Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice: Then Versus Now
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Pride and Prejudice: Then versus Now
Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austen in the early nineteenth century portrays the life of women and their attitudes toward marriage. Marriage, the major theme in the novel, is depicted as a way of social verification. The only way women could have a standing in their class was through their husband’s finances. Men were the owners of any type of property, which means that women could only obtain anything through their husbands. Thus, women tended to marry based on the ideas of wealth and social gratification. Jane Austen auspiciously illustrates societies concept of marriage in her novel.
England’s early nineteenth century was measured off of class, wealth, and etiquette. The social status of a woman declared by the wealth and prestige of either her family or husband. Hence why women were forced to marry based on these concepts, there was a slim chance a woman could actually marry for love. Today’s marriages are more open; No matter the social class, race, or wealth a woman can marry whomever she pleases. The differences between contemporary marriage and traditional marriages will be compared through Austen’s Pride and Prejudice illustration of the nineteenth
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century society and the roles of women and marriage and today’s perfect idea of marriage. Pride and Prejudice is a realistic novel because it is known as an early
Victorian writing. Realism is a penchant of Victorian fiction to refer to the truthful representation of the