What do you think of the views of marriage in this novel? Obviously, Mrs. Bennet's main aim in life is to see that her five daughters are married and married well. Discuss the views of marriage. Especially consider Charlotte Lucas' and Mr. Collins' relationship.
16 comments:
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."
The opening line of the novel, stated previously, is a mere summary of the views of marriage throught Pride and Prejudice.
When considering the various views of marriage, it is commonly found throughout the novel that status overpowers love. The character of Mrs. Bennet portrays this thought supremely. Because her husband's wealth and land will rightfully be handed down to his nephew when he dies, she makes it her mission to progress successful marriages for each of her five daughters. She wants to make certain that in case of their father's passing, they are financially sound; love and commitment to their spouses is not even a consideration. Mrs. Bennet fails to realize that true love does not have a monetary value.
Secondly, when analyzing the marriage between Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins, it is evident that she has married for money. During this time period, it was frowned upon for a woman to be in her upper twenties and have not married yet. Charlotte married Mr. Collins at the age of 26. She wanted nothing more than stability and peace-of-mind for herself. This is not love. It is not a sound marriage and is not based on the traits a person would value in today's society. The way that Charlotte is depicted as doing chores and acting primarily as a homemaker, rather than a devoted and loving wife proves the thinking that a person should not marry for money.
I agree completely with what Molly said. “Happiness in marriage [was] entirely a matter of chance" back during that time. Status definitely overruled true love constantly. Mrs. Bennet was very adamant that her daughters marry into wealthy families in order to provide for the rest of their family. Women were forced into unwanted marriages in order to benefit their family financially or in order to settle a dispute between families. Yes, some like Jane and Elizabeth were able to find true love in their search for a husband, but only a few can be that lucky.
Charlotte Lucas was one of women who did not turn out as lucky. Unlike Elizabeth, she could not afford to turn down Mr. Collin’s proposal for marriage when he proposed. Beauty was an important quality that men looked for in women, just as status was an important quality that women looked for in men. Charlotte was not the most beautiful woman, and she knew this might be her only chance to marry. She did not want to burden her family anymore by living at home. Therefore, she was forced into a loveless marriage in order to benefit her family.
Marriage is seen as a very important factor in the novel. Everyone is expected to marry as if it is all the accomplishment you'd need in life. To Jane and Elizabeth's parents marriage is huge. They want their children to not only marry, but to marry the best there is. Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth's best friend, later becomes engaged to Mr. Collins, the man to inherit Mr. Bennet's property. This wouldn't be unusual if it weren't for the fact that Charlotte Lucas is only marrying Mr. Collins for the financial stability. Their relationship gives the idea that marriage is a way out for a poor woman. (which i might add, is still seen often today)Charlotte's thinking, along with the rest of the women in Pride and Prejudice, falls into the suggestion that "A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony, in a moment." This quote further proves that it seems like the only thing anyone in the novel thinks about is marriage...
Oh my billy, I just typed out my whole answer then it went away. Poo. Anyway, here I go again:
I agree with Molly in that the opening sentence perfectly sums up the whole thought of marriage:
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."
Mrs. Bennet, the girls' mother, is thrilled to have her five girls, yet you can tell she is worried that all her girls will be married. Five grown women in one house, potentially w/o a man in case Mr. Bennet died, would be no good. She begs Elizabeth repeatedly to accept Mr. Collins offer to be his wife, mostly due to Elizabeth's lack of beauty and stubborn nature, she wouldn't exactly be the best candidate for a wife. Elizabeth listened to herself and knew that Mr. COllins would be no good husband for her, and more so she would be no good wife for him, so she rejected him.
The men at the time the novel was written regarded beauty and social class the primary factors for choosing a wife. Perhaps old-fashioned in our time, it was the norm in their time.
Well holy cow..it seems like everyone used the same quote. Sorry i'm doing this so late...i had soccer then work. but Anyways...
marriage seems like it is the most talked about/extreme element in this book. obviously, marriage is very important to everyone, and especially the status of the people being married. now i'm going to comment on the quote, "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." This is obviously the main focus in the novel. Men wanted their 'trophy wives' and women wanted the social and economical (money) status in the men they wanted to marry. We can especially see this in Lucas and Collin's marriage. it was said that back then it was in the norm to be married in the early twenties, and she was basically desperate at the age of 26. how could you turn down a proposal by Mr. Collins, who is obviously a very wealthy man when you're practically an outcast if you're not married by then.
and the love of Darcy and Elizabeth is something that I'm sure anyone, especially Charlotte, would want to have. a love like that is very magical and special.
and it is very obvious that Mrs. Bennet is obsessed with finding love or just basically a man for her daughters. it was socially unacceptable to not be married wealthy.
Mrs. Dorwart,
There is nothing new to write here. I think my friends just summed it up for me. With that said, I must go to bed.
I'm not that stupid! Bahaha.
I definitely agree that the first quotation in the book is a very accurate summary of Pride and Prejudice.
With a book with a name like Pride and Prejudice - there's not much hidden meaning. Therefore, it is easy for me to see that the book focuses around the status of each character and how their status affects their relationships in the novel. First of all, I think that Mr. and Mrs. Bennet set a bad example of a marriage, specifically Mrs. Bennet. I'm sure it's a small town and she has nothing better to do, but she's so involved in her daughters lives that she does not want them to make their own decisions and it seems the only thing she uses her husband for is to back her up when she tries to get Elizabeth hitched. Unfortunately, status also played a huge role in marriages back in the day. True Love? Nahhh. Money? OH HECK YES. People did not value single women back in the day as they do now, and to be unmarried your entire life was seemed to mean lonliness and poverty. So marriage was not about love and compatibility but more about economic security. Which is a major bummer.
Specificaly the marriage between Charlotte and Mr. Collins was unfortunate because Charlotte had no choice. She did not want to end up an old spinster and she did not want to live her life without stability so she married even though she did not have true feelings for Mr. Collins. This is society and the view of marriage at that time pressuring her to do something that might have been right for the rest of the world, but not for the most important thing; her heart.
Goodnight to all.
Going along with all that was said..
The view of marriage in this novel is simply about status and money. Mrs. Bennett is always trying to hook her daughters up with some well-off officer or a man with well known status. When Elizabeth refuses to marry Mr. Collins, Mrs. Bennett says that she will disown her and "never speak to her again" (111). Then, after Bingley deserts Jane and is believed to have gone for the more prestigious Miss Darcy, Mrs. Bennett will not let it go. It is obvious that her whole life revolves around her daughters and finding them husbands. Elizabeth is perhaps one of the only characters above her time period, in which she desires love.
The relationship between Mr. Collins and Charlotte is also associated with status and well-being. It is true that Charlotte is not in the marriage for love, but she is not the only guilty one. Collins asks for Charlotte's hand in marriage only to please the over-praised Lady Catherine. As long as the woman would please Lady Catherine, so the woman would please him. Collins was only thinking of himself and his own status in choosing his wife.
I always felt sorry for Charlotte because -- it's not so much that she marries for money -- it's that she sees herself as having no other chance for marriage. Therefore, she "settles" for Mr. Collins, believing that she will grow to love him. Not only is it sad that she has no other option for marriage but sad that she thinks being married is necessary for her own "peace of mind." (Sorry, that's not really the phrase I want to use, but I can't come up with the word I want at the moment.) Elizabeth, at any rate, is more independent and modern: she doesn't see the necessity of a man just for the sake of being married.
I think the views of love in this novel are ridiculous, although they probably agreed with the time period in which it is set. Marriage, in this novel is seen as something that is done to protect a person's social status instead of a reflection of a couple's love. The person with the most deranged view on marriage is Mrs. Bennet. While most mothers would just like to see their daughters happy with their life, Mrs. Bennet focuses on whether or not her children's marriage will retain not only their good social status, but also a good fortune. When Mr. Bingley leaves for London, and it is thought that he will not return for Jane, Mrs. Bennet sometimes is seen as even more upset than Jane. Instead of feeling sorry for Jane, Mrs. Bennet only felt sorry for herself and her "best comfort was that Mr. Bingley must be down again in the summer." (119). Not only does Mrs. Bennet distort what marriage is supposed to be about, but so does Charlotte Lucas. Although some of the women in the novel were able to marry based on love, Charlotte Lucas was not one of them. When asked about her proposal to Mr. Collins she says "I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collin's character, connections, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state." (109). Charlotte believes that her marriage will be happy because Mr. Collin's wealth will be able to provide her with the material things she desires, never taking into consideration that a marriage under true love often times provides deeper and longer lasting happiness.
Marriage is more important than the thought of love in Pride and Prejudice. A woman married for status and financial stability. (Like everyone else has commented) Mrs. Bennet’s mission in life is to get her daughters married off. Mrs. Bennet wants her daughters married so much that a “man whom she could not bear to speak of the day before was now high in her good graces” (53). Mrs. Bennet becomes infuriated with Elizabeth for turning Mr. Collins’ proposal down. Mr. Collins then proposes to Charlotte who thinks this is her only chance left because she is getting older and is from a poor family. She says if she were to not marry soon she would keep burdening her parents. There was no need for love as long as you had status and money.
In Pride and Prejudice, marriages are grouped into to two classifications: marriages of love and marriages of desperation or want. Elizabeth and her old sister Jane fall into former category. Both sisters marry their eventual husbands because they love them (even though it takes Elizabeth quite awhile to realize it). Their mother would like them to rush into hasty marriages based on social status, but the girls would rather marry someone based on mutual affection and respect.
Charlotte and Wickham, on the other hand, fall into the second group. Charlotte marries Collins out of desperation. At 26, she is practically considered a spinster and wants to stop being a burden on her family. Considering how quickly Collins proposed to her after Elizabeth’s rejection of him, it is easy to tell that he cannot care all that much for Charlotte. While Charlotte married out of dread of never being married, Wickham continually tried to marry girls to gain money and social standing. He had, what, like three thousand engagements in the course of the book? First he tried to marry Georgiana Darcy to obtain her money, then he did the same thing with Miss King. Finally, he convinces Lydia Bennet to elope with him and says he will marry her only if the Bennets will pay him to.
Out of these two groups, the book gives the impression that marrying for love was frowned upon. I suppose most marriages around this time were arranged and love was a childish concept. We can tell from Mrs. Bennet’s views on marriage that money and social status was far more important than actually being able to stand your husband.
One more thing: This ever popular quote “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” makes it sound as if he’s buying a car.
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."
I think the opening line of the novel says it all. I don’t get a very good impression of marriage from this novel. Especially from Darcy. When Jane goes to stay with Bingley Darcy is saying sticking up for the Bennets but he is also talking crap saying that they are poor and an unfavorable marriage. I think marriage in this novel is solely for money, power, or influence. Everyone wants to marry someone with high standing. Marriage doesn’t just seem to be something people want it seems to be something people obsess over and we can see that by how Mrs. Bennet pushes all the girls to go meet the new rich neighbor.
Omg Erin is such a dork. I believed that she wasn't gonna say anything.
I think that the views of marriage in the novel are reflective of the views of marriage in that time. People should marry in their own class or the women should marry up. If the man marries up it is almost shameful for the women and family. I don't think that the women had as much of a choice in who they were going to marry. Money, of course, was a big factor in who someone was going to marry. Mrs. Bennet is a good example of a mother who wanted her children to get married into a good family. She pushed Jane into Bingley's way so that she could get his attention even more. Even when Jane was seriously ill all Mrs. Bennet said was "As long as she stays there, it is all very well" (32). And when Elizabeth turned down Mr. Collins Mrs. Bennet disowned her for a bit. Charlotte says that she married Mr. Collins because "I ask only a comfortable home; and, considering Mr. Collins's character, connections, and situation n life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is a fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state" (125).
Well, it's really hard to come up with a unique answer to this question after having read everyone elses answers because I agree with what everyone said. First of all, I agree with Molly in the fact that the first line of the novel basically sets the tone for the whole novel. By reading "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife", we realize that the entire novel is going to be about relationships and marriage.
Obviously the theme of marriage is most obvious in the Bennet family storyline. Mrs. Bennet seems to spend all her time worrying about who and when her daughters were going to marry. I don't know if it was just me or not..but it seemed to me that she has no other care in the world, and she was always distracted by finding her daughters the "perfect husband". Mrs. Bennet was also constantly worried about the status and wealth of the men her daughters would marry, rather than focusing on the gentleman's actual personality. Elizabeth Bennet is the exception to this, as she actually looks for true love, rather than settling for someone with a lot of money to his name.
I also agree with Mrs. Dorwart in the fact that I also felt bad for Charolette. It seemed as though she was desperate for marriage for fear of letting her family down, so she simply settled for comfort, and not true love. I myself am truly afraid this will happen to me someday.
Lets hope it doesn't :(
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