The significance of marriage and the women status in Pride and Prejudice

As literature often brings out the image of real life, Austen's Pride and Prejudice is no
exception. It holds a mirror which reflects the life of the eighteenth century people. Studying
the novel will draw a real image of the social lives of English people at that time. The English
community which was affected by the political, economical and social conditions of the
country can be seen in Pride and Prejudice, though Austen in most of her novels did not deal
with the political aspects, the social and economic conditions are explored in details.
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is a light story about love and marriage in 18th
century England. Since Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have no son and, in case of Mr. Bennet's death,
all possessions go to his nephew. Because of this, Mrs. Bennet wants to marry her daughters
as soon as possible. Jane, the oldest daughter, is Mr. Bingley's love interest and Mrs. Bennet
best shot of marrying one of her daughters. Mr. Darcy, a very lively young man, is brought
into the country by Mr. Bingley and he takes a particular interest in Jane. Mr. Collins is the
cousin of the five girls. His father had always been at ear against Mr. Bennet. Mr. Collins
wants to change this situation by marrying one of Mr. Bennet's daughters. When Mr. Collins
hear that Jane is going to be engaged soon, he asks for Elizabeths hand, she refuses and he
decides that her best friend Charlotte could be a better choice in marriage.
The thing that called our attention was the women's condition in the eighteenth century
because, as we can observe, it is completely different from nowadays. In Jane Austen's time
there was no way for the young women of poor classes to strike out on their own or be
independent. Most women could not get money, except by marrying for it or inheriting. The
eldest son generally inherited it because he was the heir.
On that time, an unmarried woman had to live with her family and, if her parents were
dead, she as a young single lady could never be the head of a house. Women in those
conditions should hire a respectable older lady to be a companion. If a young woman left her
parent's house without their approval, this was a very serious deal.
This was almost the same situation that Jane Austen went through because she never
got married and lived her whole life with her family and friends. There were important events
occurring during the time she wrote such as the French Revolution, Napoleonic Wars and the
Industrial Revolution, although she did not write about it. We also do not have references in
her novels to the historical events of literary movements occurring in the world around her.

She wrote about things she knew better as ordinary people, their feelings and the condition of
women at that time.
The opening sentence of the book is "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a
single man in possession of good fortune must be in want of a wife". It meant that in that time
wanted a man with fortune. An example in the text was Charlotte Lucas because she accepts
to marry Mr. Collins, a man she did not love or respect. She said: "considering Mr. Collins'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" ( Austen 165-66)
As marriage was so important in that time, we have in the text some examples of good and
bad marriages. The relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy is without doubt the most
important in the book. Austen includes almost all the main theme in their convoluted
relationship. Darcy shows a large amount of pride in his social standing. This can be seen in
his antisocial behaviour when he refuses to dance with anyone because they are a lower class
at the ball in Meryton, though he attributes this to shyness. He also shows prejudice against
the people of Elizabeth's (lesser) social standing, which hurts her pride. Nor was this marriage
based on physical attraction and beauty but it was based on their willingness to accept one
anothers viewpoint and mend whatever mistakes they had made. Though they had
misconceptions of one another they, in the end, reached maturity which led to a beautiful and
blessed marriage. Jane and Mr. Bingley is also an example of a successful marriage. We find
that Jane and Bingley realized how in love they were with each other and they got married
and have a happy ending. For them, as mentioned before, love alone was enough and they did
not consider it as a social transaction where they get married in order to benefit out of the
marriage. This kind of marriage is something that was not commonly found during that time.
On the other hand, Lydia and Wickman's marriage was a bad one because their relationship
was based on appearances. The relationship between Wickham and Lydia was started in a
flurry of passion and physical attraction, but Austen believes that the ideal relationship is
'rationally founded' and is based on 'general similarity of feeling and taste'. This is embodied
by the relationships between Jane and Mr Bingley and Elizabeth and Mr Darcy. As well as
sharing the above qualities they also share similar temperaments, interests and intelligence.
There is love in both these relationships, but it is not the key factor and both relationships are
very secure financially. Although we do not have a lot of information about Mr. and Mrs.
Bennet, we can infer by their conversations that their relationship was similar to their
daughter Lydia and her husband. The marriage between Mr. Collins and Charlotte is based on
economic reasons.

By reading the novel we can grasp some facts about the eighteenth century society.
Back then the world was dominated by men and, women had no rights whatsoever. They had
no chance in getting inheritance money, for it could only be passed on to male heirs. Marriage
was the only thing that could offer some kind of stability in their lives. Jane Austen managed
to write about five different marriages contrasting each and every one of them as a way of,
perhaps, showing her own thoughts and conclusions about marriage itself and the condition of
women in eighteenth century England.
In conclusion I believe that while love and marriage is a very large theme in Pride and
Prejudice, it would be wrong to say that it is the book on only love and marriage. I believe
that there are strong commentaries on pride and prejudice in the class system and the
importance of reputation.