Friday, May 28, 2010
DISCUSSION QUESTION #5
Lydia and Wickham pose a danger to the Bennet family as long as they are unmarried and unchecked. But as a married couple, with little improvement in their behavior, this danger vanishes.In Pride and Prejudice marriage serves many functions. It is a romantic union, a financial merger, and a vehicle for social regulation. Scholar and writer Mary Poovey said that Austen's goal "is to make propriety and romantic desire absolutely congruent."Think about all the marriages in the book with respect to how well they are fulfilling those functions.Is marriage today still an institution of social regulation?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
With the marriage of Charlotte and Collins, Charlotte does not marry for love but to have a comfy lifestyle, where she is taken care of. The marriage of Jane and Bingley is a romantic union and a social uplift for Jane, but is not a financial merger for the couple. Same goes for Elizabeth and Darcy. Also if Lydia and Wickham marry the marriage is a fleeting romance that is not based on wealth or social regulation. Today most marriages are based on love, but those who do not marry for love, do marry for wealth or social reasons.
ReplyDeleteThere is a need for more on Lydia and Wickham that is supported with citations. There is also a need for more comments on Poovey, with specific support. Again, this question asks for comments on ALL the marriages in the book.
ReplyDeleteUnlike the time period reflected in the novel, marriage today is focused more on Passion than romance, wealth, and society. Throughout the novel there are a variety of marriages while only those or Jane and Mr. Bingley, and Elizabeth and Darcy seem idealistic. These two marriages are a perfect example of a balanced marriage and almost seem as guidelines for others to follow. The other marriages show flaws to an unbalanced marriage. Mr. Collins and Charlotte show how when wealth and society have a heavier influence on your marriage your not always as happy with your partner as you are with your lifestyle. However, Charolette was willing to accept this in exchange for a promising future. Lydia and Wickham are an example of a marriage that occurs to please socially. If they wouldn't have gotten married it would have ruined the reputation of not only themselves but their families as well. Their marriage received a sense of praise because it would have been devastating had it not occurred. The marriage remained very unhealthy though. Today people care less of what others think and live to please themselves.
ReplyDeleteMarriage back then was very different from marriage now. At that time, marriage was based on wealth, social status, and very little actual romance. In today's society, the average marriage is based on feelings of love. The marriage of Darcey and Elizabeth and Bingley and Jane fit today's description. While those marriages did look at wealth and social status, they weren't based totally on those two criteria. Lydia and Wickham's marriage was based on Lydias wealth that Wickham would get and the reputation that the Bennett family would keep because of their daughter's marriage. Mr Collins and Charolette married because Charolettte knew that she would be wealthy marrying Collins and the fact that her social status would go up. There was no love between these two couples however. Those two marriages are opposite of today because of the lack of love. Almost all marriages today are out of love.
ReplyDeleteMiss Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collin’s marriage serves many functions. By marrying Mr. Collin’s, Miss Lucas gains a stable house over her head, a fair amount of money, and a partner. She didn’t really love Mr. Collins, but she knew it was time for her to settle down and he was probably the best she could do. Although Jane and Mr. Bingley married for love, their union fulfilled Jane’s financial needs and she gained a higher status in the social circle. Like Jane, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy’s marriage foundation was on love, but money and reputation were just extra benefits for Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Jane’s unions have seemed to give them the most happiness compared to the other marriages in the novel. Separate, Lydia and Wickham were just two fools who ran away with each other to “elope.” Their situation would have caused quite the scandal if they had not actually married. It would have put shame on the all of the Bennet family for years to come. But with the generous offer from Mr. Darcy to Wickham, he and Lydia were able to marry. Lydia gained what she always wanted –a wealthy husband. Today, most marriages are based on love rather than money or class. However, they are still some people who marry purely for money and social benefits.
ReplyDeleteMarriage back then was much more complicated than it is today. Alhtough today people still marry for money or social gain, people usually marry because they love each other. The marriages of Darcy and Elizabeth and Mr.Bingley and Jane are the only marriages in the novel that are similar to the marriages of today. Mary Poovey said that Austen's goal " is to make propriety and desire absolute congruent," and that is what Austen does with these marriages. These two marriages include both propriety and romance and are the only truly successful marriages in the novel. When Miss Lucas allows society to influence her and agrees to marry Mr.Collins she does not agree because she loves him but because she wants a promising future. She is willing to sacrifice her happiness for wealth. Lydia and Wickham are married as a result of society's influence as well. If Lydia and Wickham were not married the reputation of both Lydia and the Bennet family would be ruined. The marriage took place to please society not Lydia and Wickham.
ReplyDeleteMarriage began as more of an institution of business rather than of love. Women looked for men with high social status and a lot of money to support them, while men looked for women with a good dowry and a high status in society. In today's world, marriage is based on love a lot more than it ever has been. True, there is still people who get married for financial stability reasons, or just becase they are comfortable with their "significant other", like Charlotte did with Mr.Collins. The idea of love has grown over the years because of books with love stories, movies that portray movie starts falling inlove, and even holidays dedicated to the feeling. Charlotte and Mr.Collins's marriage was based on propriety more so than any other marriage in the novel. On the other hand, Jane and Lizzy's marriages to Bingley and Darcy were based on their true love, and they even let it overcome their class differences.
ReplyDeleteIn the story Pride and Prejudice, majority of the marriages were had because of wealth and nobility, not love. In the time period, achieving social regulation was very important to achieve so that you were viewed as high class. Today, marriages are very unlikely to take place because of social regulation and are more likely to happen because of a strong emotional bond, love. Austen uses the relationship of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy to give us a model today of what marriage and true love should entitle. Although money may have been something the two were at first looking for, the two fell in love and didn't worry about the social class or the nobility they would be marrying in to.
ReplyDeleteYes because people marry people they are congruent with on likes and dislikes. Though they don't match exactly they are there to work out their difference, this is setting aside all the low-life people who marry for sexual desires and just for the "fun of it." People tend to marry on the same financial level because they do not want some one on a lower level bringing them down. Marriage is still a social regulation when treated right. Marriages in Pride and Prejudice are in love, mostly, and do still list in the same levels. Rich marrying the rich, pretty marrying the pretty.
ReplyDeleteMarriage in Pride and Prejudice and marriage in today’s society have completely different functions. In the novel, marriage was almost a job. Its main function was to serve as an institution of social regulation. Women didn’t choose whether or not they WANTED to get married; they were raised knowing that they would, without a doubt, get married when they got older. Marriage between two people had barely anything to do with their love for one another. Today, the idea of marriage is to unite two people who are in love with one another, despite differences such as class or race, to be together forever. It is usually a gradual, slow process that allows the partners to actually get to know eachother before deciding to get married. It isn’t morally right to marry someone because of their wealth or class in today’s society. The marriage between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy coincides with the ideal marriage of today’s society. This is because Elizabeth’s character seems to have an unconventional, modern take on her society. The marriage between Lydia and Wickham leans towards the function of marriage during their time. Wickham’s looks and wealth attracted Lydia to marry him before she even got to know him very well. It would be very different had she met Wickham during this time period.
ReplyDeleteMarriage back in those times were much different than marriage now. Back then, women wanted a man who had a lot of money and a high social status. Men also looked for a women who had a high social status. Today, most marriages are based on love. Although, Jane and Elizabeth's marriages were based on love, other than classes. Although Jane and Elizabeth were first looking for money, they fell in love and instead of marrying based on classes.
ReplyDeleteBack then marriage was based on money, class, and looks barley on actual intrest. Elizabeth and Darcy did marry on love but even with lvoe we was given the bonus of having brought up to higher class, and money, the same with Mr.Bingley and Jane. Charlotte Lucas knew collin was as good as it gets, he had money, a home,as well af having a partner by her side even if she didnt love him all that much. Today love is 50/50 Sometime people marry stricly because they lvoe eachother want want to share that with there friend and family but then other time its just for what they can gain, and what avantages they earn from it.
ReplyDeleteUnlike the novel, marriage today is not an institution of social regulation. Marriages today are based on true love and genuine affections. The relationships between Mr. Bingley and Jane Bennet, and Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, were results of rare attractions and compromising characteristics. Mrs. Bennet hoped that her daughters married well, and she made it her job to guarantee that. Coincidentally, Elizabeth and Jane found true love while simultaneously bridging two social classes.
ReplyDeleteSure there are man and women that marry now day just for wealth or to become famous and stick out among the rest of the popuation in the world. Mr. Collins in Pride and Preludice was only trying to marry Jane because he wanted the money and land that the Bennet parents would have given him "the inheretence". Marriage can be corrupt and be souley for money fame or simply for revenge. Marriage for love really is rare, true love is rare and in the case of Elithebeth and Jane they had a marriage that was truely in itsself a marriage of rareity.
ReplyDeleteIn today's society marriage is normally based on passion and love. However, in the time perod of Pride & Prejudice, most relationships were about social status, not love. In the story there are many contradictions on this subject. Jane and Mr. Bingley and Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy's marriages are based on love when Charlotte and Mr. Collins marriage is based on social status. Also, Lydia and Mr. Wickham's marriage is haphazard and based most on money and social regulation.
ReplyDelete