It’s hard to look at history and think that there was a time when people married solely for money and status; completely separating love from the equation. Pride and Prejudice examines both marriage and love together, even though many of this time thought it was unobtainable. Jane Austen is known to be a satirical writer. The most obvious point she makes is about marriage primarily for social status. I find it interesting that Jane Austen herself never married in her life. I’ve come to the conclusion that she didn’t marry due to the social norms of her time period. Austen sets up the Bennet family close to what she lived through growing up in the Austen household. Austen grew up with seven siblings, her sister and herself being the only females. However, just like the Bennet household, her father had no dowry to give to Jane for whenever she was ready to marry. The Austen family was facing financial difficulties. People suppose that this could be a reason why Jane Austen and her young flame Thomas Lefroy didn’t work out: For Thomas would not have to marry down if he truly wanted to be with Jane Austen. Later in Jane Austen’s life, Harris Bigg-Wither proposed to her and after accepting she ended up breaking the engagement. There was much speculation as to why Jane Austen would have ended the marriage, and especially at her age. During the Georgian Era, it was nearly impossible for any woman over the age of 30 to marry. Jane Austen was certainly getting “older” for the Georgian marriage standards, but I believe Jane Austen felt the marriage was forced. Jane Austen society expected her to marry whoever was willing to propose to her, whoever did would know that they wouldn’t get much financially in return. Jane Austen wanted to marry for love and this is why I believe she never married anyone in her life. In Pride and Prejudice, Charlotte and Elizabeth share a scene where they talk about the possibility for Mr. Bingley and Jane to be married. Charlotte first gives her opinion:
“But though Bingley and Jane meet tolerably often, it is never for many hours together; and as they always see each other in large mixed parties, it is impossible that every moment should be employed in conversing together. Jane should therefore make the most of every half hour in which she can command his attention. When she is secure of him there will be leisure for falling in love as much as she chuses.” (Austen, 23).
Austen gives the voice of society. Austen’s society believes that one must first claim a man’s attention, and then once he is “secure” or once he is most likely to propose, then they have time to fall in love later. Austen’s society is built on strict social manners and customs that no one would dare to go against (except maybe Austen herself). For example, as seen with Mr. Collins and Elizabeth, it was common for a lady to turn down a proposal and for a man to continue to propose before a lady fully accept the offer. Mr. Collins described this in Chapter 19:
“that it is usual with young ladies to reject the address of the man whom they secretly mean to accept, when he first applies for their favour; and that sometimes refusal is repeated a second or even third time.” (Austen, 105).
In response to Charlotte, Elizabeth tells her: “But these are not Jane’s feelings; she is not acting by design” (Austen, 23). Austen is trying to show her audience that there are people who fall in love first before they marry. Austen wants her society to see that marriage does not have to just be about the cash flow of families or a specific structure to get someone to marry you. Instead, Austen is using Jane and Mr. Bingley’s love to show her audience that people can fall in love with someone for love, and perhaps why this is so significant to Pride and Prejudice overall. For Jane, it worked out that she fell in love with someone who will help her financially in the future, but was not the main reason for why she wanted to marry Bingley.
Mikayla
I agree that Austen seems to be showing her audience that it was possible for people to fall in love with one another before marrying and not just grow to love through marriage. It is interesting to consider the idea that in this time period many people chose to marry for wealth and standing hoping to fall in love after years of being together. If you look at the married couples within the novel such as Mr. and Mrs. Bennet you can see the difference of how couples react to one another whether they chose love or just chose marriage. The marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet seems strained showing that marrying a person just to be married can lead to an unhappy relationship in which love may never grow. On the other hand, Jane and Mr. Bingly seem to really care for each other which could prove to become a stronger marriage than one that was arranged for success. I think the idea that Austen never married is important to her novel as you stated as it appears that she herself is trying to combat the idea of marrying just to be married.