"In vain I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."And,
"Oh,...! Do any thing rather than marry without affection"
After reading the quotes we discussed who we thought (which characters) these quotes either applied to or who had said it. Afterwards we started discussing several characters attitudes to marriage, for example;
Mr Bennet: He feels that marriage should be full of respect and that it should also be happy, his also believes that money can only get you so much. "He is rich, to be sure...but will they make you happy?"
Jane: She believes marriage should be one full of love and affection and that marrying for anything else but this is the worst possible situation one could put themselves in. "Do any thing rather than marry without affection"
Charlotte: She feels that marriage is a form of security and is there to help set you up for life. She doesn't believe marriage needs love and she is not romantic - she believes a fortune is better and worth more than love. "I'm not romantic you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home..."
The class then went on to answer some questions:
1. Why are the characters, Charlotte and Mr Collins, so well suited for marriage?
- they are both well suited for marriage to each other because they both believe/see marriage as a deal, a step of life. They don't believe that love is the vital part/ingredient of marriage whereas status, comfortability and security are more key. Furthermore, they are both easily attached to any possible suitors, for example, Mr Collins went from Jane to Elizabeth to Charlotte.
2. What are the main differences between Mrs Bennet's and Lady Catherine de Bourgh's views on marriage?
- There were not really many main difference between Mrs B and LCdB's views on marriage, both women say marriage as an alliance and a connection between well respected and wealthy families (and also about maintaining their families wealth) - love in their opinion is the least of their priorities. However, Lady Catherine believed in arranging the marriages from infancy/cradles, whereas Mrs Bennet just looked for the best possible suitors that were around.
Finished.
OK, a good recap, but what is your understanding of the attitudes to marriage in p+p? Why do you think there are so many different ones?
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ReplyDeleteI think Jane Austen included a variety of opinions about marriage in P+P for several reasons. The main reason I believe is because Austen wanted to show how a young woman’s life and society was dominated by the idea of marriage, especially to a wealthy suitor. Additionally, I also think Austen used different opinions (especially Elizabeth’s), as well as contrasting ones, because she wanted to present and show the possibility of a change in society. It appears the opinion of Elizabeth is used to show that marriage should not be down to alliances and wealth but love. The use of contrasting views such as Charlottes could be used by Austen to show how society isn’t willing to change so easily and therefore different opinions are used to present the idea of possible change of views in the society of the 19th century. Furthermore, the use of different opinions in P+P could be used to represent Austen’s own views against the one’s she has been brought up to believe by society at the time.
ReplyDeleteFinally, I think the use of different opinions in P+P, particularly the male opinions, could have been used to show how marriage is not only forced upon and dictates the life of young women but men as well and is therefore used to present the idea of marriage being a dominating force in society and shows how central upper class people’s lives were around marriage.
Hopefully this is along the right lines :)