Jane Austen present the reader of Pride and Prejudice Essay

Jane Austen present the reader of Pride and Prejudice with a number of representation of love and marriage, including 2 unsuccessful proposals to Elizabeth Bennett and the relationships of: Mr and Mrs Bennett Jane and Mr Bingley Charlotte and Mr Collins Lydia and Wickham Elizabeth and Mr Darcy Analyse each of the proposals in turn and then discuss what you think Jane Austen’s views on love and marriage were. Pride and Prejudice is one of the most classic love stories of all time. Written by Jane Austen in 1796 when she was just 24, the novel has become a favourite with woman in every generation since. Following the paths of 5 sisters as some come of age and other just grow older in a world where marriage is everything. Around the time of Pride and Prejudice, romantic love wasn’t important. Parents picked a suitor for their children, usually marrying girls off into better off families if they could, financially securing them until death, or so they hope. It was well and truly a mans world in the 1700s, there was no means of a woman creating an independent existence, and so woman relied on marriage in order to lead a half decent life. Elizabeth receives 3 proposals, one from Mr Collins, her cousin, big fan of Lady Catherine DeBurgh and a clergyman, and 2 from Mr Darcy. I will discuss these in detail later in my essay The story follows that of the Bennett family. Mrs Bennett, mother of 5, means well for her daughters, but brings much embarrassment upon them every time she opens her mouth. Mr Bennett, her husband, is the calm that follows the storm that is Mrs Bennett. He is the one his daughters go to when search calm advice, although Mr Bennett does mock the girls’ immature ways. Elizabeth (named â€Å"Lizzie† by close friends and family) and Jane (often referred to as â€Å"Miss Bennett†) are the two older sisters (Jane older than Elizabeth). Then, followed by Mary, then Catherine (or â€Å"Kitty†), then Lydia. Mr and Mrs Bennett are the perfect example of an arranged marriage working out. We can make a guess that the two did get along when first married, but that the relationship was probably built on lust, which after 5 girls, was bound to ware out. As they have been married for so long, they’ve learnt to live with and love each other, like couples were expected to. They annoy and irritate each other, but the Bennett parents love each other despite each other’s embarrassing flaws. The first fresh relationship we come across is that between Jane Bennet and Mr Bingley. There is much gossip following Mr Bingley’s arrival, and when he arrives at a dance in Meryton, the room obviously falls silent. Bingley is a very sweet man, and when he first lays eyes on Jane he’s smitten, and visa versa, and they spend all night dancing. Mary is quite happy with taking up the sidelines, but Kitty and Lydia love all the attention they receive and the non-stop dancing. Elizabeth, on the other hand, does not enjoy herself as much as Mr Darcy refuses to dance with her when Bingley suggests it, and Lizzie overhears. Jane’s story is essentially that of Cinderella. Jane and Mr Bingley were an excellent match, but for Jane there was too bigger social gap. She felt nervous around Bingley, and especially around his family. There were problems, when Mr Darcy believed Jane did not love Bingley as Bingley loved Jane and so convinced Bingley to move away, breaking Jane’s heart. This was part of the reason Lizzie did not take to Darcy. Despite all the problems, Bingley and Jane do marry, but not before Austen made sure her audience sympathized towards Jane, the good-intentioned sister. Jane represents the â€Å"do-good† types that always appear to get everything they deserve (which happens to be everything), which shows these people aren’t just a modern day occurrence, but appear regularly in history. Mr Collins’ proposal to Lizzie was a cringeworthy moment in Pride & Prejudice. His proposal seemed rehearsed, and while Lizzie laughs at him, he leads himself to believe she’s being shy. He tries to convince her by mentioning the fact Longbourne is entailed to him. Lizzie turns him down, but he believes she’s playing hard to get. The entire affair is exceedingly embarrassing as Mr Collins won’t take no for an answer, without realising he isn’t going to get another answer. Following Lizzie turning down his proposal, Mr Collins proposes to Lizzie’s best friend, Charlotte Lucas. Charlotte, unlike Lizzie, accepts in the full realisation that this may by her first and last proposal, and it just wouldn’t be safe to turn it down. This relationship, as it was, was made out to be the example of a safe marriage. It’s not for love, nor money, just simply for security. Charlotte is fully aware that unless out to events, she will never be bothered by Mr Collins, and will be able to lead a safe and quiet life. This is the most realistic marriage out of all other’s in this book when studying typical marriages of the time. Austen writes about Charlotte in a way that makes us feel sympathy for her, and all other women who were forced to marry and spend every living day with someone who’s company they may not even enjoy, but love wasn’t a detail considered important when marrying off children, they were expect to LEARN to love the one they were with. Lydia, being the youngest and giddiest of all the Bennett girls also happened to be the stupidest, when she eloped with Wickham and put a bigger black mark then her mother’s on the family name. Strangely enough, it was Darcy that came to the (silent) rescue. He found Wickham and Lydia, forced them to marry and paid for the whole thing (Lydia loved the entire thing, thinking of it as an adventure, whereas Wickham wasn’t quite so impressed). It’s after this we find out why Darcy dived at the chance to help. Wickham told Lizzie that Darcy had cheated him out of his inheritance from Darcy’s father, when actually, Wickham had tried to elope with Georgina Darcy for HER substantial inheritance. After Elizabeth rejected Mr Collins, he hurriedly married her best friend, Charlotte Lucas, and Elizabeth is invited to visit the newlyweds. While she is staying with them, Darcy visits his aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, at the adjoining estate, Rosings Park. Elizabeth and Darcy are therefore thrown daily into each other’s company. Elizabeth’s charms eventually entrance Mr Darcy, leading him to finally declare his love for her â€Å"against his own will† and his desire to marry her in spite of her objectionable family. Surprised and insulted by Darcy’s high-handed method of proposing, as well as having recently learnt that Darcy convinced Bingley to sever ties with Jane and still contemptuous of Darcy’s supposed wrongs against Wickham, Elizabeth refuses him in no uncertain terms, saying that he is â€Å"the last man in the world whom she could ever be prevailed on to marry.† The next day, Darcy intercepts Elizabeth on her morning walk and hands her a letter before leaving on a cold note. In the letter, Darcy justifies his actions regarding his interference in Bingley and Jane’s relationship, and reveals his history concerning Mr Wickham and Wickham’s true nature. The letter sheds a new light on Darcy’s personality for Elizabeth and she begins to reconsider her opinion of him, particularly in the case of Wickham. Then, while on holiday with her aunt and uncle, the Gardiners, Elizabeth is persuaded to visit Pemberley, Darcy’s estate, while he is away. She is therefore mortified when she bumps into him unexpectedly while on a tour of the grounds. However, his changed attitude towards her shows in his behaviour, distinctly warmer than last time, and his polite and friendly manner towards her aunt and uncle begins to persuade Elizabeth that underneath his pride lies a true and generous nature. Her fresh opinion of Darcy is supported through meeting his younger sister Georgiana, a gentle-natured and shy girl whom Darcy lovingly dotes upon. THEN to top off this new improved Darcy, he finds Wickham and Lydia, and makes sure they marry therefore causing no slander towards the family name. Austen wrote in Darcy as the negative force, and Lizzie as the good, they were bound to come together, but it couldn’t happen without some toing-and-froing. In my opinion, both Lizzie and Darcy are negative, but they were destined for each other from Meryton. Both Jane and Lizzie end up marrying for love, but they both end up marrying someone in a substantially higher class, whereas Lydia, like her mother, married for lust (Wickham on the other hand married for money). Jane Austen wrote this book for entertainment, and perhaps to show the audience that things could be different if a little more respect was paid to women. But also, i think Austen wrote this book with an idea to mock the ridiculous social rules of the time. Writing a story like this placed her way ahead of her time anyway, as the plot is still very relevant today, but was she so ahead of her time that she could see the circus that was the social circuits and the jail-marriages some women were forced to dwell into.