英语论文网

In Pride and Prejudice， Austen wrote many kinds of love and marriage of the genteel-class woman. She mainly depicted four marriage types: the marriage of Elizabeth and Darcy is based on love and fortune; the marriage of Jane and Bingley possesses beauty， virtue and fortune; the marriage of Lydia and Wickham wants both sex and money; the marriage of Charlotte and Collins is rolling in wealth but no love.

All these marriages reflect people's life and fate of that time. The other young couples' marriages in the book are only comparison to Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy's ideal marriage. It indicates their brave behavior that they dare to look down upon common customs-everything is decided by money; it highly praises that they have a correct knowledge of themselves and a sense of understanding the world around. It is considered that only this couple that attract each other by their own moral character and talent will get a happy ending.

3. Interpretation of women’s social status from marriages in Pride and Prejudice 傲慢与偏见的婚姻中妇女地位的解析

3.1 The purposes of marriages in Pride and Prejudice

In Austen's fiction， the ultimate felicity of a woman is rooted in a happy marriage， hence marriage is always the focus of the author's attention， which is indicated at the beginning of the novel Pride and Prejudice， "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

In fact， the truth is just the opposite -- a lady without a good fortune must be in want of a husband. In this sense， Mrs. Bennet must be admitted as the wisest person on this problem -- "The business of her life was to get her daughters married" (Austen， 22) -- as in the 18th century， getting married was "the only provision for well-educated young women of small fortune" (Austen， 257) to gain financial security and decent life in the long future， otherwise they would either live in misery as a spinster or a governess， both of which were the objects of mockery and discrimination in society.

Under such woeful circumstances， few women could think deeply and seriously about the true meaning of marriage. Most young women pursued a match just for financial reasons or， for their "pleasantest preservative from want"; marriage became of itself the object. Charlotte Lucas is a representative for this situation. Although she knows clearly that Mr. Collins "was neither sensible nor agreeable; his society was irksome， and his attachment to her must be imaginary"， she accepts and even encourages his proposal "solely from the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment". And as things always were in that age， the whole family "were properly overjoyed on the occasion" -- her parents， as things always were， consented "with a most joyful alacrity" with the consideration that "Mr. Collins's present circumstances made it a most eligible match for their daughter， to whom they could give little fortune; and his prospects of future wealth were exceedingly fair"; "the younger girls formed hopes of com本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。