Analyzing Marriage, Money, and Society in Pride and Prejudice

This essay examines the intertwined themes of marriage and money in Jane Austen's *Pride and Prejudice*, focusing on the Victorian society's obsession with wealth and social status. The essay analyzes how the lack of financial independence forced women to seek advantageous marriages, highlighting the importance of money in the characters' romantic relationships. It explores four types of marriages within the novel: Charlotte and Collins, Lydia and Wickham, Jane and Bingley, and Darcy and Elizabeth, illustrating how societal expectations and financial considerations influenced these unions. The essay emphasizes Elizabeth Bennet's rejection of marrying for money, in contrast to other characters, and discusses how the novel reflects the social realities and superficial values of the Victorian era, where marriage was often a transaction based on wealth rather than love. The essay concludes that the novel is an ironic portrayal of the falseness of relationships in the Victorian period, where money played a central role in determining marital bonds.

Running head: THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS MARRIAGE AND MONEY IN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS MARRIAGE AND MONEY IN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Notes

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Jane Austen was one of the most prominent female novelists of the nineteenth century,
who in her novel Pride and Prejudice charts the fascination of the Victorian society towards
money and marriage. These two factors played an interlinked role in the novel as it was common
for the women of the time to choose their marital partner based on the monetary standing the
man had. The novel describers the most powerful and exhilarating extension, which has made a
strong foundation of being recognized as one of her best since it was published (Pei et al.). The
novel shows how owing to the lack of financial independence, most of the Bennet sisters as well
as the women of the Victorian society tried to climb the social ladder with the help of marriage
with wealthy men of the society. The aim of this essay is to highlight that although love and
marriage are significantly important themes in the novel, marriage in the entire novel revolves
around the concept of money, and most of the characters get involved in romantic relationships
mostly because of their obsession with money, social status and wealthy lifestyle.
The background of Pride and Prejudice is important as it gives an idea about the
understanding of the Victorian society and their obsession for money in matters of love and
marriage. In the introductory line of the novel, the main theme has been have been said which
states that it is a universally accepted fact that every wealthy man must possess a wife to sustain
(Murphy). The very novel revolves around the concept that is very different from the modern era
where love holds a pivotal role in marriage. However, the idea was to trade beauty for money. In
this manner, the plots which appeared to be sentimental ended up being unexpected (Milli,
Smitha, and Bamman).

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The novel breaks down the four kinds of relational unions and the idea of adoration and
marriage in Pride and Prejudice. What can be concluded from the novel is that: the most
imperative figure in the novel is Elizabeth as she is one of the few figures depicted at that time
who is not drawn towards monetary needs in marriage. The optional figures are Mr. and Mrs.
Bennet, Darcy, Lydia, Jane and Collins; the unimportant figures are Lady Catherine, Wickham
and Bingley. As explained previously, there are four kinds of marriage in the context of the
novel: Collins and Charlotte's marriage, Lydia and Wickham's marriage, Jane and Mr. Bingley's
marriage, and in addition Darcy and Elizabeth's marriage. In Pride and Prejudice, the initial
segment deals with the marriage of Charlotte and Collins, their marriage is fortunate and has
characteristic feature of the Victorian era. Charlotte is a girl who dreamt of having a rich
husband and which she found in Mr. Collins in spite of him being an epitome of male hierarchy.
Elizabeth, being a friend to Charlotte, criticized her marriage to Collins with her witty and
intellectual remarks but the circumstances of the novel shows the normalcy of marriage between
a rich man and a wealth-seeking woman. Elizabeth's story is a work of sentimental fiction, yet
Charlotte's is a reflection of reality. Despite the fact that Elizabeth can't comprehend Charlotte's
purposes behind wedding to Mr. Collins, she respects Charlotte's sound administration of her
family unit and her capacity to see as meager of Mr. Collins as would be prudent (Reena).
Though Elizabeth's association with Darcy was what Austen's female peruses may dream of,
Charlotte's marriage to Mr. Collins was the genuine life they would probably need to confront.
Charlotte trusts that similarity of identity involves possibility; however, she perceives that she
wants a marriage of monetary benefits and comforts rather than gambling a marriage looking for
camaraderie, as Elizabeth wants. In any case, Elizabeth, the courageous woman of the novel,
passes on the chance to make the sheltered match her companion acknowledges, and by holding

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out gets the chance to wed a man who is both wealthier and more alluring than Mr. Collins
(Ganjoo). Nevertheless, the society as well the readers of the Victorian era saw no error in the
marital union between Charlotte and Collins which was only based on monetary benefits and
standing in the society. The second kind of marriage is Lydia and Wickham's marriage that is
enthusiastic and youthful in light of the fact that their adoration depends on pleasure and vanity.
Lydia is the Bennet daughter who resembles her mother Mrs. Bennet in her thought process and
thinks that money is the sole benefactor in a martial union. Lydia's bad conduct originates from
an absence of parental supervision on the parts of both her mom and dad. Her marriage to
Wickham speaks to a relationship that depends on physical satisfaction (Jansson). Lydia does not
think, she essentially follows up on her motivations, and that hastiness, joined with careless
guardians, prompts her close demolish. An enchanting and articulate young fellow, Wickham
utilizes his magnetism to suggest himself into the lives of others. His conduct all through the
novel shows him to be a card shark that has no second thoughts about running up his obligations
and after that fleeing. Mrs. Gardiner, who remarks on his sudden enthusiasm for Miss King, first
notes his hired soldier nature in regards to women. Like Elizabeth, he has a capacity to peruse
individuals; in any case, he utilizes this learning further bolstering his good fortune. When he
finds that Elizabeth loathes Darcy, for instance, he profits by her abhorrence to pick up her
sensitivities. The marriage of Lydia and Wickham is based on both physical desires and
monetary benefits without any mental connection that ultimately lead to their short-term
relationship. The eldest and loveliest of the Bennet daughters, Jane has a decent heart and a
delicate nature (Grayson et al.). As Elizabeth's friend, Jane keeps her sister's inclination to be
judgmental in line by offering positive elucidations of negative circumstances. Jane's need to see
the best in everyone can sometimes turn outrageous on occasions, like her skepticism about

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Wickham that he could be a liar. Yet she is not always sure of her assessment about others like in
the case of Caroline Bingley. At the point when Jane finally perceives Miss Bingley's
deviousness, she quits rationalizing her and does not seek after the kinship. Notwithstanding,
when she and Miss Bingley moved towards becoming sisters-in-law, Jane's amiable attitude
motivates her to get Miss Bingley's cordial suggestions with more responsiveness than Miss
Bingley deserves (Rubinstein). The marriage of Jane and Mr. Bingley is a union of love wrapped
in monetary benefits.
Finally, the main theme of the novel, the fourth marriage concerning Darcy and Elizabeth
is evaluated. Pride and Prejudice flourishes with cases of despondent relational unions, yet
Elizabeth finds a reason adequate to actuate her to marriage. Despite the fact that Elizabeth
Bennet does not have an exceptionally positive perspective of marriage toward the start of the
novel, she perceives that she needs to wed since she is not freely affluent. The kind of mental
development Elizabeth faces states the helplessness of the women of the Victorian era and their
need to get marriage just for earning financial security and social acceptability. Elizabeth is
stunned when she hears that Charlotte Lucas has chosen to wed Mr. Collins, despite the fact that
she scarcely knows him, however her companion makes the best out of a shocking circumstance
(Setiyawati). It is even more shocking to learn the perspective of Charlotte that she never
believes in the system of being happily married and preferred to have a financial standing with
an unknown man for the rest of her life. Mr. Bennet is extremely baffled in his decision of life
partner, which is a factor in his pessimistic point of view on the world. His views completely
differ from his wives whose business of life was to get her daughters married. The views of Mrs.
Bennet may seem irrelevant in the context of present times but held value in the era. Her constant
efforts in presenting Jane as a perfect match to Bingley and picturing Collins as a match for

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Elizabeth confirms her sole purpose in life. She even applauds the fact that Charlotte has entered
in martial relation with a man just for the sake of monetary benefits and not love. She even
acknowledges Charlotte’s views that getting married to Collins was just out of sheer motivation
to get a respectable position in the society and receive the wealth she always wanted to possess
and nothing to do with love or mental bonding. It is conceivable to see that Austen is pushing in
Pride and Prejudice that bliss in any condition, wedded or single, involves the monetary benefits
from the partner. (Lu, Lili, and Zhao).
During the Victorian era, relationships were solely based on money and had nothing to do
with love or any sort of sentiments. This stereotyping of relationships was primarily because of
the way in which both the genders were treated by the society as well family. Females were
always taught skills that can make them an ideal wife to their rich husbands. They were supposed
to be subordinates to men in every respect and were treated so right from their very childhood.
They were not given any access to proper education and knowledge and only learnt skills that
can enhance their feminine qualities. As said by Darcy, it was necessary for women of the
Victorian age to possess certain qualities that made them an ideal match for their grooms. No
traces of freedom were assigned to them including their freedom to speak their minds and even
inherit property from their paternal homes. The expectations, though seem unrealistic in the
modern era had certain relevance in that age just like the complete association of money with
marriage. The characters of the novel tied the knot just based on social standing of their
husbands and not by love or mental compatibility. Every marriage in the novel is directly or
indirectly associated with the concept of money that clearly symbolize the fascination of the
society with monetary benefits. Even the female counterparts had no way to express their
believes and ideology. They only wanted to please at the social gatherings that is evident at the

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gestures of Ms. Bingley in order to please Darcy. The idea of perfect man with a wealthy
background and a woman with all the desirable qualities to be the ideal wife makes the novel a
perfect example of a Victorian literature that has less emotion attached to the concept of martial
union and more of wealth related.
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that the novel focuses on the enchantment
of Victorian society with money and its association with the concept of marriage. Every marriage
pictured in the novel is based on monetary gains either directly or indirectly. Pride and Prejudice
is a novel that deals with the marriage of a number of female characters based on the social
standing of their husbands. The novel starts with the marriage of Charlotte and Collins and ends
with the union of Darcy and Elizabeth. All the relations are somewhat related to the concept that
money plays a forefront role in determining the nuptial bonds. Jane Austen that shows the
falseness of relations in the Victorian period and the superficial standings of men and women has
presented the novel ironically. A standout amongst the most enduringly prominent books in the
entire of English writing, it has been perused for these reasons. What's more, movie producers
and additionally faultfinders have reacted contrastingly to the sentimental and unexpected
elective readings (Siddika and Khaton). Marriage should not be concerned with only monetary
benefits though money does play an important role in sustenance. The interlinked role of money
and marriage in the novel clearly signifies the lack of education of the era especially for females.
Right from their birth, they were just taught to be perfect wives doing all the household chores
and learning all the qualities that can make them desirable by the most handsome and rich
gentlemen. They even went to social gatherings to display their worth as a perfect bride to be.
The novel has clear indications that can relate the concept of money and marriage and so from
the discussion it can be concluded that in the Victorian society, money and marriage were

7THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS MARRIAGE AND MONEY IN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
interlinked. Their sole objective of getting married was to enjoy the wealth that their husbands
possess and also to demonstrate excellent qualities as a respectable lady in the society.

8THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS MARRIAGE AND MONEY IN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
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