Marriage In Pride and Prejudice Essay -- English Literature Austen Ess

Marriage In Pride And Prejudice Even from the first sentence, we can already tell that the novel will be focusing on the essential issues of marriage and wealth. It stresses a society where marriage is a very important and essential preoccupation. Marriage and wealth are closely linked together; the richer a man was, the more probable it was that single women would want to marry him. Austen tries to summarize the two main issues in her opening sentence "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." This doesn't appear to be the author's own 'voice'. She seems to put it in a very sarcastic way. The writer says, "it is a truth universally acknowledged..." this appears extremely exaggerated since she expresses that this is a fact recognized by the whole universe, which is highly unlikely. The next part of the opening sentence that sounds ironic is "a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife". She uses the word 'must' to put across the certainly in her statement. However, this isn't true of all rich, single men; not all wealthy, single men are seeking a wife. Her tone of voice seems to be very satirical, in the sense that she exaggerates everything to make it look extremely foolish, because she clearly disagrees with it. To some extent, she distances herself from society and this is very evident in her choice of words. The words 'truth' and 'must' indicate an ironic voice and already, from this first sentence, we can ultimately tell the kind of society the characters live in and what their concerns about life, marriage and wealth are. The view put forward is what other people in her society believe and she... ...ot marry for money, but for love. The opinion formed of the Gardiners is totally opposite to those formed of Wickham and Lydia. The connection between Bingley and Jane is the first that is spoken of as a possibility of a marriage, but it nearly doesn't happen because Jane doesn't show her feelings as picked up by Charlotte Lucas. The marriage between Bingley and Jane succeeds because they both share similar interests and intellect. Elizabeth and Darcy are the central focus throughout novel and it is possibly the best example of a good marriage. They have to overcome a lot of difficult situations before they finally get engaged. Two of the main obstacles were prejudgement and pride. Austen is trying to say that marriage should be given careful thought and consideration. It should not be solely for money and status, but for intellect and true love.