Introduction

　　The 18th and 19th century are important periods for the development of UK and the world. During that period of time, the economic development has been promoted fast owning to the influence of the Industrial Revolution. Even though there have been large numbers of businessmen who became rich during industrial production, there were still many people who remained living in rural areas. Hence, there were various conflicts between the concept of the businessmen and the residents in rural area. Such contradiction has attracted the attention of large numbers of people who wrote many novels to describe such a social phenomenon and one of the most noticeable one is the novel Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austin. In that novel, the love story of the five daughters of an old country gentleman in which the girls used to be confused about love and marriage gradually grow up to know the most important thing in marriage. There have already been plenty of scholars who made efforts to investigate this novel from various aspects: some of them investigate the strategies of narration in this novel (Deng Shuzheng, 2012:34). Some of them analyzed the harsh situation faced by females in this novel (Zhang Lin, 2013: 12). Besides, there were also some researchers who used to investigate the image of certain characters in this novel such as the research made by Han Rong(2013: 13) . However, the researches in which the concept of the characters in this novel is analyzed are still limited and that is exactly the major concern of this thesis. To be specific, in this thesis, the concept of love and marriage of the characters in this novel will be introduced in details in this thesis so as to help readers to have a better understanding of the character’s concept in this novel.

　　Such a thesis will be of great significance for the readers: at first, the design of the plot and the artistic features of this novel will be introduced in details in this thesis and such introduction will help readers to have a better understanding of the noticeable features of this novel. Besides, the introduction of artistic features of this novel could help readers to get some clues about how to write novels. Secondly, the major characters’ concept of marriage and love will be introduced in details in this thesis and such analysis could help readers to have a better understanding of the culture of UK at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. In addition to the concept of the characters, the reasons for the formation of such concept are also analyzed in this thesis so that readers could have a deeper understanding of the social background of the story in this novel. In short this thesis could be informative enough for the readers who are interested in novel writing and the history of UK.

　　In order to make sure of the concise and logicality of the information, this thesis is designed as follows: the first chapter is the introduction of this thesis, including the research background and research significance. The second chapter is the introduction of this novel and there will be two parts in this chapter, including the introduction of the plot design and the artistic features. The third chapter is the analysis of the major concept of marriage and love presented in this novel and the concept is introduced from four perspectives: the concept of the four pairs of lovers in this novel. The fourth chapter is the introduction of the reasons for the formation of the concept, including the influence of time and society, as well as Jane Austin’s personal experiences. The fifth chapter is the enlightenment of this novel on readers, including the priority of personality to physical appearance, the emphasis on love, instead of wealth, the belief that love is the precondition of marriage and that the happy marriage equals to love and money. Following such steps, the information about the concept of love and marriage is presented in this thesis.

　　I. The Major Plot and Artistic Features of Pride and Prejudice

　　In this chapter, the general information about this novel will be introduced in details. The introduction will be divided into two parts: the major plot of this novel and the artistic value of this novel.

　　1.1 Major Plot of Price and Prejudice

　　This novel had won great honor for Jane Austin due to the exquisite plot design. To be specific, this novel started with the party prepared by the Bennet’s to welcome their guest Mr. Bingley, a rich and single man who recently purchased the garden near the house of Mr. Bennet. The reason why they held such a party is that Mr. Bennet wished to make his daughters to meet this rich gentleman so that it was possible for them to get married in the future. At the party, Mr. Bingley took his sister and his friend Darcy to the party and they attracted the attention of almost everyone attending the party. Even though Every single lady at the party intended to attract Darcy due to his good-looking and fortune, he looked down upon all the females at the party except for Elizabeth. But Elizabeth did not think Darcy was attractive because she did not like his arrogance. The younger sister of Mr. Bingley fell in love with Darcy and played some tricks to make Darcy hatred the mother and youngest sister of Elizabeth. Hence, Darcy left for London in depression. Then Mr. Bennet’s property was inherited by a distant relative named Collins, who was an evil man good at flattering. After he depend on such a skill to become the priest, he proposed to Elizabeth but he was refused. Soon he got married with one of the best friend of Elizabeth, Charlotte. Afterwards, Collins and Charlotte invited Elizabeth to visit their house where she met Darcy again. Darcy proposed to Elizabeth again but he was still too proud to make Elizabeth trust in his love. As a result, Elizabeth refused his proposal and Darcy left the town again, realizing that he had made a mistake in attitude. However, the letter that Darcy left made Elizabeth change his prejudice against Darcy. In the following year, Elizabeth and Darcy met again and Darcy was changed totally: he treated everyone living in the neighborhood well and they finally loved each other. Then Elizabeth got the news that her youngest sister and his boy friend had become homeless after running into debt problems. Elizabeth thought Darcy would get annoyed but surprisingly Darcy paid all the debt for Willian and Lydia. Besides, Darcy gave a large sum of money to Lydia to hold a wedding. All those behaviors made Elizabeth loved Darcy deeper. As for Bingley and Jane, they also got married and the story ended with the happy marriage of all the protagonists.

　　1.2 Artistic Value of Price and Prejudice

　　It is obvious that such a novel presented the the value and concepts of the people living in rural area in UK vividly so that the readers could have a deep understanding of the social background of UK during the period from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century. Therefore, this novel is of high artistic value, which could be analyzed from three aspects: the self-contradiction of the characters in this novel, the harmless conflicts and the lack of self-consciousness(Dong Junfeng, 2000:76). In the first place, the the most noticeable part of the aesthetic value is the self-contradiction of the characters in this novel and this is actually the major clue of this novel. It is such contradiction that made such a story proceed. For instance, Elizabeth has been under deep influence of the contradiction in her mind: on the one hand, at the beginning of this novel, she was attracted by the handsome Darcy at the party and she hoped that he could pay attention to her. On the other hand, she was annoyed by the arrogance of Darcy and her attitude toward Darcy became negative. Obviously the attractiveness of Darcy was move important than the prejudice because she accepted the invitation of Darcy for dancing. Actually, such contradiction has been torturing Elizabeth and Darcy. Due to the contradictions, they experienced much pains until they got over the contradiction. Secondly, the artistic value could be analyzed from the harmless conflicts, which refers to the conflicts that would not do harm to the characters. In this novel, there were plenty of frames in this novel and such activities made the novel worth analyzing. For example, when Elizabeth met William for the first time, William set up Darcy by saying that the Darcy had cheated him of a great fortune. Hence, the prejudice of Elizabeth grew more seriously and it was even more difficult to change her attitude toward Darcy. Therefore, Elizabeth refused the proposal of Darcy for the second time. However, such conflicts did not do too much harm to the relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy because such conflicts made Darcy realize of his disadvantage, that is, he was too arrogant to convince Elizabeth that they could lead a happy life after getting married. In the third place, the artistic value of this novel lies in the confusing of the characters. That is to say, the characters could not have an objective understanding of themselves and their experiences so that they often feel confused. For instance, when the Elizabeth was told that Darcy had committed a crime of cheating a great fortune from William, she was confused about such a fact. On the one hand, she could not believed that such a handsome and rich man could do such evil things. On the other hand, her prejudice against Darcy blind her eyes and her hatred against Darcy grew more serious. The characters’ confusing was the important factors that promote the development of the plot.

　　All in all, the self-contradiction of the characters, the harmless conflicts and the confusing of the characters made this novel of high artistic value.

　　II. Concept of Marriage and Love of the Four Pairs of People in Pride and Prejudice

　　In this famous novel, the concept of the characters is of great importance in the plot development since the concept could determine how the characters react to the things that happened to them. In the following part, the important characters’ concept of marriage and love will be analyzed in details.

　　2.1 Charlotte and Collins’s Concept of Marriage and Love

　　In this novel, there are several pairs of couples described and the marriage between Charlotte and Collins was described as a hasty one due to the fact that they had not gone through a series of experiences together before they decided to get married. In this novel, Collins was described as a antagonist who depend on flattering to become the priest in the local church. It seemed that the fate was merciful to this evil man because he was authorized to inherit the property of Mr. Bennet. Hence, he became proud of himself due to the elegant occupation and the great fortune. Then he made the decision of proposing to Elizabeth, a well-known beautiful lady in the town. However, he was refused due to the defect with his personality. The act of refusing such a rich gentleman shows that Charlotte cared more about her self-esteem than a rich life in the future. In that case, it could be proved that the Charlotte cared much about the respect of her soul mate. However, it turned out that Elizabeth was correct since Collins got married with her friend Charlotte. Such a fact shows that Collins did not love Elizabeth at all and what he wanted was merely a wife who could keep his accompany. Actually, another important reason why Collins decided to get married with Charlotte was that Mrs. Catherine persuaded him to do so. There is no doubt that such a hasty decision to get married could prove that he did not have a clear concept of marriage. As for Charlotte, the most important goal that she got married with Collins was to lead a comfortable and rich life in the future. Actually, such a phenomenon is common in the 19th century since the females were still regarded as inferior group who could not depend on themselves to make a living.

　　2.2 Lydia and William’s Concept of Marriage and Love

　　Another pair of couples in this novel that is worth noticing was Lydia and Williams. Actually their love had not been spoken highly of by all of their families. Lydia was the third daughter of the Bennets’ and she had been spoiled by Mrs. Bennet. Therefore, Lydia gradually grew up to be a selfish and naive girl with vanity. Besides, she was so lazy that she never did housework at home. Therefore, when William treated her well and showed appreciation for her, Lydia could not resist against the temptation and fell in love with that man. As for William, he was also portrayed as an evil man. Actually, he had inherited a great fortune but he soon run out of all the money due to the luxury life that he had lead. Hence, he hoped that he could gain more money from his marriage and the innocent Lydia became the best choice for him. In order to convince her to get married, William had been trying his best to please Lydia. Finally, Lydia made the decision to elope with William despite of the fact that all the families disagree with such a decision. Elizabeth hold the opinion that both of them had not thought clearly about their marriage so that they would regret in the future. The attitude of Lydia toward her marriage shows that she cared much about whether she could lead a comfortable life after her marriage in the future and she would like to get married with a man who might have problematic personality. Besides, she was a lady who was blind when she was facing a man who was good at cheating so that she failed to make the correct decision about marriage. As for William, he was such a man who would like to cheat others in order to reach his own purposes. It is obvious that the only standard that he used to determine whom he should be married with is whether hte lady could bring him adequate fortune. It is obvious that such a standard is problematic in nature because it will not help him to get the real happiness after they ran out of fortune. In short, both William and Lydia had not thought clearly about the question whether they really loved each other and whether they could lead a happy life after getting married.

　　2.3 Jane and Bingley’s Concept of Marriage and Love

　　Jane and Bingley was another pair of couple whose marriage was dependent on their love, instead of wealth or loneliness. It was the party held by Mr. Bannet where they met each other for the first time and they left a deep and good impression with each other. Actually, Jane was the eldest daughter of Mr. Bennet and she had been famous for her beauty and elegance. As for Bingley, he was also a good-looking man so that Mr. Bennet could hold a party to welcome Bingley. After the party, Jane and Bingley went on a date to talk about their habits. Hence, they could gradually love each other deeply. However, there were some obstructions on their way to marriage. For instance, when Mr. Bingley was talking with Mrs. Bennet about how their wedding could be held, what Mrs. Bennet wanted was so many that it could annoy all young man. However, Bingley could satisfy all the needs of Mrs. Bennet and they finally got married. There is no doubt that the marriage of Bingley and Jane had been happy due to two reasons: at first, their marriage was based on their deep love so that they are more likely to lead a happy life after getting married. Secondly, they had experienced some difficulties together. That is to say, they faced the obstacle that prevent them from getting married and their love finally moved the parents of Jane. Their marriage could prove that Bingley and Jane has established proper concept of love and marriage. They knew clearly what they wanted from marriage and they have already realized the significance of love for a marriage. To be specific, both Jane and Bingley knew clearly what they need from marriage, that is: they wish that their soul mate could respect them and make them lead a life that they like. Besides, they would like to try their best to protect their love and marriage. When others want to prevent them from getting married, theyr would like to be unified together and convince others into supporting them.