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Pride & Prejudice
Prideful
The institution of marriage is one of the primary themes of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. The emphasis placed upon marriage by the vast majority of the characters in the novel, however, is largely due to the fact that most of them see a successful marriage as a principle means of achieving happiness. However, the specific conditions of an individual marriage account for the degree of happiness its participants will be afforded, and Austen spends a good deal of the novel illustrating the fact that virtue is an integral component of a happy marriage. She presents this idea to the reader by showing acts of commission of virtuous qualities and acts of omission of virtuous qualities, and indicating their effects on a marriage largely through the perceptions of Elizabeth Bennett.
The marriage of Elizabeth's best friend, Charlotte Lucas, with Mr. Collins is one which largely omits virtuous intentions and behavior. Consequently, Elizabeth criticizes the projected...
"You shall not…change the meaning of principle and integrity, nor…persuade yourself or me that selfishness is prudence, and insensibility of danger, security for happiness (p. 159)." The selfishness Elizabeth refers to is the decidedly non-virtuous reason for Charlotte's agreement to marry Collins -- which is for money. This quotation shows that Elizabeth believes virtues such as principle, integrity and prudence are valid qualities that will lead to a happy marriage, which the aforementioned marriage does not have.
In contrast to this example is the committing of virtuous action by Fitzwilliam Darcy, which precedes Elizabeth's acceptance of his marriage proposal. Elizabeth had initially rejected Darcy, but later consented to him after his selfish, overbearing manners had largely been reformed by her rejection, which the following quote from Darcy (to Elizabeth) proves. "You…
Darcy. All of these problems are worked out by the conclusion of the novel, but not before Lydia has run off with Mr. Wickham and eloped. This is considered a great disgrace and a shame for the Bennet's because it is found out that Mr. Wickham is not a very wholesome character and in fact has quite a few skeletons in his closet. But Lydia does not seem to
Pride and Prejudice Women in society today have come a long way from those in the 18th and 19th centuries. In terms of education, work, and marriage prospects, women today have many more choices than those in Jane Austen's novels, for example. Education for a young lady was generally seen as a way towards becoming a school teacher or becoming a high society married woman. There were few choices inbetween. For
Chapter 50 shows this in the gossip and the interest people partake in of the relationship of Mr. Wickham and Lydia. "How Wickham and Lydia were to be supported in tolerable independence, she could not imagine. But how little of permanent happiness could belong to a couple who were only brought together because their passions were stronger than their virtue, she could easily conjecture." (Austen, 596) Good marriages, at least
A discussion between friends casts a light on the issue of pride, which appears to be Darcy's main enemy in his relationship with the society outside his most intimate acquaintances. Miss Lucas, one of the friends of the Bennet girls finds an excuse for Darcy's overflow of pride through his social status, fortune and image. Elisabeth agrees with her, but she also admits that her pride is even bigger than
...For the rest, it is self-evident that the abolition of the present system of production must bring with it the abolition of the community of women springing from that system, i. e., of prostitution both public and private. Marx 339-340) The communist manifesto clearly demonstrates that ideals that regard women and men, through the eyes of economic marriage partnership is abhorrent to the natural state, a satire in the subtle irony of
Leading up to (and following) Elizabeth's epiphany, Pride and Prejudice is essentially about how Elizabeth and Darcy slowly overcome their misconceptions; misunderstandings; weaknesses, and mistakes, to at last find love and happiness together. Both "pride" (personal and social, that is) and "prejudice" (the pre-judging, or perhaps more accurately, the misjudging, of one person by the other) create, before that point, considerable roadblocks to the love the two eventually find together.