Discuss how society viewed the ideas of love and marriage in the early 1800’s Essay

Jane Austen was born in 1775 and spent al roughly of her life in the countryside in a vill get along c some(prenominal)ed Steventon, Hampshire. She was the daughter of a clergyman, Reverend George Austen and her mformer(a) was called Cassandra Austen. She had a brief education starting at the age of seven and ending at eleven, when she settled at home. alike(p) women in Austens society, she had little education due to the beliefs at the age the only education she would have received would app arnt have been to up her social status, through union. She wrote Pride and Prejudice to portray societys views of distinguish and wedding to the reader and to shoe that marriages take place for contrasting reasons. We see passim the novel the excessive number of marriages and causes that take place.The disruption sentence Its a truth universally acknowledged, that a whiz man in the holdion of a good pile must be in want of a wife introduces the theme of distinguish, marriage an d money in an ironic way. The irony is contained in the fact that marriage is meant to be about love and happiness provided clearly revolves slightly wealth and social standing. In the novel we see two realised marriages take place The white avenss and the Gardiners. Throughout the novel four other marriages take place Lydia and Mr Wickham, Charlotte Lucas and Mr Collins, Elizabeth and Darcy and Jane and Mr Bingley.The marriage between Mr Collins and Charlotte Lucas is stringently based on financial and social security non love or appearance, It was extremely common fro women in Austens date of reference to marry and carry through themselves from spinsterhood and social security and to gain, the above mentioned, financial and social security. In this sign of marriage Austen illustrates that women who submit themselves atomic number 18 largely exiting to suffer horny distress in silence. Mr Collins to be sure neither sensible nor agreeable his society was irksome and h is attachment to her must be imaginary. besides passive he would be a husband This reflects the social beliefs of, at least, the middle classes at the time. Evidently all that Charlotte wants out of life is a comfortable home and enough wealth to sustain this. Im non a romantic young woman you know. I never was, I only ask for a comfortable home . The use of the joint only emphasises the fact that Charlotte wants this and cryptograph else. The consequences of her not marring well(p) would be to naughtily limit her options i.e. she would have to become a governess or an old maid for a wealthy couple, but this would not support her once she had reached an age at which, she could no longer work.When Charlotte Married Mr Collins she seemed talented in t successor relationship, even though its not based on love - she has all that she wants out of marriage. She does however ignore her husbands silliness and does not have any bad words to say about him. When Mr Collins said any thing of which his wife might reasonably, which certainly was not unseldom once of twice she could discern a faint blush but in gen durationl Charlotte wisely did not hear. From this we gather that the orthodoxy of society has been embedded in her demeanour. She possibly perceives that she is happy because society deems that now she is espouse she should be happy.The marriage of Mr and Mrs white avens was a stereotypical marriage of the time. The marriage was based on initial kayo and physical hook plus the fact that they where matched financially. The family life, was also typical of the 1800s, they had vanadium daughters, and Mrs Bennets aim in life was to marry her daughters of in as diligent a time as possible, this comp ares with Charlottes views of marriage as a bill up the social ladder. A single man of large fortune four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girlsShowing that she is considering the monetary aspects of a possible marriage. It is very lik ely that he may fall in love with one of them, and and so you must visit him as soon as he comes Mrs Bennet mentions fleetingly but without conviction, she is mostly interested in trying to marry of at least one of her 5 daughters. Mr Bennet however constantly mocks his wife. We are made aware of this in their first dialogue Do you not want to know who has taken it? cried his wife impatiently. You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hear it. This is a perfect deterrent example of Mr Bennets sarcasm and unconcerned attitude towards his wife and their family affairs. Mr Bennet is the complete opposer to Mrs Bennet in the way in which he thinks, about the freshly gentleman in town for example How so? How can it take up them? Mrs Bennet is immensely annoyed by this but does not possess enough wit to retort. For Mr Bennet this mockery of his wife seems his way of dealings with universe stuck in a loveless marriage. In Janes era divorce was not an option, people had no ch oice, they were devoted to that one person fro life. The Bennets estate is entitled to the nearest male heir which, was common practice at the time, leading to very limited options for the daughters in the family.The marriage between Lydia and Mr Wickham was generally for desire and attraction even though they were not financially matched. This itself was frowned upon by society and exacerbated by the fact that their courtship was very short, unorthodox and kept a secret. Marriage of their type argues the results of not following societys rules. Society viewed this as dishonesty and because of this their reputation would be severely tarnished. That the loss of virtue in a distaff is irretrievable and that she cannot be too oft guarded in her behaviour towards the understanding of the other sex.Lydias damaged reputation would also affect her families reputation, unless they disown her. she has no money, no connection, nothing that can shape him she is lost forever. The word n o emphasises the fact that she has absolutely nothing and no-one. For Wickham, on the other hand, the slight on his reputation is less so, although still noticeable She was a surprise- all astonishment that Wickham should marry a girl whom it was impossible he could marry for money and how Lydia could ever have inclined him, had appeared incomprehensible. here we see that what would have been scorn when aimed a Lydia is pure surprise when directed at Wickham, this is due to the fact that in Jane Austens era the gentleman naturally had a blueer social standing exactly because of their sex.The Gardiners, along with the Bennets are the established marriages of the novel but unlike the Bennets the Gardiners are a sensible, scintillating and intelligent couple who love each other and work well together. They eer agree in talking over their route the eve before, Mrs Gardiner expressed an inclination to see the place again.Mr Gardiner declared his willingness. Jane Austen here is being an omniscient narrator . The Gardiners are in a compatible relationship, a marriage that creates a positive image towards its readers. They are describe as a sensible-gentle like man and an amiable intelligent women who are encouraging role models fro the Bennet children due to the poor quality of Mr and Mrs Bennets marriage. As we can see this is an example of one of the obsolescent happy marriage of the time. In general people strove towards this, but most did not find it due to the fact that society dictated that once married you were in love.Jane and Mr Bingley engage in a courtship that occupies the primaeval place in the novel. They first meet at Meryton and enjoy an contiguous mutual attraction. They are spoken of as potential couple throughout the book, long before anyone imagines Darcy and Elizabeth might marry. Their marriage was one for physical attraction and love, Jane is the most handsome of the five Bennet daughters who looked for a man who is sensible, am using and lively. Is he married or single? this shows an automatic interest in young wealthy men. Women in the early 1800s married mainly for wealth and social status however this marriage illustrates that that is not always the case.Bingley love for Jane is strengthened by her beauty and the love between is equal. Janes idea of marriage is to find someone who loves her and respects her as much as she does him. The marriage between Jane and Mr Bingley set s a precedent for the rest of the Bennet daughters, It was more(prenominal)over, such a promising thing for her junior daughters, as Janes marrying so greatly must throw them in the way of rich men. Here their marriage is reflecting societys views of love and marriage as if a member of the family is married into a family of a higher status, then the rest of the daughters would be regarded as more eligible to be associated with higher status, wealthy, respectable men. The word greatly show that Mrs Bennet believes that Jane had chosen accurately and it displays societys beliefs as to what accomplished a very good match for Jane.Elizabeth is an intelligent and spirited women who passes a keen wit and enjoys studying peoples characters on the other hand Fitzwilliam Darcy is a wealthy, proud man with a generous, thoughtful temper beneath his somewhat stiff demeanour. Elizabeths pride makes her misjudge Darcy on the basis of poor social standing blinds him, for a time, to her many virtues. Darcy and Elizabeths realization of a mutual and tender love seems to imply that capital of Texas views love as something independent of these social forces, as something that can be captured if only an individual is able to escape the warping effects of hierarchal society. In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you. Here he speaks well however, there are other feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed.The narrato r relates Elizabeths smirch of view of events more often then Darcys, so Elizabeth often seems a more sympathetic figure. The reader eventually realises however, that Darcy is her ideal match. Intelligent and forthright, he too has a tendency to judge too hastily and harshly, and his high birth and wealth make him overly proud and overly conscious of his social status. When he proposes to her, for instance, he dwells more on how unsuitable a match she is than on her charms, beauty, or anything else complimentary, not handsome enough. Here Darcy is reflecting societys views of love and marriage because many people married for higher social status and financial status rather than for love and beauty.Pride and prejudice is a love story but does not reflect the romantic side. It gives the reader a sense of all the diverse kinds of relationships, none of them are the same. It shows that the ideal couple is difficult to find, the established marriages in the book being The Bennets and t he Gardiners.