Mrs. Bennet never enjoyed the marital bliss of emotional and intellectual understanding. The gulf between them had widened. Mr. Bennet becomes lazy and irresponsible and an odd mixture of ‘sarcastic humour, and caprice’. He mocks Mrs. Bennet and exposes her to the scorn of their five daughters. The disadvantages of such marriage attend the daughters also. Elizabeth and Jane become what they are almost. Mary becomes a vain. Lydia grows into a selfish and deceitful flirt who elopes with a selfish and corrupt rake. The stupid and weak-spirited Kitty follows Lydia’s example and flirts with the military officers.

Charlotte and Collins are the first to get married. Collins, after, having a very good house and very sufficient income, intends to marry. He visits the Bennets to choose a wife among the Bennet girls. He sets out in detail his reasons for marriage:

First … it a right thing for every clergyman in easy circumstances to set the example of matrimony in his parish. Secondly … it will add very greatly to my happiness, and thirdly … that is particular advice and recommendation of the very noble lady whom I have the honour of calling patroness.

Mr. Collins does not have any respect and affection for the girl he intends to marry. So, Elizabeth declines the proposal. Collins shifts contentedly to Charlotte who is herself eager to accept his proposal.

Mr. Collins … was neither sensible nor agreeable … But still he would be her husband … marriage had always been her object; it was the only honourable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune.

Obviously Charlotte also does not think of love. She accepts Mr. Collins under economic pressure, knowing that she is going to marry an ass. Elizabeth is shocked at Charlotte’s engagement. Charlotte defends herself by saying:

I am not romantic you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home.

The next to be married are Wickham and Lydia. They elope before they get married. Compatibility and understanding are once again absent. Lydia is captivated by the external glamour of Wickham’s personality. She thinks, she is in love with him but she is only infatuated.

They were always moving from place to place in quest of a cheep situation, and always spending more then they ought. His affection for her soon sunk into indifference; hers lasted a little longer.

Jane and Bingley are sincerely in love with each other. Between them exists a great emotional compatibility. By nature, both are sweet and gentle, free from malice, ill will, affectation and duplicity, calm, unsuspecting, simple and willing to forgive readily. There is every likelihood that they will lead a happy married life.

Still, their marriage is timidly weak. Bingley is too weak-willed that in spite of loving Jane deeply, he does not take any initiative. Their temperamental harmony lacks the strengthening support of intellectual understanding and maturity.

Still they will be happy because Bingley is too good to offend consciously and Jane is too good not to forgive even any offense.

Elizabeth marries last and most desirably. When Darcy makes his first proposal, he had no doubts of a favourable answer. He acted as if he was offering prize which no sensible woman can refuse.

All the other characters believe Darcy to be a prize and that Elizabeth is falling for his wealth. Elizabeth rejects his proposal but accepts it for the second time.

Elizabeth and Darcy begin with prejudices and gradually move towards understanding. Elizabeth helps Darcy to shed his pride and be really the gentleman. Darcy in turn acts nobly and generously to win her love. Mutual affection and regards developed between them that form the basis of a sound marriage.

It was a union that must have been to the advantage of both.

Elizabeth has to assure that she loves and respects Darcy. Love and respect count most in a marital union, and having secured both, Elizabeth does not make any false or exaggerated statement when she says half-mockingly:

It is settled between us already that we are to be the happiest couple in the world.

Thus it is true that the chief preoccupation of Jane Austen’s heroines is getting married and life is a matrimonial game as women in her times had no other option of business or profession open to them. However, marriage is not treated merely as a romantic end. Rather it is dealt with a depth variety and seriousness to highlight ‘good’ marriage based on mutual understanding, love, good sense and respect.

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Pride and Prejudice and the idea of love

Pride and Prejudice is now one of the most well-known literary love stories, with people encountering it either as a novel or a tv series or a film.

In celebrating Jane Austen’s contribution to literature, the nineteenth century novelist Anthony Trollope said that “she places us in a circle of gentlemen and ladies, and charms us while she tells us with an unconscious accuracy how men should act to women, and women act to men. It is not that her people are all good; -- and, certainly, they are not all wise. The faults of some are the anvils on which the virtues of others are hammered till they are bright as steel. In the comedy of folly I know no novelist who has beaten her.”

The writer Helen Fielding, whose book Bridget Jones Diary is partly inspired by Austen’s books, noted that “Jane Austen was …writing about dating, but in her day the rules were very clear.”

Austen was writing at a time when women were expected to marry in order to secure their financial security and interestingly she herself never married.

Austen’s writing closely examines the idea and the reality of love as her protagonists often struggle to work out the best way to make a contented relationship. In Pride and Prejudice , the narrator describes Elizabeth’s thinking about what love is as she comes to understand that Mr. Darcy is the most suitable partner for her.

Pride and Prejudice , which was originally entitled First Impressions , tells the story of a young woman named Elizabeth Bennett, who lives with her parents and sisters in Hampshire. Elizabeth moves through a range of social encounters with soldiers, rich landowners and the clergy. Her parents feature significantly in Elizabeth’s life and she is a keen observer of those around her, watching friends and family move in and out of various romantic and social relationships. The central relationship of the novel is that which develops between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy and as the novel progresses she comes to realize that, contrary to her first impressions, Darcy is the kind of man that she would wish to marry and build a life with.

Pride and Prejudice is one of many useful ways to develop an understanding about the social and intellectual situation of early nineteenth century in England.

The novel begins with a sentence that establishes its interest in romance and marriage, and the first few chapters make it clear how, in the early nineteenth century, it was considered essential that a parents’ daughters were married and financially stable.

In chapter three, Mrs Bennett says “If I can but see one of my daughters happily settled at Netherfield…and all the others equally well married, I shall have nothing to wish for.”

Throughout the novel there are passages that communicate the importance of love and romance in peoples’ lives.

In chapter six, Jane Bennett says that “If a woman conceal her affection with the same skill from the object of it, she may lose the opportunity of fixing him; and it will then be but poor consolation to believe the world equally in the dark. There is so much of gratitude or vanity in almost every attachment, that it is not safe to leave any to itself. We can all begin freely – a slight preference is natural enough; but there are very few of us who have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement.”

In the latter part of chapter twenty four, Elizabeth and her father talk about love and marriage and in chapter twenty six, Elizabeth’s aunt talks with her about love. Throughout the novel, Elizabeth is trying to work out what makes for a strong and sincere romantic relationship. This is an aspect of life that occupied much attention two hundred years ago just as it does in the early twenty first century.

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Essay on Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

This Pride and Prejudice essay summarizes the novel and discusses its main characters and themes.

Introduction

The summary of the novel, the main characters and theme of the novel, personal opinion.

Pride and Prejudice is a world-known novel written by an English author Jane Austen in 1813. The story revolves around the importance of education, marriage, financial viability, and traditions in the United Kingdom during the Regency era. Humor is used as the primary artistic means of the narrative, which attracted many readers and ensured the popularity of the book. This essay contains the analysis of the novel, including the summary, description of the main characters and themes, personal opinion about the narrative, and conclusion that summarizes the main points of the essay.

The story begins with the conversation of two characters, Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet, who are talking about the visit of a young bachelor, Mr. Bingley, to their neighborhood. The Bennet family has five daughters, and Mrs. Bennet thinks that they should be friends with Mr. Bingley as he can marry one of her girls. Therefore, since the time of Mr. Bingley’s arrival, spouses Bennet try to use the opportunities to communicate with him.

One day the Bennet family meets Mr. Bingley at the ball, where his friend, Mr. Darcy, accompanies him. Even though initially Mr. Darcy made a positive impression on people, soon everyone found him to be arrogant, because he did not want to dance with anyone except for Mr. Bingley’s sisters. Mr. Bingley advises Mr. Darcy to pay his attention to Elizabeth, one of the daughters of the Bennet, but he did not express any interest to her. Elizabeth witnessed this conversation and felt antipathy toward Mr. Darcy.

Soon, Mr. Bingley realized that he felt in love with the sister of Elizabeth, Jane, while Mr. Darcy started having feelings for Elizabeth. Elizabeth talks to her new friend, Mr. Wickham, who tells her the story about the immoral behavior of Mr. Darcy. This only supports Elizabeth’s negative opinion about Mr. Darcy as she is sure that he despises her. Mr. Darcy, in his turn, thinks that the Bennets are out of his social circle because they demonstrate bad manners. He encourages Mr. Bingley to return to London and give up the idea to marry Elizabeth’s sister Jane.

Later, Mr. Darcy proposes to Elizabeth, but she rejects him, saying that he is guilty of destroying the happiness of her sister. Months later, the younger sister of Elizabeth, Lydia, runs away with Mr. Wickham. Mr. Darcy, trying to save the Bennets from shame, forces Mr. Wickham to marry Lydia. Being thankful, Elizabeth realizes that she likes Mr. Darcy, and accepts his proposal when he asks her to marry him the second time. Thus, the story has a happy end, where the pride of Mr. Darcy and the prejudice of Ms. Bennet were overcome.

Jane Austin created personalities in a way that made them unforgettable for readers (Wilhelm 2014, 30). Elizabeth Bennet, the second eldest daughter of the Bennets, is one of the main protagonists of the story. She is young but intelligent and witty, well-educated and, in contrast to the other members of her family, has good manners. She is a strong woman with principles, who is not ready for a marriage on a financial basis, even though she understands that money is necessary for a respectable life (Awan and Ali Nasir 2018, 673). However, Elizabeth tends to have a prejudiced opinion about people even if she does not know them well. Unfortunately, it does not allow her to be objective in evaluating people’s actions.

Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy is the second protagonist of the story. He is a tall, rich, and handsome man who is twenty -eight years old. At first sight, it seems that he does not have any drawbacks, but his pride spoils people’s impression of him. At the ball, where he meets Elizabeth first time, he proves his arrogance, saying that he does not see any beautiful women dance with. In his conversation with Mr. Bingley, he says: “Your sisters are engaged, and there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with” (Austen 2017, 11). Thus, the prejudice of Elizabeth and pride of Mr. Darcy became a stumbling point for their relationships. Eventually, they could overcome these negative traits that ensured the happy end of the story.

Even though the personages of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy create the most exciting line of the story, the other characters contribute to the humorous narrative. Thus, Mrs. Bennet is shown as a woman whose primary goal of life is to marry her daughters to wealthy men, even if it happens against their will. She says: “If I can but see one of my daughters happily settled at Netherfield, and all the others equally well-married, I shall have nothing to wish for” (Austen 2017, 9). Also, sometimes, she can behave in an indelicate way that creates comic situations and makes her eldest daughters Elizabeth and Jane blush.

Another personage that is worth to pay attention to is the youngest daughter of Bennet, Lydia. She is shown as a silly little girl who tends to do foolish actions without taking responsibility for that. Even though the Bennets cannot serve as the best example of a well-mannered family of the Regency era, these characters help the author to use humor as the primary artistic means of the narrative.

The main idea of the novel conveyed by the author is the importance of being unbiased and modest. Also, Jane Austen unfolds the concepts of marriage, true love, and the role of fortune in people’s lives (Wan 2019, 349). It does not matter how many years have passed since the first publication of the novel because these ideas remain significant for people, even nowadays, in the modern world.

The novel Pride and Prejudice can be recommended to read for both youth and adults because it raises topical questions for people of all generations. It narrates love, morals, family relationships, and the social status of people. Moreover, it is especially interesting to read nowadays, because it tells the story about traditions, entertainments, and way of life of people who lived two hundred years ago.

Therefore, the novel can serve as an excellent educational tool that not only entertains readers but also provides historical information. In my point of view, the author skillfully shows the influence of the social environment on people’s personalities in her novel. The story teaches readers to always stay true to themselves. For instance, even though society encourages women to marry wealthy men, the character of Elizabeth shows that one can still act in accordance with his or her opinion.

Pride and Prejudice: Conclusion

Jane Austen created a romantic story that became popular because of the author’s sense of humor and skillful way of storytelling. She created strong, ambitious, intelligent, and independent characters that attracted readers around the world and made the story unforgettable. Moreover, the narrative contains a lot of historical information that shows people’s life in England in the 19th century. Therefore, it is highly recommended for reading to everyone who wants to have a good time and receive some historical knowledge about the society of Great Britain in an entertaining way.

Austen, Jane. 2017. Pride and Prejudiced. Seattle: Amazon Classics.

Awan, Abdul, and Ambreen Ali Nasir. 2018. “Matrimonial Issues and Marxist Approach in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.” Global Journal of Management, Social Sciences and Humanities 673 (4): 651-676.

Wan, Yongkun. 2019. “Study on Jane Austin’s Original Views toward Marriage in Pride and Prejudice .” Paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Education and Social Science , Yunnan Province, China, Francis Academic Press, 349-351.

Wilhelm, Julia. 2014. The Austen Formula: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century. Hamburg: Anchor Academic Publishing.

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