1、On the Four Marriages in Pride and Prejudice摘要本文首先介绍傲慢与偏见作者的身世和当时的社会背景。然后从四段不同性质的婚姻入手：柯斯林和夏绿蒂互利互惠的财产婚姻,威克姆和莉迪亚荒唐的游戏式婚姻,彬格莱和简“郎才女貌”的理想婚姻以及达西和伊丽莎白的完美婚姻来分析爱情和婚姻的基础。幸福的定义有许多种,究竟是以地位和财富为基础的婚姻是幸福的,还是以爱情、理解、尊重为基础的婚姻是幸福的。从中得出作者及本人对爱情、婚姻的看法。奥斯丁的时代已经远去了,但人们追求幸福美好婚姻的脚步却从未停止。急剧变革的现代社会中,人们谈婚论嫁时依旧进行着爱情与金钱的权衡。面对婚姻
2、,究竟如何选择,希望该论文会对现实生活中的人们给予一些启示。关键词：傲慢与偏见 ，婚姻基础，婚姻观 AbstractThis thesis first introduces the life experience of Jane Austen and the social background at that time. Then from four different marriages, namely the mutual beneficial treasury marriage between Collins and Charlotte, the ridiculous marriage
3、between Wickham and Lydia, the ideal marriage between Bingley and Jane and the perfect marriage between Darcy and Elizabeth, the thesis analyses the basis of love and marriage. There are many definitions of happiness, but which one is happier, marriage based on status and wealth, or marriage based o
4、n love, understanding and respect, from which comes to the Austens views of love, marriage.The time of Jane Austen has passed, but peoples pursuit of happy marriage has never stopped. In the modern society with rapid changes, people still judge love and money in marriage. How should people choose wh
5、en they face marriage? The author hopes that the thesis can inspire people in modern life.Key Word: Pride and Prejudice, marriage basis, views of marriageChapter1 Introduction The purpose of the thesis pdf1 1.2Chapter2 Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice.The English author Jane Austen lived in me la
6、te 18th century and early 19th century England. Her reputation has grown steadily since her death. Her novels are concerned with a narrow world, yet within the world she deals deftly with profundities as well as with subtleties overlooked by more encompassing writers. Just as David Daiches says, she
7、 deals with the “steady moral apprehension of the nature of human relationships”.Although the domain of Jane Austens novels was as circumscribed as her life, her caustic wit and keen observation had made her the equal to the greatest novelists in any language. 2.1 Short summary of Pride and Prejudic
8、e pdf5 chapter1 pdf 4Published in 1813, Pride and Prejudice remains one of Austens best-loved and best-known works. t has been brought into films or TV series several times, which is an evidence of its popularity.Pride and Prejudice discusses themes of class, economy, and the essence of marriage sys
9、tem of the early 19th century. It is a record of the world of Austens era, as Jane Austen writes from her own experiences and about peop1e she has met. Being a master of character, Jane Austen had a unique gift of creating peop1e as they actually appear in reality. She displays this gift extremely w
10、ell in her novel, Pride and Prejudice. In 1826,Sir Walter Scott recognized Jane Austens skillfully written novel when he wrote,“That young lady had a talent for describing the involvements, and feelings, and characters of ordinary 1ifc,which is to me the most wonderfu1 I ever met with”.Pride and Pre
11、judice, a witty satire of courtship and marriage, depicts how the young 1adies choose their husbands. It tells the story of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, their five daughters, and the various marital relationships at their residence of Longbourn. Elizabeth, the heroine, is the second eldest daughter of Mr. a
12、nd Mrs. Bennet. She is an intelligent young woman. The characters of Elizabeths parents are in great contrast: Mr. Bennet is a wise and witty gentleman, while Mrs.Bennet is a silly woman who permanently devotes to the task of marrying off her daughters at any cost. As Mr. Bennets estates will be ent
13、ailed away to a distant relative, their daughters are under more pressure to secure a profitable marriage. The story begins from the arrival of the young and wealthy bachelor Charles Bingley and his friend Fitzwilliam Darcy, a rich aristocratic landowner. The clash between E1izabeth and Darcy is the
14、 main plot. Their relationship starts from dislike and prejudice, but Darcy becomes enchanted by Elizabeths mind and spirit. At last, they fall in love and marry each other. At the same time other attachments and marriages are formed simultaneously. Of a11 her heroines, the intelligent and high-spir
15、ited Elizabeth was Jane Austens own favorite as Austen herself wrote to her sister Cassandra, “I must confess that I think her(Elizabeth)as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her a 1east,I do not know”. At first g1ance, Jane Aus
16、ten tells us a story in Pride and Prejudice of romance in the genteel society, but underneath the skin of the drama, there exist serious moral issues of that time and contains Austens keen observation of the severe class distinction in the English society of her time.2.2 Janes personal background pd
17、f4Jane Austen was born in a highly educated family though they were relatively normal members of the upper middle class living with frugal comfort. The Austen family enjoyed themselves with reading, talking, letter writing, dancing, acting charades and plays rather than local gossip and squandering
18、time. The depth of Jane Austens family leisure was pointed by the fact that Mr. Austen used to read Cowper aloud to his family in the morning. Mr. Austen, Janes father Rev. George was rector of the parish Knight who was a scholar and fellow of St, Johns College. Because of the best-educated father i
19、n the community, he stocked a lot of books which offered a chance for Jane to get access to the books. Her father was relatively open-minded compared with others. Normally oldfashioned fathers were not willing to let their daughters publish at the risk of their daughters reputations, modesty, someti
20、mes even marriageability. But Jane Austens father helped her to publish the early version of Pride and Prejudice, First Impressions and wrote to publisher himself. Through popular literature, the Austens were connected to the political debates. While political commentary is never explicit in Austens
21、 writing, her novels confront these issues, such as womens right to property, through the lives of her characters. Good atmosphere offers Jane a chance to become a writer as a woman to explore female assertion and issues.It was indicated that Jane Austens time was harsh for woman to become a writer.
22、 ”It was not until 1965 that married women were legally permitted to publish a work or engage in any profession without the consent of their husband.” Jane Austen doubted about the possibility of being both of a woman and a writer, thus showing her “author anxiety”. Unmarried women in the 18th centu
23、ry on the whole lived under their fathers authority. But Jane Austens circle of family and friends, some of them published their works. It created a good atmosphere for the author. Women wrote and earned a living even through writing, which was a revolutionary idea. It proved the possibility for wom
24、en a sense of self-fulfillment. It was known that Jane Austen wrote novels and sold them in order to live. Initially it showed her unique independent spirit. Though female writers were under some social pressures to remain anonymous, June Austen wrote under her own name after her brother Henry once
25、revealed her identity to his friend. It was in essence a feminist spirit which required having equal fights with men. From Janes family members to her friends, they wrote and stimulated Jane to write.Austen read a variety of literary genres, such as prose, poetry, history, published sermons and Fren
26、ch works. Henry, Janes brother commented on her reading that“her reading was very extensive in history and belle letters”. Also the advantage of many circulating libraries in Bath provided good knowledge resources for her. She travelled a great deal in Bath, Gloucestershire, Kent, Southampton, Surre
27、y, and London. In highlighting what she knew and experienced demonstrated her artistic integrity and great intelligence. Strictly, she was not a common country girl confined to the limited sphere.Jane Austen, as a woman, she had self consciousness compared with other women of her time. Her objection
28、 to sentimentality was revealed in her feeling against others pity since to be pitied by others was apt to be in want from others and easily led to be vulnerable. Jane Austen herself was against the powers of sympathy. Her family was not that poor compared with others. But for a family with many chi
29、ldren, especially in the circle of middle-upper class, they couldnt live an abundant life. How often Jane had to defend herself against interested and patronizing panics? And she had to protect from the pity of her solicitous friends who heard reports that Jane Austens family would be moving to Bath
30、. Actually when Jane Austen heard the news that their family had to remove to Bath because of the financial problems, she fainted when she heard it. Her self-consciousness was also reflected in her attitudes towards love. In the advice she gave her niece, Fanny Knight,“Anything is to be preferred or
31、 endured rather than marrying without affection. Janes famously withdrawal her marriage proposal to Harris Bigg-Wither who enjoyed the right to inherit his familys estate Manydown Park, Hampshire, verified her resisting the attractions of security as a basis of marriage. Just the immediate morning a
32、fter accepting Bigg-Withers proposal, Jane Austen called off the engagement to feel that “She would rather remain single than enter a loveless union with a mall who was not her intellectual equal.“(Laura Dabundo concluded in Concise Dictionary of British Literary Biography)Her niece Carolines observ
33、ation well answered Janes sensible decision and Bigg-Withers plain intelligence. She remembered that“Harris was very plain in personawkward and Bingley lacks his own opinion, he is apt to listen to others comments and he nearly gives up. So, although they finally get married, but can they withstand
34、the difficulty of the daily life, it is not known.4.3Elizabeth and DarcyAt home Elizabeth is the second eldest and most favorite daughter of his father, she is not only beautiful and lovely, but also inherits his fathers intelligence and wit. Middle-class background makes her extremely sensitive to
35、the concept of class, simultaneously, she also feels ashamed for her families acting like the buffoon in public. It is the important reason why she has prejudices against Darcy. She meets Darcy at the ball Merry Tuen, but the act that Darcy refuses to invite her to dance and the so-called reason “El
36、izabeth is not that bad, but not beautiful enough to touch my heart, and I wouldnt like to fawn those ladies who are snub of people.“ makes Elizabeth think him arrogant, cold and rude. Still later, Elizabeth believes some bad rumors from Wickham about Darcy, and Darcy used to take part in destructin
37、g the marriage of Jane and Bingley. All of these deepened her prejudices against Darcy so that she firmly refused Darcys first proposal.As Bingleys good friend, Darcy first appearance at the ball is very attractive -he is not only handsome, personable, but also very rich and powerful. He is a girls
38、ideal marriage partner. But he talks little, does not care about others, and always treats people with a critical eye, which gives others an impression of arrogance. At the ball, he looks down on Mrs. Bennets behavior, failing to appreciate the appearance of Elizabeth. As time passes, he is attracte
39、d by Elizabeths smart and humorous personality, but still looks down on her family and their social status. As a result, although he shows love to Elizabeth, his arrogance provokes Elizabeth, so he fails at the first proposal. Later on, Darcy begins to realize his mistakes and corrects them one by o
40、ne, and he moves Elizabeth with his sincerity and eventually wins her heart.In reality Austin shares similar personality with Elizabeth, but not as lucky as her. So in a surreal world, Austen makes her favorite heroine Elizabeth win the “Prince Charming“ Darcys love and lives a happy life. Let us se
41、e how Austen deals the marriage: first she makes two main characters hate each other, making people think it is a most unlikely pair. And then gradually let them fall in love with each other. Austin has also arranged a series of characters (such as Bingleys sister, Lady Catherine) to make it difficu
42、lt for them to love. However, the two main characters are brave, as they are not giving up as easily as Charlottes pursuit of love, nor so credulous as Bingley, but they surpass themselves and the outside obstacles, and eventually lead a happy life together. We can predict that their marriage not on
43、ly has the basis of wealth, but also contains deep meaning of love. This knot, combining the emotional and the rational choice of marriage, is the most stable and can withstand the test of life. It is the most recognized of the four marriages. 4.4Lydia and Wickham As the youngest daughter of the fam
44、ily, Lydia is fair-skinned and voluptuous. She wins the favor of her mother, who brings her to the society when she is still very young. She behaves frivolously and likes flirting, especially with the young, handsome sliders who are in red uniforms. At first, Lydia likes Wickham because of his coldn
45、ess, then when she gets the favor of the soldiers, she forgers Wickham. And then comes the news that she escapes with Wickham and the statement that “I only love a man in the world, he (Wickham) is an angel,“ After marrying, his feelings for her soon cools down, and her feelings for him does not las
46、t long either. Lydia blindly judges people by appearances, regardless of love, so her choice is reckless and irrational.The second hero, Wickham, gives the impression handsome, well built and full of grace when he appears. But with the deepening of understanding that he was “fair without and foul wi
47、thin“: he had no money but many debts, one hand, he seduces women who own property with his good look, on the other hand, he slander others (such as Darcy) with his three-inch tongue. He started to plan an elopement with Darcys sister who owned 30,000, and later show great interest to Elizabeth, cho
48、ose an easier trial when he saw the signs- the pursuit of another woman had 10,000, and finally run away with Lydia in the process to avoid debt, not only for an accompany in the pastime when he feels alone, more importantly, he can use the scandal to ask the family of Lydia extortion money when nec
49、essary. Moreover, the reason why he had agreed married Lydia later, largely because Darcy promised to help him and give him a large sum of money. Wickhams view on love is totally “Intrigue and Love.“ For Wickham, the money is the only aim for his love,. Rich and unmarried women are likely to be the object of his pursuit.Wickham, described by Austin, is nearly the same as the youth of Ireland she fells in love with, who broke her heart in reality. Then lets look at how Austin say the Wickham and Lydias marriage: “She can not ima
