Bruce Forsyth once said, “The secret to a happy marriage is if you can be at peace with someone within four walls, if you are content because the one you love is near to you.” In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet, the second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, met Fitzwilliam Darcy at a ball. Although Elizabeth originally detested Mr. Darcy because of misunderstandings of his qualities and actions, she soon became attracted to him after discovering the truth on the matter, and she eventually had to decide whether to accept a marriage proposal from the man she loved. Because contentedness is viably the most important aspect in marriage, Elizabeth Bennet must also be content with Mr. Darcy and his estate in order for her to have a happy marriage. …show more content…
Darcy because Mr. Darcy possessed enormous wealth. Mr. Darcy made ten thousand pounds a year, while the Bennets envied Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy’s friend, who only gained 4000 pounds a year. Therefore Mr. Darcy’s money would more than satisfy any of the wants and needs of Elizabeth, who was already living on much less than half of Mr. Darcy’s annual income. Furthermore, his house in Derbyshire was colossal, and when Elizabeth visited the place for the first time, she observed “from every window there were beauties to seen. The rooms were lofty and handsome, and their furniture suitable to the fortune of their proprietor; but Elizabeth saw, with admiration of his taste, that it was neither gaudy nor uselessly fine” (Austen, 164). Since Elizabeth liked his taste in decorating his house and saw that the rooms of the house were large, she would not be in want of comfortable living space and would be happy and content living at Derbyshire if she accepted Mr. Darcy’s marriage proposal. Furthermore, Elizabeth was pressed to marry because Mr. Bennet had not left his land to his family but had instead entailed it to his nephew, Mr. Collins. Because of this, if Elizabeth did not marry someone before her father died, she would be left with no place to call her home, and would be forced into a meagre living and uncertain