Jane Austen Marriage Theme Marriage

Jane Austen has put a new life into decaying genre that is modern English novel, which has become the most popular and vastly read literary genre, which appeared first in its characteristics form in the eighteenth century. She raised the whole genre into a new level of art. And perhaps it will not be wrong to call her the 'first modern novelist’. In the much crowded history of English novels, she holds a unique and distinctive place. She is perhaps the most finished and perfect woman novelist in the language. There is thematic similarity in all the six novels written by Jane Austen. The main situation in her works is marriage, existing or intended. The plot usually centres round a love story and the novel invariably comes to close as soon as

Her novels present the deep implication of the institution of marriage both for the individual and for the society. She presents marriage as a fact of life and the moment of its decision is one of paramount importance on which the whole of the future of the marriage entirely depends. She considered marriage as a social institution, therefore, placed it in the larger social context. A major part of her fiction closely examines marriage in contemporary England. In order to get her true vision of life it is necessary to understand the impact marriage has on the marriageable persons and the married couples on one hand and on the society on the other. The marriage theme in the novels of Jane Austen is fulfilled by the "good match"; society, moves around the well matched couples and moral integrity, equality of being and spiritual insights are the result.” Good match" is prime requirement for successful marriage on which depend the stability and happiness of family life. It was in order to stress upon the idea of stability both on the domestic as well as on the social plane that Jane Austen highlighted the importance of sensible marriage and never approved of marriage which was an outcome of unbridled

The principal characters in this novel are Mrs. Dashwood whose husband has just died, who is foolish and impulsive but charming lady, her two daughters Elinor and Marianne and their lovers. So from the very beginning the hunt for suitable suitors for two young daughters is the main concern of the mother. In the novel, two complicated but very interesting love stories are interwoven to show the failure of romantic love and success of true love. The novel unfolds two love stories of twin heroines Elinor and Marriane.The attachment between Elinor and Edward Ferrars grows at the beginning of the novel when the Dashwoods family stays at Norlands after the death of their father. The callous and indifferent attitude of Mrs. John Dashwood compels them to leave Norland and shift to a new place Barton.This displacement of Elinor suspends the growth of love between Elinor and Edward. There are mainly two obstacles in the union of Elinor and Edward and coincidently both the obstructions are the women-mother of Edward and Lucy Steele, who is engaged to