Mr Collins Pride And Prejudice Marriage Analysis

Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, examines the connection between marriage and many factors that can affect it, such as love and affection, money and wealth, social classes, societal norms, and personal expectations. To do so, it follows the relationships of five couples: Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Collins and Charlotte Lucas, Mr. Bingley and Jane Bennet, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Wickham and Lydia Bennet. All of these relationships begin and progress differently and develop under a variety of motivations and circumstances. By the end of the novel, it becomes obvious that many of the relationships either exhibit similar qualities or blatantly contrast each other.
The marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet appears distant, loveless, …show more content…
Collins and Charlotte Lucas occurs largely because of its convenience for both parties, as Mr. Collins obtains a wife and Charlotte receives security. Prior to the marriage, Charlotte did not consider herself particularly romantic. In a conversation with Elizabeth, she insists that happiness in marriage is only a matter of chance and that she prefers to know as little as possible about her husband prior to their wedding. Likewise, Mr. Collins appears to place more importance on the practical aspects of a relationship than his own affection for the other person. Mr. Collins wants to find a wife because he believes that clergymen should marry in order to set an example of a good Christian couple for the parish, and because his patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, insists that he do so. The fact that he so quickly proposes to Charlotte after Elizabeth’s refusal of his proposal to her reveals that he cares much more about getting married than the particular person he marries. Ultimately, Charlotte accepts Mr. Collins’ proposal because fears that she may soon become a spinster with no prospects, and Mr. Collins can provide her with security, comfort, and a home. Both Mr. Collins and Charlotte allow themselves to overlook the person their lack of affection for each other because of the benefits they will both receive from the …show more content…
Wickham serves chiefly as a means to reduce the damage to the Bennet family’s reputation that their scandalous behaviour caused. Mr. Wickham primarily views marriage as a source of income; he wants to marry solely to receive the woman’s inheritance. A silly, immature 15 year old, Lydia’s desire for attention and flattery from men leads her to believe that Mr. Wickham loves her and that he has every intention of marrying her, so she agrees to run off with him. Mr. Wickham had already targeted two young women for their money — Georgiana Darcy and Mary King — but these marriages never came to fruition. When he runs away with Lydia, Mr. Wickham soon makes it clear that he has no intentions of marrying Lydia because he fails to complete the trip to Gretna Green, the place to which young couples must go to elope. He likely does this due to the fact that Lydia has very little to offer in inheritance. However, this behavior — a young woman living with a man prior to marriage — would bring shame and ruin to her family. Therefore, the Bennet family forces the hurried union between Lydia and Mr. Wickham upon them to preserve the family’s reputation, and Mr. Wickham ultimately only agrees to marry Lydia because of bribery from Mr. Darcy. Essentially, their relationship begins because of irresponsible behavior based on lust and foolishness, and their marriage serves as damage control. Because of the lack of true affection in their relationship and the