On Money and Marriage in Pride and Prejudice论《傲慢与偏见》中的金钱与婚姻.doc

*省高等教育自学考试英语专业毕业论文论傲慢与偏见中的金钱和婚姻学生姓名：*指导教师：*二零一一年三月 摘 要傲慢与偏见为奥斯汀赢得了永恒的荣誉。通过对四种不同婚姻和爱情的描写，小说充分体现了十八世纪社会的爱情观和婚姻观。同时，奥斯汀的爱情观和婚姻观通过这篇小说也展现得淋漓尽致，即：婚姻与财产和社会地位紧密相联，但是财产和社会地位不是保证婚姻幸福的唯一因素。美好的婚姻应当建立在相互爱慕、相互尊重的基础上。作者既反对因钱而结婚，也反对草率结婚，充分强调了婚姻中真情实感的重要性。关键词：爱情; 婚姻; 金钱; 社会地位  On Money and Marriage in Pride and PrejudiceAbstractPride and Prejudice, Austens great work, earns an enduring fame for Jane Austen. Jane Austen demonstrates the social attitudes towards marriage and money and hers via description of four courtships- Darcy and Elizabeths Marriage, Jane and Mr. Bingleys Marriage, Collins and Charlottes Marriage, Lydia and Wickhams Marriage. Unlike the social concept, she believes that love and marriage are closely associated with property and society, however, love and marriage can not be decided only by the property and social status. An ideal marriage should be based on mutual affection and respect. Key Words: love; marriage; property; social statusIntroductionPride and Prejudice, the most popular novel by Jane Austen, first rejected by the publishers, was not brought to final form until 1813. It talks about trivial matters of love, marriage and family life between country squires and fair ladies in Britain in the 18th century, which is frequently discussed in Jane Austens novels. The plot is very simple, focusing on the young ladies choosing their husbands. The characters are well shaped with the help of dialogues and narratives. Four kinds of marriages are displayed vividly to demonstrate the concept of marriage at that time, while money is the clue through the novel from beginning to end. This paper probes into four marriages in pride and prejudice to disclose the deep-rooted outlook on love and marriage in 18th century.1. The Background of Austen and Her Pride and Prejudice1.1 The Background of Austen  Jane Austen (1775-1817) was a beautiful, talented middle class woman with extraordinary temperament and good cultivation. She showed great interest in literature while young. And she began to write in her teens. Her six novelsSense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Manshifeierde Manor, Emma, Persuasion all describe more than marriage.”(Wang Shouren, 2005, p.64)However, during Austens life, only her immediate family knew of her authorship of these novels. Though publishing anonymously prevented her from acquiring an authorial reputation, it also enabled her to preserve her privacy at a time when English society associated a females entrance into the public sphere with a reprehensible loss of femininity. In her work, Austen is often critical of the assumptions and prejudices of upper-class England. She distinguishes between internal merit (goodness of person) and external merit (rank and possessions). Though she frequently satirizes snobs, she also pokes fun at the poor breeding and misbehavior of those lower on the social scale. Nevertheless, Austen was in many ways a realist, and the England she depicts is one in which social mobility is limited and class-consciousness is strong.1.2 The Background of Pride and Prejudice “At that time, according to the social conditions in Britain, a good marriage for a young woman was critical. This phenomenon was closely associated with the British society and the status of women in the society. In the 19th century, women were not well respected compared with the ones in the present society. There was no equality between woman and man. Women were considered to be inferior to men in terms of intelligence and capacity. The central life of women was forced to be staying at home, their roles were to deal with the family affairs, such as taking care of the children and serving for the husband.” (Zhu Hong, 1985, p34)In Jane Austens time, there was no real way for young women of the “genteel” classes to strike out on their own or be independent. Professions, the universities, politics, etc. were not open to women. Few occupations were open to them-and those few that were not highly respected, and did not generally pay well or have very good working conditions. Therefore, marriage is pretty much the only way of ever getting out from under the parental roof - unless, of course, her family could not support her, in which case she could face the unpleasant necessity of going to live with employers as a dependant governess or teacher, or hired “ladys companion”. Given all this, some women were willing to marry just because marriage was the only allowed route to financial security, or to escape an uncongenial family situation.Austen fully criticized some bad phenomenon in her work- pride and prejudice, taking some perfect points about marriage and love to demonstrate her own view on love and marriage2. The Four Marriages in Pride and PrejudiceMoney is an important issue. As indicated in the first line of the book: “it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” (Austen,2002,p.3 ). So the proper time for men to settle is after they get enough money. Because middle-class women usually do not go out to work and depend on their husbands financially, they are more concerned with money during courtship. The four marriages well reflect the importance of money. 2.1 Darcy and Elizabeths Marriage.The courtship between Darcy and Elizabeth is one of the most cherished love stories in English literature. As in any good love story, the lovers must elude and overcome numerous stumbling blocks before being together. Elizabeths pride makes her misjudge Darcy on the basis of a poor first impression, while Darcys prejudice against Elizabeths poor social standing blinds him, for a time, to her many virtues. Elizabeth, the second daughter in the Bennet family, is the most intelligent and quick-witted. Her admirable qualities are numerousshe is lovely, clever. Her honesty, virtue, and lively wit enable her to rise above the nonsense and bad behavior that pervade her class-bound. Nevertheless, her sharp tongue and tendency to make hasty judgments often lead her astray. Darcy, The son of a wealthy, well-established family and the master of the great estate of Pemberley, is intelligent and forthright, he too has a tendency to judge too hastily and harshly, and his high birth and wealth make him overly proud and overly conscious of his social status.Their marriage, not only hindered by their own qualities, but Austen poses countless smaller obstacles to the realization of the love between Elizabeth and Darcy, including Lady Catherines attempt to control her nephew, Miss Bingleys snobbery, Mrs. Bennets idiocy, and Wickhams deceit. Darcy and Elizabeths realization of a mutual and tender love seems to imply that Austen views love as something independent of these social forces, as something that can be captured if only an individual is able to escape the effects of hierarchical society. Austen does sound some more realist notes about love, using the character of Charlotte Lucas, who marries the buffoon Mr. Collins for his money, to demonstrate that the heart does not always dictate marriage. Yet with her central characters, Austen suggests that true love is a force separate from society and one that can conquer even the most difficult of circumstances.2.2 Jane and Mr. Bingleys MarriageElizabeths beautiful elder sister and Darcys wealthy best friend, Jane and Bingley engage in a courtship that occupies a central place in the novel. When the news comes that Mr. Bingley, a young gentleman with an annual income of 5,000 Pounds will be their new neighbor; Mrs. Bennet immediately plans to pair him with her favorite oldest, prettiest daughter-Jane. They first meet at the ball in Meryton and enjoy an immediate mutual affection. They are spoken of as a potential couple throughout the book. They are vague characters, sketched by Austen instead of being carefully drawn. Indeed, they are so similar in nature and behavior that they can be described together: both are cheerful, friendly, and good-natured, always ready to think the best of others. Their principal characteristics are goodwill and compatibility. Jane and Bingley demonstrates the true love unhampered by either pride or prejudice, though in their simple goodness, they also demonstrate that such a love is mildly dull.2.3 Collins and Charlottes MarriageThe marriage of Charlotte and Collins is lucky and unexpected. They get married without any expectation. Charlotte is William Lucass daughter, who is the neighbor of Lizzy Bennett. She was born to humble parentage and very mediocre in every aspect. So she has not got married even though she is 26 years old. However, there are 5 daughters in the Bennetts, who are gradually growing up to the age for marriage. So both of the two families rival mutually, especially in the eyes of the vulgar women, such rivalry was particularly tedious. Bennetts wife does not give birth to a boy but five girls, so the familys property couldnt be given to a daughter according to the customs at that time, and the family without a son can grant the wealth to the nephew. Thus, one of Bennett nephew-Collins can inherit the family wealth. In his mind, if he could be one son-in-low of his uncles, then he could get the property of the family. He stays at home for a long time to repay his uncles heritage and gets sympathy from the family. Informed that the eldest daughter Jane has a boyfriend, he aims at the second daughter Elizabeth Bennett in spite for his aunts interesting sake. Tired of him, eventually, Elizabeth refuses him with sharp tongue. But Collins quickly finds comfort from Charlotte who desires to get a comfortable home from a male and believes marriage is the elegant way for a girl with some education, and then they get married as quickly as the lightning. It is a mediocre love, a dull marriage. Such marriage without love is too practical, so it is a kind of superficial marriage without happiness.2.4 Lydia and Wickhams MarriageIn the marriage between Bennetts third daughter Lydia and Wickham, the son of the housekeeper, For Wickhame, this marriage is mainly about money. He elopes with Lydia to extort the Bennets and agrees to marry Lydia only after getting paid by Darcy. At first this marriage is kind of girlish fever to Lydia and she does not think too much about money. Originally he is well-treated by the family and the friends. However, he comes down in the world because of his misbehavior. He gets into debt and desperate situation. So, he wants to get money and become rich and change his social status through marriage. He does nothing except assailing a woman with obscenities. In his opinion, love is only recreation. For his purpose, he entices Lydia, who is spoilt by her mother and gets her love easily, because she is young, and innocent, and loves to go ease and hates to work hard. Getting love and praise of a boy is her dream. So when Wickham wants to reach his aim-getting wealth by love and exalts her beauty hypocritically, she forgets who she is and feels she is the most beautiful and happiest girl in the world. Their love does not get the permission from the parents, and then they elope. When Elizabeth hears the news, she believes that their love is totally ridiculous, since He does not love Lydia but the wealth of her family. The marriage is admitted on the condition of Darcys help. Their marriage is considered to be a scandal in Bennetts family. This marriage is one without love. They dont know the real meaning of marriage, but only want to satisfy their aspiration. So to a large sense, it is a kind of impromptu love and marriage without true love and responsibility. Such couple only seek having had the experience but not everlasting and unchanging. Of course, such kind of marriage is destined to be a tragedy.3. Austens Concept of Love and MarriageIn the novel, Austen depicts various types of marriage, which is a manifestation of her attitudes towards marriage as a female writer from genteel class with no access to property due to the social conventions. In her eyes, marriage based on the money or sex cannot guarantee happiness since love plays an essential role in maintaining ties. The perfect marriage should be based on money and love: marriage without love is a kind of unbearable torment marriage should not be based solely on property or family status, but on affection and attraction between the male and the female; a certain degree of economic base is necessary to marriage to ensure the daily life. As far as her viewpoint is concerned, both progressiveness and limitations can be found.3.1 Positive aspect of Austens concept of marriage In the novel, a sprout of Austens feminist consciousness can be perceived. Jane Austen lived in a period of time when real happiness in marriage was almost a luxury for the female. Since women had to depend on men financially, few of them got the opportunity to their husbands or even choose to marry or not. Marriage of convenience was the commonest case in that age. Middle-class girls without exceptional fortune could look forward nothing better than marrying for support. However, Jane Austen interprets marriage differently and holds that happy marriage should be based on mutual respect and deep understanding, and above all true love. In Pride and Prejudice, she actually claims with Elizabeth as a successful example that a woman can acquire happiness of marriage only by marrying a man who she really loves and respects.3.2 Limitations of Austens concept of marriage However, there are some limitations in her view, which is manifested in two aspects: first, Austen places great emphasis on the role of money in a happy marriage; second, Austen cannot free herself from the view that women are dependent financially. In the first place, Austen overestimates the role of money in a happy marriage, as Copeland comments, “Money, especially money as spendable income, is the arrow aimed at the hearts of Jane Austens heroines and her readers.” (Copeland,1997, p.133) In Pride and Prejudice, the importance of money is stressed time and time again, for instance, Elizabeth says to Mrs. Gardiner, “we see every day that where there is affection, young people are seldom withheld by immediate want of fortune from entering into engagements with each other.”(Austen,2002, p.156) Elizabeth is willing to allow that Wickhams transferring his attentions from her (to a recent heiress of £10,000) is “a wise and desirable measure for both” since she believes that “Handsome young men must have something to live on, as well as the plain”(Austen, 2002, p.161) From the dialogues, it can be seen that in Austens mind, marriage is not only the fruit of love, but also a r