Of course, one of the largest themes surrounding Pride and Prejudice is marriage. Marriage is tied to social class, reputation for the families involved, and it appears to be more of something akin to a business transaction rather than a decision made for love and companionship. When Lydia marries Wickham, for example, it was a decision that came about as a result of a mistake. She had to take ownership of it, though, and marry him so as not to damage her family’s reputation. Marriages are often seen as an opportunity to raise a family’s reputation, or to take advantage of the spouse’s money.
One passage that seems to go against all of these presuppositions about marriage’s role in society occurs near the end of the novel, when Elizabeth and her father discuss the prospect of her marriage to Mr. Darcy. Her father wants to ensure that Elizabeth is truly marrying Darcy because she wants to, and not because she feels like she has to. Her father points out that Elizabeth had detested Darcy before. He is sure to outline the positive things that would come with her marrying him, but he then asks, “But will they make you happy?” (Austen 349). Elizabeth then asks him if he has any other objection to their marriage other than her “indifference;” Mr. Bennet replies that he does not. Once she assures him of her love, Mr. Bennet approves their marriage by saying, “If this be the case, he deserves you. I could not have parted with you, my Lizzy, to any one less worthy” (Austen 350).
This scene is one of my favorites because there’s a whole lot of love in it. Mr. Bennet’s love for Elizabeth; Elizabeth’s love for Darcy. It’s a beautiful scene because it focuses on such love rather than the reputation the family would benefit from. While Mr. Bennet does take note of it, it’s not his concern; rather, Elizabeth’s happiness is what he concerns himself with. The line “He deserves you” speaks volumes. Throughout the majority of the novel, a lot of emphasis is put on whether the Bennets deserve the men (and the families) they are trying to marry into. By putting the emphasis on whether Elizabeth deserves Darcy, Mr. Bennet flips that expectation on its head. Even with how important marriage is in maintaining a social reputation, Mr. Bennet would not let Elizabeth go for someone she didn’t deserve. Such reasoning is precisely why he doesn’t force her hand in marrying Mr. Collins, even going so far as to say he wouldn’t speak to her again if she married him. While Mrs. Bennet, and many others, buy into marrying for reputation, Mr. Bennet appears to want the best his daughters’, and Elizabeth’s in particular, happiness rather than their place in society. He seems to be a very progressive character, which would explain why he and Elizabeth get on so well.
Work Cited: Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Barnes & Noble Classics, 2003.
Jamie,
I love your commentary here about marriage in Pride and Prejudice and I couldn’t agree more with it. I love how you analyze specifically Mr. Bennet’s relationship with Elizabeth and his treatment of marriage when it comes to her as opposed to say Lydia. I think that’s an interesting dynamic to look at because it not only seems to further establish Elizabeth as his favorite daughter, but it also shows what lengths people would have done to patch up a marriage that would have resulted in a major scandal. Which leads me to Darcy in this whole situation. As the first line of the novel says, a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. That wife is typically supposed to be of an acceptable class ranking in order to marry such a man. This whole novel is a satire on marriage conventions during the time, but when taking these latter two points into consideration it really sends home the message of the novel that love wins over everything. As we see in the rather tragic first proposal between Darcy and Elizabeth, pointing out socioeconomic differences between a couple does not do much good when those two people actually care for each other. Love can’t be overshadowed by the societal conventions of early 19th century England, and marriage is so much more than a social transaction. Beautiful response, there’s so much to consider on this topic.