Jane Austen’s View Of Marriage In Pride And Prejudice

Jane Austen (1775-1817) was one of the most outstanding realistic female novelists in the nineteenth-century Britain. As a female writer, she devoted herself to uncover the stand and situation of women at her time. In almost all of her works, the theme of love and marriage are of great significance. She was always concerned about how an adult female from the middle class could find an ideal husband. Jane Austen not only expressed her thoughts on marriage, but also her views on the feminism. In her works, Jane Austen just selectively advocated a new life for the woman, in the meantime supporting most of the convention. As a woman of middle class, Jane Austen had no reason to encourage women to become totally independent from men as the activists, but it can’t be denied that her thoughts were progressive in her days, and maybe meaningful in today, which is why this work that only describes the life of country people is very popular today. In fact, her works were already successful soon after their publication, as they got the fancy from the women of middle class and even some noble male critics approved that she exactly grasped the social situation and human values at that time. With all her intelligence and observation, she laid all her insight in her works, so that her works are so thoughtful though lacking grand scenes and magnificent backgrounds. Through a close reading of one of her most successful works, Pride and Prejudice, taking into consideration the social and historical background of Jane Austen, drawing on feminist theory, this thesis mainly focuses on the theme of marriage and the love. By reading carefully the five marriages are depicted in pride and prejudice, this thesis also tries to analyze the causes and significance of Austen’s view on marriage. The thesis concludes that Austen’s realistic view of marriage is still of importance at the present time.