Pride and Prejudice presents the various qualities in which people seek in marriage. The Regency era was going through a time of enlightenment, where the traditional practice of marrying to gain money or power was beginning to conflict with marrying for affection and love. Pride and Prejudice shows this difference in the marriages that take place, some people which prioritize reason over love, others love over reason. Jane Austen uses the marriages in Pride and Prejudice to show the clash of marital values during the Regency era.
The first marriage in Pride and Prejudice is between Charlotte and Mr. Collins, which is seen as a bit of a surprise since they married after only a few days of knowing each other. Diana Francis, the author of An overview …show more content…
All of this disorder is soon cleared up when Wickham actually proposes, however there is an interesting deficit going on between the marital values of Lydia versus that of Wickham. Matthew Schneider’s critical analysis of Pride and Prejudice states that “Lydia's preference for games of blind chance both stems from her ‘always unguarded and often uncivil’ (89) nature and portends the thoughtless elopement with Wickham that nearly ruins her family.” (Schneider). As Lydia’s character is developed, the reader learns that she is “unguarded and often uncivil”, and it is for this reason that she would completely disregard the fact that a marriage with Wickham is definitely not the most logical decision. This is considering that Mr. Wickham is certainly lacking wealth, and has racked up a solid amount of debt. Wickham’s decision to marry Lydia seems like a very strange decision at first glance, as the Bennet family is definitely not powerful, nor is it ever shown that Wickham has any love for Lydia. However, Elizabeth eventually learns that Darcy actually financially bribed Wickham to marry Lydia. After Elizabeth reads the letter from Mrs. Gardiner, it is revealed that Mr. Darcy “was reduced to meet, frequently meet, reason with, persuade, and finally bribe, the man whom he always most wished to avoid, and whose very name it was punishment to him to pronounce. He had done all this for a girl whom he could neither regard nor esteem. Her heart did whisper that he had done it for her.” (Austen, 308). What can be derived from this is that Wickham actually had no intention of marrying Lydia at all, however Darcy bribed him out of love for Elizabeth. Lydia expressed only a want for love, however Austen portrays this as a fairly poor marriage, as Wickham literally had to be bribed to
The first marriage in Pride and Prejudice is between Charlotte and Mr. Collins, which is seen as a bit of a surprise since they married after only a few days of knowing each other. Diana Francis, the author of An overview …show more content…
All of this disorder is soon cleared up when Wickham actually proposes, however there is an interesting deficit going on between the marital values of Lydia versus that of Wickham. Matthew Schneider’s critical analysis of Pride and Prejudice states that “Lydia's preference for games of blind chance both stems from her ‘always unguarded and often uncivil’ (89) nature and portends the thoughtless elopement with Wickham that nearly ruins her family.” (Schneider). As Lydia’s character is developed, the reader learns that she is “unguarded and often uncivil”, and it is for this reason that she would completely disregard the fact that a marriage with Wickham is definitely not the most logical decision. This is considering that Mr. Wickham is certainly lacking wealth, and has racked up a solid amount of debt. Wickham’s decision to marry Lydia seems like a very strange decision at first glance, as the Bennet family is definitely not powerful, nor is it ever shown that Wickham has any love for Lydia. However, Elizabeth eventually learns that Darcy actually financially bribed Wickham to marry Lydia. After Elizabeth reads the letter from Mrs. Gardiner, it is revealed that Mr. Darcy “was reduced to meet, frequently meet, reason with, persuade, and finally bribe, the man whom he always most wished to avoid, and whose very name it was punishment to him to pronounce. He had done all this for a girl whom he could neither regard nor esteem. Her heart did whisper that he had done it for her.” (Austen, 308). What can be derived from this is that Wickham actually had no intention of marrying Lydia at all, however Darcy bribed him out of love for Elizabeth. Lydia expressed only a want for love, however Austen portrays this as a fairly poor marriage, as Wickham literally had to be bribed to