Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice Essay -- Jane Austen Pride Prejudice

Jane Austens Pride and PrejudiceIt is a truth universally acknowledged that a single world inpossession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wifeJane Austen used this quote to open her second book, Pride andPrejudice, which was firstborn published in 1813. This is a story of theattitudes towards love and marriage in the nineteenth century, throughthe eyes of a number of people in diametric family situations andlevels of society. It explores what was socially acceptable anddisgraceful at the time, as well as the author, Jane Austens,personal opinion on the consider. This is shown mainly through thecharacter of Elizabeth Bennet, the second of fiver daughters of Mr andMrs Bennet, inhabitants of the Longbourn estate. At this time, it wasvery important that young girls of around sixteen and above should aimto marry as soon as possible to avoid congruous destitute and unable tosupport themselves after the inevitable death of their father, whoseestate would usually be inherited by the next male heir in the family.In the case of the Bennets, this is a distant cousin with whom theyhad not been in contact with for some time. His name is Mr. Collins...Another worry for young women at the blood line of the nineteenthcentury was how high a reputation they had. It was unorthodox for afemale to admit, like Lydia does when in Meryton, that she had comeinto town to find a man, because she would come out very eager and thismay result in people looking down on her. On the other hand, if a ladyacted as though she didnt like a man so that he wouldnt think shewas chasing him, the man might think that she really disliked him anddecide to admire another cleaning woman instead. Life could be verycomplicated... ... You know that itis not sound, and that you would never act in this way yourself.This makes it perfectly clear that Lizzy thinks that it would beimpossible for anyone, no matter how set-against romance they are,tomarry someone for a reason other than love. This pr oves that she is aromantic, and once set in her ways cannot see how anybody could thinkdifferently to her.In conclusion, I would say that Jane Austen looks down upon marryingfor material success or gain, and superficial attraction and mismatchbecause at least one person in the kinship will end up beingunhappy. She does, however, believe in marrying for love because youwill be able to live the rest of your life happily with a partner youare devoted to. I also think that if you choose to marry, you shouldonly do it for this reason because I believe that all you need islove.