19th Century Marriage and Relationship Customs
Marriage and relationship customs have changed greatly between the early 19th century and current times. Looking at the novel Pride and Prejudice with today’s ideals in mind, the reader misses many of the extraordinary actions of some of the characters. The Bennett sister’s each face their own battles in relationships and finding love and a successful relationship while maintaining their happiness and balancing it with satisfying their family, or their colleagues, and keeping the family name in good standing. When reading Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice, a contemporary reader could benefit from a knowledge of 19th century marriage customs because it alters the reader’s understanding of …show more content…
Women are supposed to prioritize finding a suitable husband by means of financial status over the emotional connection. Elizabeth sees life in a different light from other women, and takes a much different approach to a relationship. When becoming acquainted with several women at a party, Darcy says, “She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me” when speaking of Elizabeth. Although many women would be upset or bothered by this, she was rather unaffected (Austen 3). Elizabeth was a strong believer in many of the philosophies such as those proposed by Thomas Paine and the Rights of Man with women having a more important role in a relationship (Dabundo 2) When Mr. Darcy asks her to marry him the first time, she turns him down due to finding his proposal lackluster and even though by all other definitions he would be found to be a highly suitable husband for her. She tells him “You could not have made the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it,” (152). She harshly rejects him as a person and all of his efforts towards pleasing her. He replies to her by saying, “Forgive me for having taken up so much of your time,” and him saying his apologies to her shows how she becomes the superior in the situation. She clearly defies what is expected of her and goes against the rules of relationships …show more content…
The majority of conflict in relationships arises between Elizabeth and Darcy and the endless amount of conflict and difficulty that their relationship is able to endure. Each of these situations emphasizes the influence of money on all relationship decisions in the 19th century in different ways. Lydia is able to solve her conflict, or at least her father solves her conflict by offering Wickham an income if he is to marry her to save her from the hardships of finding a husband who will accept her impurity. Jane’s mother highly supports the marriage of Bingley and Jane do to the fact of his charming persona and wealth, and if he lacked the latter, Jane likely would’ve faced even greater conflicts in trying to marry him. Lastly, Elizabeth’s issues are not financial, but rather the fact that she doesnt want to abide by the rules and be a perfect Victorian girl. She stands up for her opinions and beliefs which was not expected or acceptable from young women like her at the time. She felt as though she deserved the same as many men have and was not going to accept a proposal simply because the man was a good husband by typical conventions. She accepted him once she felt she would be happy in a relationship with him. Looking at the novel from a
Marriage and relationship customs have changed greatly between the early 19th century and current times. Looking at the novel Pride and Prejudice with today’s ideals in mind, the reader misses many of the extraordinary actions of some of the characters. The Bennett sister’s each face their own battles in relationships and finding love and a successful relationship while maintaining their happiness and balancing it with satisfying their family, or their colleagues, and keeping the family name in good standing. When reading Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice, a contemporary reader could benefit from a knowledge of 19th century marriage customs because it alters the reader’s understanding of …show more content…
Women are supposed to prioritize finding a suitable husband by means of financial status over the emotional connection. Elizabeth sees life in a different light from other women, and takes a much different approach to a relationship. When becoming acquainted with several women at a party, Darcy says, “She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me” when speaking of Elizabeth. Although many women would be upset or bothered by this, she was rather unaffected (Austen 3). Elizabeth was a strong believer in many of the philosophies such as those proposed by Thomas Paine and the Rights of Man with women having a more important role in a relationship (Dabundo 2) When Mr. Darcy asks her to marry him the first time, she turns him down due to finding his proposal lackluster and even though by all other definitions he would be found to be a highly suitable husband for her. She tells him “You could not have made the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it,” (152). She harshly rejects him as a person and all of his efforts towards pleasing her. He replies to her by saying, “Forgive me for having taken up so much of your time,” and him saying his apologies to her shows how she becomes the superior in the situation. She clearly defies what is expected of her and goes against the rules of relationships …show more content…
The majority of conflict in relationships arises between Elizabeth and Darcy and the endless amount of conflict and difficulty that their relationship is able to endure. Each of these situations emphasizes the influence of money on all relationship decisions in the 19th century in different ways. Lydia is able to solve her conflict, or at least her father solves her conflict by offering Wickham an income if he is to marry her to save her from the hardships of finding a husband who will accept her impurity. Jane’s mother highly supports the marriage of Bingley and Jane do to the fact of his charming persona and wealth, and if he lacked the latter, Jane likely would’ve faced even greater conflicts in trying to marry him. Lastly, Elizabeth’s issues are not financial, but rather the fact that she doesnt want to abide by the rules and be a perfect Victorian girl. She stands up for her opinions and beliefs which was not expected or acceptable from young women like her at the time. She felt as though she deserved the same as many men have and was not going to accept a proposal simply because the man was a good husband by typical conventions. She accepted him once she felt she would be happy in a relationship with him. Looking at the novel from a