An Analysis of Factors Influencing Marriage in Pride and Prejudice

1、分析傲慢與偏見中婚姻的影響要素an analysis of factors influencing marriage in pride and prejudicecontentsabstract.1key words.1i. introduction.21. introduction of the novel.22. introduction of social background.23. introduction of austen.2ii. characters analysis.31. elizabeth bennet32. mr. darcy.33. charlotte lucas.

2、34. lydia bennet.35. jane bennet4 6. mr. bingley.4iii. a comparative analysis of four marriages41. marriage between jane and mr. bingley.42. marriage between elizabeth and mr. darcy.43. marriage between mr. wickham and lydia.54. marriage between charlotte lucas and mr. collins.5iv. analysis of some

3、essential factors that influence marriage in the book61. the great impact of money on marriage.62. love is the foundation of marriage.63. attraction of personality has great influence on marriage in reality.7iv. conclusion.9references.9abstract: pride and prejudice is a very popular novel written by

4、 jane austen in 1813. it is read widely all over the world. some typical marriages in it are taken as classical. that special period of time determined that there were many factors influencing matrimonial values orientations. these factors include money, social positions, desire for romance, lust an

5、d pursuing independence and true love. but which matrimonial value is immoral? it was proved obviously in the novel that a happy and steady marriage must be based on mutual feelings, understanding and respect. hasty marriage acting on impulse and based on superficial qualities will not survive and w

6、ill lead to inevitable unhappiness. in order to make marriage in this novel understood deeply, in my paper i will analyze the factors that influence matrimonial value orientations according to the four main marriages in this novel.key words: pride and prejudice; matrimonial values; marriage; money;

7、true love; independence摘 要：傲慢與偏見是簡愛奧斯丁寫于1813年的著名小說。它暢銷全世界。其中的一些不同因素包括金錢，誘惑，獨立的個性和對真愛的追求。但是哪中由這些因素決定的婚姻觀是正確合理和明智的了？這本小說中明確的證明了幸福和穩(wěn)定的婚姻必須建立在對方的真實感情以及相互理解和尊重的基礎之上。建立在鹵莽草率以及個人的欲望等這些浮淺的東西的基礎上的婚姻會導致不可避免的不幸福。為了更好的理解這部小說的婚姻觀，我的這篇論文將這部小說中影響婚姻的要素進行分析。關鍵字：傲慢與偏見；婚姻觀；金錢；真愛；獨立i. introduction 1. introduction of th

8、e novelpride and prejudice is the first work from that chinese can understand jane austen. it talks about trivial matters of love, marriage and family life between young men and fair ladies in britain in the 18th century. the plot of it is how the young ladies choose their husbands. the novel reflec

9、ts some types of different and typical views that exist in the matters of marriage according to describe four cases of marriages, elizabeth and mr. darcy, jane and mr. bingley, charlotte lucas and mr. collins, mr. wickham and lydia. the author expressed her own matrimonial value by describing marria

10、ge between heroin elizabeth and mr. darcy. she opposes marriage that is money-oriented and emphasizes importance of true love.2. introduction of social background the story of pride and prejudice took place in the time of regency in britain. at that time, britain was at the period of transition from

11、 the earlier stage of capitalism and the expansion of the rank of rich people, the distinction between social strata was becoming smaller and smaller while money was getting more and more important in peoples mind about social value. a western literature critic once said that: “even david ricard (a

12、british economist) had an unlikely clear understanding about the function of money in daily life as jane austen had.”3. introduction of austen jane austen was born in 1765. the social status of the family was not like the bennets in pride and prejudice. it was wealthy but it didnt have the nobility

13、or pride of the upper classes. since feminism was alive and prospered well in the time she was alive, the novel about young womens courtship and marriage were jane austens favorite reading. she wrote three novels before she was twenty-five, although she did not manage to publish them till later. the

14、 other women novelist of her time who create and sustained a market for domestic fiction by women and whose attitude towards writing like austens own became increasingly professional. some contemporary readers may find the world she describes, in which peoples chief concern is to obtain advantageous

15、 marriages. in her era options were limited, and both women and man often marriage for financial considerations. female writers worked within the similarly narrow genre of romance. part of austens reputation rests on how well she integrates observations on the human condition within a convincing lov

16、e story.ii. characters analysis marriage is a very important part in everybodys life. different attitudes towards marriage and concepts of marriage result in different marriage. thus, some marriages are happy, some are sweet, some are bitter and some are despicable. character reflects ones attitude

17、towards love.1. elizabeth bennetelizabeth bennet is the second of the five daughters of mr. and mrs. bennet. elizabeth is the most logical and levelheaded of the bennet daughters, and that makes her fathers favorite. although elizabeth is thoughtful, intelligent and practical, she comes to realize t

18、hat she is just as capable of letting her own feelings get in the way of her good sense as her feather-brained sisters. elizabeth realizes her grave mistake when she understands that she has greatly misjudged both mr. darcy and mr. wickham.2. mr. darcymr. darcy is bingleys best friend as well as a v

19、ery wealthy, handsome and proud bachelor. darcy is viewed as rude and conceited by all the inhabitants of meryton as well as elizabeth bennet. but through a strange course of events, elizabeth comes to learn that she was wrong about mr. darcy, and they fall in love with each other.3. charlotte lucas

20、 charlotte lucas is elizabeths best friend. after elizabeth turns down mr. collinss marriage offer, charlotte snaps him up because she wants a simple life and cant imagine that a better offer will come her way. she and elizabeth remain friends despite charlottes marriage to the awful mr. collins.4.

21、lydia bennet lydia is the youngest bennet girl, and she is the biggest flirt as well. she chases the soldiers quartered in meryton and follows along when they move to brighton. she and wickham are forced to marry after lydia runs away with him expecting to become his wife although wickham has no suc

22、h plan before darcy pays him off.5. jane bennetjane is the bennets oldest daughter. she is practical like elizabeth but she is kinder and more understanding. jane is greatly hurt when bingley rejects her but she overcomes her pain and the two of them end up together.6. mr. bingleymr. bingley is a we

23、althy and young bachelor who moves into the bennets neighborhood and triggers mr. bennets schemes to marry jane off to bingley. bingley is a fashionable and kind, but he and jane dont get together right away because of a misunderstanding.iii. a comparative analysis of four marriagesin pride and prej

24、udice the author described the union of four couples: elizabeth and mr. darcy, jane and mr. bingley, charlotte lucas and mr. collins, mr. wickham and lydia. marriage between elizabeth and mr. darcy is ideal one from the point of the author. austen makes it clear that this steadfast and rational rela

25、tionship is desirable.1. marriage between jane and mr. bingley jane is the eldest daughters of the bennets. she is very beautiful, gentle and kind hearted. but she hides her serious attachment to bingley under her quiet open and cheerful manners. mr. bingley is good looking and gentlemanlike, he has

26、 modest, easy and polite manners, but he is lack of self-confidence. he does not quietly sure if jane has attachment to him and miss. bingley does not want jane to be her sister-in-law for her low position and connections. there are many obstacles in the access of their marriage, but the power of lo

27、ve is great. they overreach these obstacles and get together under the help of elizabeth. jane and bingley are so similar that in their marriage life there is no passion or animation just a monotonous existence.2. marriage between elizabeth and mr. darcy their marriage is the main aspect of the nove

28、l and it is the most happiest and successful ideal marriage. the author places all hope on elizabeth who has a consciousness of resistance and smart mind. mr. darcy is a wealthy and handsome and proud bachelor. darcy is viewed as rude and conceited by all the inhabitants of meryton as well as elizab

29、eth bennet. when he falls in love with elizabeth, his proposal is refused by her，she also scolds his arrogance forcefully. after that he realizes his deficiencies and makes improvement, she also realizes her mistakes when she understands that she has greatly misjudged both darcy and wickham. their m

30、arriage is a much complex state of affairs. despite their initial feelings for each other, they both achieve shared admirations and respect but this is only accomplished through the painful process of stripping away the misinterpretation and self-deception of the other. their marriage is rational be

31、cause they have learned why they love each other.3. marriage between mr. wickham and lydiamarriage between mr. wickham and lydia is the most fatal of these marriages. lydia is the youngest bennet girl, and she is the biggest flirt as well. she chases the soldiers quartered in meryton and follows alo

32、ng when they move to brighton. wickham has a good appearance but he is immoral. she and wickham are forced to marry after lydia runs away with him expecting to become his wife although wickham has no such plan before darcy pays him off. after they got married, their relationship fades away. lydia en

33、joys regular visits to her elder sisters homes and wickham constantly visits london alone. their marriage is one of out of desire. in wickhams eye it is a revenge against darcy. the marriage between them is based on appearance, superficial attraction and youthful ignorance. as a result of this, both

34、 characters appear to be somewhat miserable with the marriage life and constantly try to escape. 4. marriage between charlotte lucas and mr. collinsmarriage between charlotte lucas and mr. collins is a comical and yet devastating relationship. mr. collins travels to the bennets home with the purpose

35、 of taking home a wife. he first lays eyes on jane and when discovering that she is soon engaged, his attention immediately turns towards elizabeth. having proposal been rejected by elizabeth, his attention is quickly transferred to charlotte lucas. only moments later, he announced the marriage of h

36、im to charlotte. this relationship is very ridiculous. he could not possibly be in love with charlotte for only a week before he had loved elizabeth. charlotte marries to collins in order to gain financial and social security. mr. collins is a intolerable man and charlotte often finds herself rather

37、 embarrassed to be married such a person. she will never have a life of complete happiness. her rational choice is very similar to the principle (existence surpasses love) of british women in 18 century. this interesting marriage without love is a typical social matrimonial orientation.iv. analysis

38、of some essential factors that influence marriage in the booklove is the foundation of marriage. money and property is the guarantee. attraction of personality has great influence on marriage in reality.1. the great impact of money on marriagein pride and prejudice, we can always see country, squire

39、s and leisure life with balls, walks, picnics, conversations and marriage. but seeing through the surface, there is a world of struggling for existence determined by money. the first sentence of the whole novel proclaims, “it is truth that universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of

40、a good fortune must in want of a wife.” here, “a good fortune” and “in want of” are two key phrases. “in want of” means it is needed objectively not subjectively. such kind of wording makes the proposition have more objectivity of “truth”. so we can also say that in pride and prejudice, the real “tr

41、uth universally acknowledged that a woman without possession must be in want of a husband with a good fortune.” mr. wickham wants to get ten thousand from darcy otherwise he will not marry lydia even though they are in elopement. what about elizabeth? leaving aside her true love for darcy, what role

42、 does money play in her process of chasing after marriage? she once holds good feelings on wickham, considering him to be the most agreeable man she even met. but meanwhile she thinks it too imprudent to fall in love with him, she once says to her aunt mr. gradiner: “i will take care of myself and o

43、f mr. wickham too. he shall not be in love with me if i can prevent it” so when wickham is engaged with miss king for her ten-thousand-pound property, she does not feel a little bit sad but free. another thing is that after she confesses her love for darcy and their engagement to her elder sister, j

44、ane asks her how long she loved darcy and she answers: “i must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at pemberly.” through she is joking we can see part of her feeling of pursuing money. these are just some evidence that money and property have great influence on marriage. from the whol

45、e novel, there is no marriage that involves no money. money and property is the guarantee. marriage without money will not survive.2. love is the foundation of marriageelizabeth could not accept collins because there could be no possibility of love between them. elizabeth opposes her best friend cha

46、rlottes marriage to collins because she only seeks for material enjoyment. elizabeth possesses the quality of strong reason and keen observation. she has her own attitude towards marriage. she knows that the happy marriage should be based on true love and should choose mate carefully and seriously.

47、darcy is attracted not only by elizabeths beautiful appearance but also by her personality even though he experiences long-time and fierce struggles in the process of acceptance of elizabeth despite for her social position and low connections. he proposes to elizabeth for his deep love, he says: “in

48、 vain have i struggled, it will not do, my feeling will not be repressed, you must allow me to tell you how strongly i admire and love you.” elizabeth debates his sense of her inferiority. their marriage is happy and rational because they have learned why they love each other. jane austen as well as

49、 other authors, is very clear that no feelings could be extremely pure and no motive could be definitely single, but we should make it clear that which feeling or motive plays the leading role. love is the foundations of marriage, without love marriage will not be happy.3. attraction of personality

50、has great influence on marriage in reality some characteristics and weak points of personality will influence on happiness of the marriage. from the study of the couples, it is not difficult to find out that the marriage of elizabeth and darcy is perfect because they possess independence and equalit

51、y in personality.1) personality of independencepeoples thought determines their personality and their personality reflects their thought. elizabeth has the sense of independence and can resist all outside interference. she withstands her mothers pressure and refuses collins, she says: “i will never

52、see him again” she talks to elizabeth again and again and tries by turns to persuade her and threaten to not to accept her as a family member. but elizabeth still insists on her own idea. her independent personality also shows that she does not fear the person who has much money and high rank. whene

53、ver miss. bingley speaks to her with biting sarcasm, she answers back sarcastically but with proper reserve. she does not compromise and make the impression that she is weak in personality.darcy is independent in thought too. he has money and rank. he should marry a girl who has the same condition.

54、this is what miss bingley and his aunt lady catherine expect of him. miss bingley tries the best way to win darcy, but he still dislikes her and doesnt marry her. lady catherine is a noble woman, and she has a very lager fortune. she deems that her daughter catherine suits him very much. darcy and h

55、er daughter will unite the two estates by marriage. but darcy is not interested in her. he loves elizabeth, her attractive appearance, intelligence and character. his admiration to elizabeth is hided so much when elizabeth goes to mr. bingleys on foot and looks after her sister jane. bingleys sister

56、 makes fun of her and her family at the back. even miss bingley says to darcy, “i am afraid that this adventure has rather lessened your admiration for her fine eyes.”(austen 34) but darcy replies: “not at all her fine eyes. they are brightened by the exercise.” at pemberley when miss miss bingley n

57、otices that darcy, she merely intends to confuse elizabeth and make her show some feelings that may harm her in darcys opinion. but it produces no effect on darcy. she continues to criticize elizabeths appearance, behavior and dress. darcy can no longer control himself and says: “for many months i have considered her as one of the best looking women in my acquaintances” (austen 191). his love to elizabeth is prevented by his sense of family status too. he has tormented but with the effect of el