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ohnson， 76)

Austen was the English writer who first gave the novel its modern character through the treatment of everyday life. The range of the description in Austen's novels is limited; actually she described the society at the end of the eighteenth century and at the beginning of the nineteenth century where she lived. (Nicolson， 35) Austen was well connected with the middling rich landed gentry that she portrayed in her novels. Austen focused on middle-class provincial life with humor and understanding. She depicted the life of minor landed gentry， country clergymen and their families， in which marriage mainly determined women's social status. In all of Austen's novels her heroines are ultimately married. The characters in Austen's novels have something in common with her neighbors， friends and relatives. That is to say， Austen's writings are all about the people and the family matters of her time. At that time， the value of people counted on the possession of a fortune. The society was filled with the possession and the control of a fortune. Since men inherited all fortunes， women had to obey men and gained their happiness through proposals and marriages.

The main subject in Pride and Prejudice is stated in the first sentence: "It is a truth universally acknowledged， that a single man is possession of a good fortune， must be in want of a wife." (Austen， 3) Actually， it should be said like this， totally the opposite - a single woman must be in want of a husband with a good fortune. "It was the only honorable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune， and however uncertain of giving happiness， must be their pleasantest preservative from want." 

"The underlying theme of Jane Austen's social comedy is the predicament of being a woman in a man's world - a world ruled by men and run for their advantage， in which marriage looms as the central and decisive act of the woman's life， and where the prevailing view is that `Marriage has…no natural relation to love. Marriage belongs to society; it is a social contract'. Other than marriage， no career or occupation was open to her. Her education was a grooming for polite society， providing her with fashionable “accomplishments” to catch the eye of a future husband." (Austen， 45)

Marriage of Austen's time actually was a kind of foundation stone and its function was mainly the key to the connection of fortune， the decision of relation and the right of inheritance. (Wilkes， 84) What it valued was to be matched for marriage. The point of marriage of the time was not to offer a legal form of giving birth to children and taking care of children. At that time there were not so many people who wouldn't like to get married as we do now. Of course， there was no such romantic marriage that would bear no legal obligation and would break up at any moment. As a matter of fact， marriage is a kind of ritual that everyone should go through and a part of the way to normal life. However， the different share of work between objectively caused such kind of traditional marriage male and female. In the society of the time， labor productivity was not developed. Women were discriminated against in social employment and the division and the inheritance of fortune. Women were treated as the ones who could only give birth to children and serve men. They became poor appendage of husbands in the patr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。