Thesis sentence: Jane Austen, by describing four different marriages in Pride and Prejudice, expressed her viewpoint that one’s character often reflects his or her marriage and attitudes towards love.
The combination of vulgar Collins and mediocre Charlotte results in a despicable marriage.
Collins is a vulgar, pompous and rapacious man who is subservient to his parsoness and always arrogant before his inferiors.
His pompous and rapacious character determines that his proposal to Elizabeth is a failure.
His vulgar and servile character and his ridiculous concept of love lead to his quick marriage with Charlotte.
Charlotte is a vain and mediocre girl.
Her mediocre character and perception result in her marriage with Collins.
Her vain character brings about her false description of her married life.
The combination of dissolute Wickhame and empty-minded Lydia results in a sex-oriented marriage.
Wickhame is a dissolute and cunning villain who is changeable in his love and crazy about money.
1. He is a thoroughgoing money-pursuer and love imposter, which determines the transfer of his love from poor Elizabeth to wealthy Miss. King.
2. His mean character and contemptible behavior bring about his elopement with Lydia.
Lydia is an empty-minded and uncertain flirt who always seeks her own fun and sexual excitement.
Her dissipation and foolishness lead to her romantic deeds with officials in Meryton.
2. Her ignorance and dissipation lead to her elopement with Wickhame.
C. Their marriage represents capitulation to personal claims.
The combination of pleasant Bingley and mild Jane results in a happy marriage.
Bingley is a cordial and simple young man who is easy to approach and constant in love, but he lacks strength and independence in his marriage.
1. His cordial and simple character and his attitudes towardslove lead to his quiet romance with Jane.
2. His weak and easily-led character lead to his parting with Jane.
Jane is a kind and mild girl with introverted disposition. She is constant in her love but lacks strength and self-confidence.
1. Her kind and mild character and her attitudes towards love determine her steady romance with Bingley.
2. She lacks strength and self-confidence, which makes her readily believe that Bingley loves her no more.
C. Their marriage is happy.
The combination of decent Darcy and sensible Elizabeth results in a successful marriage.
Darcy is a good man of integrity with proud appearance. He is constant in his love and willing to make sacrifice for his lover.
His true love to Elizabeth leads to his first proposal to Elizabeth regardless of her humble family and her inferior position.
His decent character and true love to Elizabeth result in the fact that he did his utmost to rescue Wickhame and Lydia from their trouble.
Elizabeth is an intelligent and sensible girl, who is self-dignified and prone to hasty judgements. She is also brave and discreet in her love.
Her intelligence, bravery and discretion in love bring about the fact that she refused Collins’ first proposal against her mother’s will.
The fact that she is self-dignified and prone to hasty judgement leads to her refusal of Darcy’s proposal.
Her sensibility and right love concept bring about her successful marriage.
C. Their marriage leads to a reconciliation of personal and social claims.
Character reflects his or her marriage and attitudes towards love
----four different marriages in Pride and Prejudice
Among all the novels written by Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice has been valued as the most successful and popular masterpiece. This novel is peopled with characters of her own social class: The ladies and gentlemen of the landed gentry. The plot of this novel revolve around the intricacies of courtship and marriage between members of her class, which is great attraction to many readers. Deeply impressed by four different marriages in Pride and Prejudice, I made an analysis of those four types of marriages and came to an conclusion that one’s character reflects his or her marriage and their attitudes towards marriage. The four couples, varied in their characters, presented us with four different distinct marriages.
The first marriage presented before us is the marriage of Collins and Charlotte. Collins was a conceited and foolish young man. He would inherit the estate of Longbourn, the property of Mr. Bennet upon his death, which amounts to depriving five daughters of Mr. Bennet of everything. Therefore, the five daughters would have not enough money to support their life unless they are lucky enough to marry well-to-do husbands. Collins was vulgar and servile, seldom opens his mouth without mentioning his patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Her “affability and condescension” (Jane Austen 58) is so impressive upon him that he felt greatly flattered only by “her visit in his humble parsonage”.(Jane Austen 59)
Collins was pompous and narrow-minded man who never possess his own conception of love, he intends to get married merely because it was the particular advice and recommendation of Lady Catherine de Bourgh. To begin with, he made up his mind to marry one of the daughters of Mr. Bennet as a way of reconciliation with the Longbourn family. The beautiful Jane, undoubtedly, is his first choice. But when he was informed that Jane had been privately engaged, he swiftly change Jane to Elizabeth, who is “equally next to Jane in birth and beauty” (Jane Austen 62). No mutual acquaintance and love between each other. Marriage to Collins was only “a right thing for every clergyman in easy circumstances” and “advice from Lady Catherine de Bourgh” (Jane Austen 95). Jane Austen gave us a full statement of his background and character. “Mr. Collins was not a sensible man, and the deficiency of nature had been but little assisted by education or society. The greatest part of his life having been spent under the guidance of an illiterate and miserly father, and though he belonged to one of the universities, he had merely kept the necessary terms, without forming at it any useful acquaintance. The subjection in which his father had brought him up, had given him originally great humility of manner, but it was now a good deal counteracted by the self-conceit of a weak head, living in retirement, and the consequential feeling of early and unexpected prosperity.” And “the respect which he felt for her high rank, and his veneration for her as his patroness, mingling with a very good option of himself, of his authority as a clergyman, and his rights as a rector made him altogether a mixture of pride and obsequiousness, self-importance and humility.” (Jane Austen 61)
English Language: American or British?
Character reflects ones marriage or attitudes toward