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Marriage In Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice

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One of the most famous lines in literature : “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife”(Pride and Prejudice,1992,p.3) comes from Pride and Prejudice and perfectly illustrates the priorities in that era. The main goal was to unite families through marriage. It almost looked like the women were only attracted by status and wealth. In the introduction and Notes by Dr Ian Littlewood, University of Sussex, is being said that desire for a man in possession of a good fortune is the overriding concern of the female characters in this world, he finds that as in all Jane Austen’s novels ,the main business of Pride and Prejudice is the disposal of young women in marriage. This also reflects …show more content…

Mrs. Joe is a good example of that, she did all the cleaning and the cooking and on top of that she was the one who was responsible for raising Pip. She did not have time to indulge herself with fun things, this becomes clear when she complains about it in a lot of scenes in the book.She makes it clear during dinner or Christmas day when the guest of the Joe’s , Mrs Hubble, mentions that Pip was a world of trouble for Mrs Joe.The following happened ,narrated by Pip himself :“ “Trouble?’ echoed my sister;’trouble?’And then entered on a fearful catalogue of all the illnesses I had been guilty of,and all the acts of sleeplessness I had committed,and all the high places I had tumbled from,and all the low places I had tumbled into,and all the injuries I had done myself,and all the times she had wished me in my grave,and I had contumaciously refused to go there.” “(Great expectations,1992 ,p.24) What also sticks out in the book is the character of a woman in the book Great Expectations. Her name is Biddy and she seems to be the only woman who is described as

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In the case of the Bennet daughter’s, their father had a small yearly income, therefore, being less favorable to marry to a higher social class. The first paragraph in the novel, “Pride and Prejudice” it is states that (a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.) (3). Women of this period, didn’t have fortune, nor could they possess property, therefore, becoming someone’s wife would assure them a future.

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It is assumed that men and women, for the most part, only married within their social upbringing. Wealth was the goal, but old money was the unreachable dream for some. Throughout the novel a major theme that is apparent is that morals

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Edith Wharton stated once that at some stage in a story there will be that turning point or “illuminating incident” that would be a window that opens to convey the whole message and show the deeper meaning of the work. Basing this on Pride and Prejudice, the most significant, shifting point would be when Elizabeth realizes that her first impression has done her wrong, and that she’s the one being prejudicial, not Mr. Darcy. Jane Austen follows the development of Elizabeth’s and Darcy’s relationship in how they both change in order to overcome their own vanities and be able to love each other. Elizabeth’s visit to Pemberley, accompanied by her aunt and uncle, causes her to reconsider her thoughts about Mr. Darcy and shows how naïve and inconsiderate she was. After knowing the truth, Elizabeth’s reaction help build up the main themes of Pride and Prejudice which is to learn before making any judgments.

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The book deals with themes that include love, reputation, and class. However, Pride and Prejudice received much criticism for being a novel full of female characters that fit the social norms for women in the 19th century. The female characters in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, while being seen as frivolous and typical representations of

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In the same time, these literary works have differences, for the most part because the latter underlines the evolution in Jane’s writing style and ideas determined by satirical images of the high-class, and appoints a novel, typical for the mature stage of her career, while Pride and Prejudice is a model of her beginning as a writer. The first novel shapes the middle-class society (the Bennet family, their relatives, and neighbors), in an accurate way, especially because the author belonged to it; she spend her entire life in this social circle, and her continually encounters with its members provided her, those well painted details. Thus, Austen is perfectly aware of the desires and aspirations of the women and men in this class. Those people were craving to overcome their social status, they were in constant search of means which could endow them, and so they were capable of many things to achieve their purposes. Therefore, the main characters of this novel, the Bennet family, who were having five unmarried daughters, were struggling to assure their future, by marrying them in the upper-class: A single man of large fortune; four of five thousand a year.

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The thesis statements that appear in the narrative are: the importance of wealth and social status, the marriage of convenience, the pride – depicted by Elizabeth Bennet- and the prejudice -embodied by Mr. Darcy-. She intertwines the critic on the social values of the time with a love story, perhaps in order to make her work more attractive to the public. To my mind, Jane Austen was not only a great author but also a woman ahead of her time. While everyone else was just content with what they had, she was able to see beyond and be critic with her time; a time of change, especially in Britain, an era of constant evolution and transformations determined by

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Oscar Wilde’s Victorian melodramatic play The Importance of Being Earnest opened on February 14, 1895. Wilde used this play to criticize Victorian society through clever phrasing and satire. Throughout the play The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde displayed the themes of the nature of marriage, the constraints of morality, and the importance of not being earnest. One of the themes that Oscar Wilde includes in the play is the nature of marriage.

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Pride and Prejudice: Then versus Now Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austen in the early nineteenth century portrays the life of women and their attitudes toward marriage. Marriage, the major theme in the novel, is depicted as a way of social verification. The only way women could have a standing in their class was through their husband’s finances. Men were the owners of any type of property, which means that women could only obtain anything through their husbands. Thus, women tended to marry based on the ideas of wealth and social gratification.

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Sentence Assessment Task Rhetorical Analysis: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” (Austen) Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) Austen’s famous statement on marriage and equality continues to resonate in modern society. In comparison to today, the Victorian era significantly suppressed women’s rights (Hughes). However, Austen juxtaposes that idea by stating that it is the man, no matter how wealthy, who ‘must be in want of a wife.’

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The author tells about how young people leave their families for a wealthy man/woman, marriage is the goal. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” (Austen, 5) Pride and Prejudice is a courtship between Darcy and Elizabeth; this novel is one of the most honorable love stories in the English language. In this love story they have to overcome many obstacles just as any normal couple would. Elizabeth has pride that makes her miss judge Darcy on their first time meeting, but Darcy’s prejudice which makes him misjudge Elizabeth because of her poor society standings.

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In Jane Austen’s novel, Sense and Sensibility she discusses feminism through the challenges women may face in marriage. Austen’s portrayal of her characters Elinor and Marianne demonstrate the struggles and pressures women face. These challenges can be seen through primogeniture, Elinor and Marianne’s approach to love and marriage, and a man’s ability to ruin or help women. The familial succession of assets typically went to the first-born son or the next male heir. In the case of John Dashwood, he inherited Norland estate after the death of his father leaving his half-sisters and stepmother “to quit the neighborhood Norland” and move to a small cottage in Devonshire.

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In the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Pip, an orphan raised by his cruel sister, Mrs. Joe, and her kindly husband Joe Gargery, a blacksmith, becomes very ashamed of his background after a sudden chain of events which drives him to a different social class. Pip's motive to change begins when he meets a beautiful girl named Estella who is in the upper class. As the novel progresses, Pip attempts to achieve the greater things for himself. Overtime, Pip realizes the dangers of being driven by a desire of wealth and social status. The novel follows Pip's process from childhood innocence to experience.

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The novel Pride and Prejudice can easily be picked apart through a feminist lens. The farther into the book one goes, the more there is to critique and analyze through a feminist lens. The book is about Elizabeth Bennet and her relationship with her eventual fiance Mr. Darcy, the ups and the downs of their relationship. Elizabeth was never a woman who only craved the attention and approval of men, she was her own person with her own complex emotions.

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The women in Sense and Sensibility were more interested in obtaining a husband due to financial difficulties than that of a good education. Gender stereotypes are seen throughout this novel, as educational success was only deemed important for the more superior men. Social orders reflect the differences in social class and gender. We see Austen use the economic position of women to show the powerlessness they had which underlies the pressure of marriage and the vulnerability

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Marriage was their main goal in their life, much like that of the Bennet family. These social constructs were buried deep into the lives of many men and women, and most women abided firmly to these rules, many with pride. From reading Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice however, it is clear that Austen was one of the few women of this time, who did not wish to condone these rules of a patriarchal society. She portrays these views through the depictions of her female

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