There are four questions are prominent in Pride and Prejudice; Austen’s limited range, her irony, her art of characterization and her theme of love and marriage. Here Professor Malinger says, “The theme of love and marriage dominates the whole novel from the beginning till end in the best way.” The Best Novels, page no 54. But critics call her novels with limited range due an unmarried girl and lack of married life experience.
In the novel Jane introduces a small family comprises seven members; five daughters and one father and one mother. The daughters are waiting for rich husbands for marriage at home. Actually she wants to expose what are the best marriage requirements, and what are the worst marriages? Here Maria Martin says, “A god marriage rests on soul to soul connection while a bad marriage rests on emotion to emotion connection. The first marriage type may be called reasonable marriage and the second marriage type may be called emotional marriage.”
Jane describes in the Pride and Prejudice two main causes of a bad marriage. Firstly, the marriage that is made due to money greed gets failure in practical life. Secondly, the marriage that is made due to keeping in mind physical beauty is a failing marriage in practical life. Further she describes two main reasons of a good marriage; Firstly, a reasonable calm judgment and secondly, a good intention to import love to other partner. It is based on mental understanding.
The first bad married couple is represented by Mr. and Mrs. Benet. Mr. Benet is a beautiful and sensible man while on the other hand; Mrs. Benet is a vulgar and inconsistent woman and is a very bad couple but he was captivated by her physical beauty free of moral ethics. As the chapter 10th shows; “Mr. Benet captivated by youth and beauty and appearance and good honor.”
The second bad married couple is of Charlotte and Mr. Collins. Charlotte got marriage to Mr. Collins just to save her poor future hanging before her since her childhood. As the chapter xv shows, “Mr. Collins was not a sensible man and the deficiency of nature had been but little assisted by education, Mr. Collins had a good and well furnished house to live in and handsome income.”
To get a beautiful wife Mr. Benet used to visit Mrs. Benet. At last he chose Miss Charlotte among the five daughters. Choosing her he put a proposal of marriage that was accepted by Miss. Charlotte. Actually Charlotte did not love him but his money closed Miss. Charlotte to Mr. Collins. But Elizabeth got a shock at her hasty marriage but she did not expose it. But Mrs. Benet supported he marriage.
The third marriage in the novel that is based on sex and appearance is of Lydia and Wickham. Here Henry Lewis says, “The sexual union between the two was so strong that compelled them for elopement because sex conquers reason and put off the reason-lamp.” This marriage shows a complex love affair. Apparently, it is based on understanding but actually there was no understanding between the two lovers just sexual pleasure attracted them.
At last, their elopement brought unhappiness to Benet family. In the real sense their marriage failed but it made close Elizabeth and Darcy that were living away from each other due to misunderstanding and both stared loving again and their final outcome appeared in the best marriage.
Jane and Bingley marriage is the first best marriage that is based on real understanding faithfulness and free of any type of lust and greed. Jane was an educated girl and sensible girl than any other girls of Benet. While on the other hand Elizabeth and Darcy marriage is based on spiritual understanding love ignoring physical beauty and financial condition.
Realizing his mistake by refusing Elizabeth to dance with her he now thought of excusing Elizabeth at his ill behavior in the dance party. Elizabeth forgave Darcy at once. When the Elizabeth and Darcy engagement was announced all were upset hearing the announcement. At the end Elizabeth came to know that Darcy loved her with his whole heart.
To sum up, it is the best novel that exposes the secret of a good marriage and a bad marriage in the best way with simple examples. It just discusses marriages and nothing else in the room. Besides it also makes prominent the problems of marriage of a family. But the problem Jane raises in the novel is the problem of the whole families of the world. Her characters are fixed like Shakespeare covering four corners of the world. We can see these days such type of families in modern societies around us. In our society every girl is waiting for a rich beautiful husband ignoring her education and beauty.
What is the Main Cause of a Heart Attack? What is its Solution? A heart attack is the blockage of… Read More
In the vast economic arena, one term that often takes center stage, inciting extensive debates and discussions, is the "debt… Read More
De-Dollarization: The Changing Face of Global Finance The financial landscape is in a state of flux, with an intriguing economic… Read More
The curtains closed on a dramatic Bundesliga season with Bayern Munich standing tall once again, clinching their 11th straight title.… Read More
The Unfolding Story of Celine Dion's Health In recent news that has left fans across the globe stunned, iconic singer… Read More
As the echoes of the recent NBA season start to fade, the attention of enthusiasts is firmly glued to one… Read More
View Comments
The question is whether love leads to marriage or marriage leads to love. My opinion is that it is only the love that leads to marriage. If there is no love it can not lead to a meaningful marriage. If we do not want any use of the term meaningful, then a marriage can take place even without love. But, we should not forget that in that case the very meaning of a marriage will be defeated.
Without love, a marriage can take place. A husband and wife can live under one roof. But with a feeling of touch me not. No respect for each other. There will be no affection, understanding, or any feeling of security and care for each other.
If there had been love between them they would weep for other, they seek and wish for the happiness of other. They can not bear the separation and die for each other. It is this power of love that binds them together. They quarrel with each other, they beat each other, they abuse each other but still the element of love never lasts between them.
You say write that in Western societies love leads to marriage and in Eastern societies as in India and Pakistan, Iran,,,marriage leads to love. Marriage is sacred heavenly ceremony imposed by God on men and women just to breed not for lust and enjoyment.
Marriages are written in heaven and are performed on earth by human hands. When good soul chooses a bad soul its result is divorce and people call it quarrels or any other thing.
I think marriage leads men and women to real and spiritual love on earth.
@siva i totally concur from my western point of view. I think that marriage is an act of love. It is to show your commitment to the person you love by saying "Yes, I do". For as long as there is love there can be a marriage else you are on your way to a divorce.
In western culture love leads to marriage and not marriage leads to love because in Western culture there is not arrange marriage system and people fall in love and if the love is strong and both trust each they get marriage.
Keep in mind, love is a sensitive child of soul and and it enters into human soul via eyes beams of each other. Love begets love and hate begets hate. It is also said those who hate men die virgins,
I think marriage is a sacred act of generation not the act of love and lust. Lust leads to hate and love leads to success.
Before anything can emerge love has to be the basis. I really don't think it's about the western or southern world the truth is love is th3 same everywhere you go. Love is the basis of all the things we do at least that's how I see it. If you do not ha e love in you how can you love someone else that is close to impossible. It can only work that way if your actual motive is to get something else other than love from the person you are with. Is it really possible to stay with someone that you don't love? how does that work, how far or how long can it last. for me i don't think I would even consider doing something like that because I know there is no where it is leading to. When people get into such marriages I can get that a very small percentage will go over two years the rest within that one year that will separate because they either can't stand their partners or they are just not compatible. So love is what leads to marriage and not the other way round.