Discuss how society viewed the ideas of love and marriage in the early 1800s Essay Example for Free

Discuss how friendship viewed the ideas of applaud and wedding in the archaeozoic 1800s leavenJane Austen was born in 1775 and spent most of her life in the countryside in a village c anyed Steventon, Hampshire. She was the missy of a clergyman, Reverend George Austen and her mother was called Cassandra Austen. She had a brief education starting at the age of 7 and ending at eleven, when she settled at home. Like women in Austens purchase order, she had little education collect subject to the beliefs at the time the only education she would have received would potential have been to up her genial situation, through with(predicate) marriage. She wrote Pride and Prejudice to portray societys views of cognisemaking and marriage to the reader and to shoe that marriages take propose for opposite reasons. We infer throughout the novel the excessive number of marriages and causes that take place.The opening sentence Its a justness universally acknowledged, that a sin gle man in the possession of a good fortune moldinessiness be in require of a wife introduces the theme of love, marriage and m 1y in an ironical way. The irony is contained in the fact that marriage is meant to be about love and happiness alone intelligibly revolves around wealthiness and fond standing. In the novel we see two established 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 super C fro women in Austens era to link up and save themselves from spinsterhood and social security and to gain, the above mentioned, financial and social security. In this type of marriage Austen illustrates that women who submit themselves ar largely willing to suffer emotional dist ress in silence. Mr Collins to be sure neither sensible nor agreeable his society was irksome and his attachment to her must be imaginary. But still he would be a husband This reflects the social beliefs of, at least, the spunk classes at the time. Evidently all that Charlotte wants out of life is a comfortable home and enough wealth to sustain this. Im not a romantic girl you know. I never was, I only select for a comfortable home . The use of the word only emphasises the fact that Charlotte wants this and nothing else. The consequences of her not marring salubrious would be to severely 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 unify Mr Collins she seemed happy in their 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 doe s not have any bad words to learn about him. When Mr Collins said anything of which his wife might reasonably, which certainly was not unseldom once of twice she could spy a faint blush but in general Charlotte wisely did not hear. From this we gather that the orthodoxy of society has been embedded in her behaviour. She possibly perceives that she is happy because society deems that now she is married she should be happy.The marriage of Mr and Mrs bennet was a stereotypical marriage of the time. The marriage was based on initial beauty and physical tie plus the fact that they where matched financially. The family life, was also typical of the 1800s, they had five daughters, and Mrs Bennets aim in life was to marry her daughters of in as quick a time as possible, this comp atomic number 18s with Charlottes views of marriage as a step 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 likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes Mrs Bennet mentions fleetingly but without conviction, she is mostly inte rilievoed in trying to marry of at least one of her 5 daughters. Mr Bennet however constantly mocks his wife. We are made witting 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 example of Mr Bennets badinage and unconcerned attitude towards his wife and their family affairs. Mr Bennet is the complete opposite to Mrs Bennet in the way in which he thinks, about the new gentleman in town for example How so? How outhouse it match 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 dealing with being stuck in a loveless marriage. In Janes era divorce was not an option, people had no choice, 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 mainly 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 shows 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 female is irretrievable and that she cannot be alike much guarded in her behaviour towards the fellow feeling of the other sex.Lydias damaged reputation would also affect her families reputation, unless they disown her. she has no money, no connection, nothing tha t can tempt him she is lost forever. The word no emphasises the fact that she has absolutely nothing and no-one. For Wickham, on the other hand, the little(a) 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 attached him, had appeared incomprehensible. Here we see that what would have been scorn when aimed a Lydia is mere surprise when directed at Wickham, this is due to the fact that in Jane Austens era the gentleman naturally had a higher social standing just 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, lively and intelligent couple who love each other and work well together. They always agree in talking over their way of life the evening before, Mrs Gardiner expressed an inclination to see the place again.Mr Gardine r declared his willingness. Jane Austen here is being an omniscient bank clerk . The Gardiners are in a harmonious relationship, a marriage that creates a positive image towards its readers. They are described as a sensible-gentle like man and an amiable intelligent women who are encouraging occasion 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 exalted 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 central place in the novel. They first meet at Meryton and enjoy an immediate 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 daug hters who looked for a man who is sensible, humorous 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 view her as much as she does him. The marriage between Jane and Mr Bingley set s a standard for the rest of the Bennet daughters, It was more(prenominal)over, such a promising thing for her younger 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 s how that Mrs Bennet believes that Jane had chosen accurately and it displays societys beliefs as to what constituted a very good match for Jane.Elizabeth is an intelligent and spirited women who passes a dainty wit and enjoys studying peoples characters on the other hand Fitzwilliam Darcy is a wealthy, proud man with a generous, attentive nature 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 hierarchical 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 th ose of the heart to be detailed.The bank clerk relates Elizabeths point of view of events more often then Darcys, so Elizabeth often seems a more good-hearted 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 different kinds of relationships, none of them are the same. It shows that the ideal couple is difficult to find, the establishe d marriages in the book being The Bennets and the Gardiners.