A Study of Marriage in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice Abstract Jane Austen was one of the greatest realistic novelists in the 19th century English literature. Pride and Prejudice is one of her greatest works, which published in 1813. This novel shows readers the situation of love and marriage in the 19th century by describing four marriage patterns. From the perspective of feminism, Jane Austen reveals the social problem that man is superior to woman. She shapes a completely new image of women with her own experience and the feelings of life. It profoundly reflects the marriage problems on the prevalence of different representative point of view. In the first decade of the 19th century, marriage was the main way to change destiny and gain social status for women. The rapid development of industry and the decline of agriculture widened the gap between the rich and the poor. At the same time, it had a deep effect on women’ s view on marriage.
This paper will analyze the four marriage patterns from the perspective of feminist consciousness awakening in west to discuss Jane Austen’ s views on marriage: Love is the basis of marriage. Without love, marriage can’t be happy, but love is not the only condition of marriage. The marriage based on wealth can’t be long, while the marriage without wealth is not rational. An ideal marriage should be based on respect and mutual affection with no conclusion. The author of this paper is meant to draw some inspiration from Jane Austen and provide some hints for women’ s views on marriage in modern society.54633
Key words: views on marriage; feminism; love; property; realistic significance
对简•奥斯汀《傲慢与偏见》婚姻观的研究
摘 要简•奥斯汀是19世纪英国文学史上最伟大的现实主义小说家之一。《傲慢与偏见》是她的一个伟大的作品,出版于1813年。小说通过对四种不同类型的爱情和婚姻的描写,为读者展现了十九世纪英国当时社会爱情和婚姻的现状,深刻的反映了在婚姻问题上普遍存在的不同的具有代表性的观点。从女性主义的视角,简•奥斯汀揭示了当时英国社会男尊女卑的现象,用自身的经验和对生活的感受塑造了伊丽莎白这一全新的女性形象,打开了女性主义文学的大门。在十九世纪初期的英国,婚姻是女性改变命运和获得身份地位的最主要通道。工业的崛起和迅速发展,农业经济的衰落,在拉大贫富差距的同时,也影响到了女性的婚姻观。
本文从女性主义觉醒的视角对小说中四种不同类型的婚姻进行详细分析,并加入西方择偶理论元素,深入探讨作者的爱情观和婚姻观:爱情是婚姻的基础,没有爱情的婚姻是绝对不会幸福的,但爱情并不是缔结婚姻的唯一条件。以金钱财富为目的的婚姻是不会长久的,但没有财富作为支撑保障的婚姻也是不理智的。真正的婚姻是建立在互相爱慕和互相尊重的基础上的,不能有半点虚假。本文作者意在借用奥斯汀在对待婚姻问题上的一些进步观点为当代女性择偶提供参考。
毕业论文关键词:婚姻观; 女性主义; 爱情; 财富; 现实意义
Contents
1. Introduction 1
1.1 Background of the study 1
1.2 Brief introduction to Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice 2
1.3 Brief introduction to feminism 2
2. The analysis of four marriages in Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of feminism 4
2.1 The most realistic marriage--Charlotte and Collins 4
2.2 The most ridiculous marriage--Lydia and Wickham 4