2.4 Elizabeth and Darcy’s Concept of Marriage and Love

　　Actually, the most important pair of protagonists in this novel is the couple, Elizabeth and Darcy, because they had gone a long harsh way until they realized of their love for each other. Their love was designed to be the major clue of this novel and the name of this novel was actually originated from the major obstacles that prevent them from loving each other. However, they had experienced a series of conflicts and misunderstanding before they realized of the importance of changing themselves to get themselves prepared for their marriage. At the beginning of this novel, Elizabeth and Darcy met each other for the first time and the first impression of Darcy was not good enough for Elizabeth. Actually, Darcy caught the eyes of almost every single female attending the party but Elizabeth was not crazy about this handsome man at all since she thought that Darcy was too proud. As mentioned in the first chapter, Elizabeth refused Darcy’s proposal twice in this novel because Darcy remained proud when he asked Elizabeth to marry him. Such an attitude made Elizabeth annoyed because she knew clearly what she wanted from marriage. After being refused for the second time, Darcy realized of the necessity to change himself and he gradually became a polite gentleman. His kindness and mercy won him great reputation and the appreciation of Elizabeth. It is obvious Darcy was such a man who cared much about love and marriage that he would like to sacrifice something like his proud to get the love that he was eager to get. In order to convince his lady into getting married with him, he would like to change himself even though it was difficult to do so. As for Elizabeth, she was a lady who was under deep influence of other people so that she had difficulty in accepting the gentleman Darcy even though she was fond of that man. Hence, after experiencing a series of conflicts and prejudice, they could become the best soul mate for each other. There is no doubt that they were the couple who had to give up something before they could establish a happy family: Elizabeth had to give up her prejudice for Darcy while Darcy had to give up his proud to make Elizabeth believe in his sincerity to marry her. That is exactly the theme of this novel.

　　In short, the concept of love and marriage of the four pairs of couples in this novel is different from each other and such verification makes readers feel as if they had seen what happened in the novel. Actually, such concept is closely related with the social background and the personalities of the characters so that the analysis of such concept could help readers to have a better understanding of this novel and the concept of the author.

　　III. Reasons for the Formation of Concept of Marriage and Love in Pride and Prejudice

　　It has been introduced in the second chapter that there is a variety of characters in this novel whose concept of love and marriage was different from each other and actually such differences in concept are originated from the time, society and the personal experiences of the author of this novel, Jane Austin. Such origins of the concept will be introduced in details as followed.

　　3.1 Influence of People’s Thoughts and Behaviors in the 20th century

　　This novel was written when Jane Austin was only 21 years old and the name of this novel used to be The First Impression. Jane tried to contact publishers to arrange for the publican of this novel but her effort was in vain. After more than ten years, she revised this novel and finally found a publisher to help her. Hence, this novel could gradually become famous. There is no doubt that there were in fact many important events happening in the world such as the war between England and French, the French Revolution, the movement initiated by the American Negro slaves and others. However, all those important events were not mentioned in this novel. However, the characters seemed to remain their peaceful life. Their behaviors were still under the deep influence of the traditional moralities and their intention to pursuit wealth. To be specific, the influence of the time and society on the behaviors and thoughts of the characters could be generalized as: at first, the traditional moralities had deep influence on the behaviors of some characters. That is to say, the social status of female remained much lower than that of the males. Females preferred to stay at home to take care of the family. If they wanted a better life, they had no other choice but to get married with a rich man. That was exactly the thought of Lydia and she left the family with William because she thought he was a man who was rich enough to afford her comfortable life. Secondly, the patriarchy still had influence on the characters in this novel. In this novel, Mr. Bennet had five daughters but none of them could inherit the fortune of their father due to their gender. That is why a distant relative, Collins could be the inheritor of Mr. Bennet’s property. Besides, in some cases, the females had to depend on males in the family to make important decisions. For instance, Mr. Bennet held the party to welcome Bingley and the real reason was that Mr. Bennet hoped Bingley could be satisfied with one of the five daughters and get married with her. Otherwise, it would be difficult for the five young ladies to get the chances to meet single men and to get married. Thirdly, despite of the influence of the social system and patriarchy, some females started to make efforts to strive for their own rights and the most noticeable example was Lydia. In fact, when she made the decision to leave with William, almost everyone in the family disagreed with her decision. However, she still insisted on her own decision and left the house at last. Such an act could prove that the restrictions of social moralities had already lost its power in the face of tough females. As for Elizabeth, her act could also show the feminism: she refused the proposal of Darcy twice due to the fact that Darcy had been too proud and such an act did not make Darcy annoyed, but made him realized of his disadvantage. It is obvious that Darcy treated Elizabeth as a person with the same social status, instead of a inferior one. It could not be denied such changes were related with the important movement to strive for equality in other places in the world.

　　3.2 Jane Austin ‘s Experiences of Reading and Marriage

　　Another important reason for the formation of the concept of love and marriage reflected in this novel was the personal experiences of Jane Austin. In fact, the experience of the protagonist Elizabeth is similar to that of the author: both of them were born in a family with several children; they were all well-educated ladies who had been influenced by the ideas of equality of all humans. There is no doubt that Elizabeth could be regarded as the image who had the similar experiences with Jane Austin and the advantages that Austin had wished she could have, such as love. To be specific, the influence of the personal experiences of Austin could be summarized as: in the first place, the books read by Austin played an important role in the formation of her concept of love and marriage. In fact, Austin’s father was a fan of popular novels at that time and many of the novels published at that time were about the strive for equal right so the major protagonists attached much importance to their right to select their soul mate by themselves. Secondly, the financial status of Austin’s family could also lay foundation for the formation of concept of marriage of the characters in her novels. To be specific, Austin had been leading a comfortable life and she had known many money-oriented people who depend their marriage on money. Therefore, Austin could describe characters such as Lydia and William vividly. Besides, since Austin had witnessed the unhappiness of the people who selected the rich people as their husband or wife, instead of the ones they loved, she could realize of the significance of the love in marriage. Hence, she could describe Jane and Elizabeth as the brave ladies who would like to strive for their true love. In short, the life experiences of Jane Austin played a crucial role in the formation of the concept of marriage and love of the characters in this novel.

　　In short, the concept of love and marriage of the characters in this novel is under deep influence of the social background of the 20th century. That is to say, the thoughts of the contemporary people in the 20th century about marriage as well as the author’s experience of education and marriage plays a crucial role in the writing process.

　　IV. Enlightenment of Pride and Prejudice

　　The novel Pride and Prejudice had won great honor for Jane Austin and one of the most important reasons is that the characters were described vividly. The marriage experiences of the characters in this novel could provide important enlightenment for readers, which could be analyzed as followed.

　　4.1 Emphasis on Personalities Instead of Physical Appearance

　　The first important lesson that could be drawn from this novel is that the personalities should be more important than the physical appearance. In this novel, the major protagonists emphasized on the personalities when they chose their soul mates. For instance, in this novel, Elizabeth and Bingley were exactly the couples whose personalities could suit well. To be specific, they were not considerate and could be tolerant of each other. Therefore, they were more likely to be unified to overcome the difficulties that obstruct their marriage. Similarly, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet was also such a couple because they had the same habits and preferences. Therefore, they could lead a happy life through out their life time. For instance, Mr. Bennet had formed many elegant habits such as reading while Mrs. Bennet also liked reading so that they could communicate with each other about the content of the books that they have read. In short, there is no doubt that the similar personality is one of the most important factor to determine whether a couple could lead a happy life.

　　4.2 Emphasis on Love Instead of Wealth

　　Another important clue that readers could get from this novel is that love should be emphasized, instead of wealth. In this novel, there were couples who decided to get married due to wealth and there were also some couples made the decision for wealth. The result of their marriage could prove that the wealth is not as important as love in marriage. To be specific, in this novel Lydia and Williams were described as a couple who got married due to wealth. Lydia was merely an innocent and naive girl who could could not tell differences between good and evil. However, she was living in a rich family and that became the reason why William would like to pursue her. Actually, another important reason why Lydia agreed to get married with William was that she thought he was rich enough. As for William, he was not a man at all because he had spent the great fortune inherited from his father on luxurious life. Therefore, the only way he could become rich again is to marry a rich lady. There is no doubt that their marriage will come to an end when Lydia realized of the poverty of William. In addition, the marriage of Jane could prove that the love is more important. In this novel, Jane fell in love with each other but their marriage was obstructed by the mother of Jane who required that Bingley should pay much money to the Bennet’s. However, both Jane and Bingley attached more significance to love, rather than money. Hence, they could finally get married and lead a happy life. In short, the love between the husband and wife should be more important than money. .

　　4.3 Love is the Precondition of Marriage

　　Another important rule about marriage is that love should be the precondition of marriage. In other words, the marriage in which the husband and wife do not love each other could not lead a happy life after marriage. In this novel, the marriage between Charlotte and Collins was exactly the example of unsuccessful marriage. It has been introduced in the first chapter that Collins proposed to Elizabeth at the beginning, but he was refused because Elizabeth thought that he was too tricky. Soon after that, Collins got married with the friend of Elizabeth, Charlotte. Such a fact showed that their marriage was not based on love because they made the decision too hastily. In fact, Collins got married with Charlotte because he merely want to get married with a lady who could help him get rid of the embarrassment of being refused. As for Charlotte, she merely wanted to get a rich husband who could afford her luxurious life in the future. Therefore, there is no doubt that their marriage will run into problems without enough money.

　　4.4 Happy Marriage is as Important as Love and Money

　　Last but not least, it could be concluded from this novel that the happy marriage equals to love and money. Even though the love is more important than money in a marriage, both of them play important roles. To be specific, love could determine whether husband and wife could lead a happy life and insist on their marriage when they met some difficulties. However, money lays important foundation for the marriage. With enough money, a couple could lead a peaceful life. However, when they run into financial problems, they are more likely to quarrel with each other. When there are too much conflicts, the possibility of divorce will be increased. In this novel, the marriage of Charlotte and William might run into problem when there are financial problems with the family since their marriage is based on money only. As for the marriage of Jane and Bingley, it could prove the importance of both love and money. If Bingley could not afford the money required by Mrs. Bennet, it will be difficult for them to get married. In short, this novel could help readers to have a better understanding of the marriage and the special value of the people in the 19th century.

　　In short, this novel could provide important enlightenment for readers about marriage and love: at first, it is necessary to concern more about mentality, instead of physical appearance. Secondly, people should care more about love, instead of money when they choose whom they should get married with. Thirdly, it is necessary to choose the one that people love to get married with, instead of the one with a great fortune. Fourthly, happy marriage is as important as love and money.

　　Conclusion

　　In this thesis, the concept of marriage and love of the characters in the novel Pride and Prejudice was described in details in this thesis. In order to make sure that the information about such concept could be presented concisely and logically, this thesis is designed as followed: at first, the novel Pride and Prejudice was introduced in details from the plot and the aesthetic value. Afterwards, the concept of love and marriage of the major characters in this novel, including the concept of Charlotte and Collins, the concept of Lydia and Williams, the concept of Jane and Bingley, the concept of Elizabeth and Darcy. Then the reasons for the formation of such concept are introduced, including the influence of the time and society, as well as the influence of Jane Austin’s personal experience. At last, the enlightenment provided by this novel are introduced, including the importance of personality, the significance of love, the rules that love is the precondition of marriage and that the happy marriage equals to love and money.

　　The above analysis could lead to the following conclusion: at first, the author’s concept of love and marriage is reflected through the concept of the major characters in this novel so that such a concept could be reflected from the concept of the characters so that the analysis of such concept could be more vivid. Secondly, the concept of love and marriage is closely related with the social background of the author so that the analysis of the reasons for the formation of such concept could help readers to have a deeper understanding of the 20th century and the content of this novel.

　　This thesis could help readers to have a better understanding of this novel and the essence of marriage. At first, this research could help readers to have a better understanding of the characters in this novel after they gain more knowledge about the concept of the characters. Secondly, this thesis could help readers to gain some useful information about the social background of this novel because the social life of the characters is analyzed in this thesis so as to prove the concept of the characters. Thirdly, this thesis could help readers to understand the aesthetic value of this research because the methods by which the author presented her concept were analyzed in this thesis.

　　However, due to the limit of time, only the concept of love and marriage of the characters in this novel is introduced in this thesis and other thoughts of the author has not been taken into the consideration. Therefore, it is plausible to make more researches about the value and feminism of Jane Austin in the future.