Pride and Prejudice Conclusion

Austen satirizes the conventions of love and marriage in the early 1800’s to show the follies and intentions of marriage. She shows the foolish ideals of money, wealth, and status that women in those days strived for rather than a strong emotional and romantic connection. Austen displays love back then as more methodical and obligatory rather than portraying love as an emotional partnership. She contradicts the conventional norms of matrimony by illustrating marriage not by love but rather the financial security and stability. 

Pride and Prejudice 1st Body Paragraph

In the early 1800’s, marriage is centered on financial obligations rather than the typical romance. Women are expected to get married and bring wealth to their family’s lives. The Bennets, especially Mrs. Bennet, has strong family values including the emphasis on marriage:  “She was a woman if mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughter’s married” (7). Mrs. Bennet’s whole purpose in life is to get her daughter’s married because she wants them to have financial stability; one of the reason’s that financial stability is important is because Mr. Bennets property is entailed to Mr. Collins and with a flip of a switch, this could cause financial instability. Charlotte marries Mr. Collins for his wealth but Elizabeth soon starts to see Charlotte’s happiness fading away: “And to the pang of a friend disgracing herself and sunk in her esteem was added the distressing conviction that it was impossible for that friend to be tolerably happy in the lot she had chosen” (120). Elizabeth feels that Charlotte is humiliating herself in hopes of creating a strong economic backbone. Just like marriage is an important factor in a women’s everyday life, gaining a good reputation through marriage is also very important; whether a women marries or not influences her reputation. Mrs. Bennet wants her daughters to marry up to a man of higher class so that her girls along with her family can gain a better standing among others. If a woman did not marry, financial stability would not always be promised: “It is by no means certain that another offer of marriage may ever be made you. Your portion is unhappily so small, that it will in all likelihood undo the effects of your loveliness and amiable qualifications” (104). When Mr. Collins proposed to Elizabeth and she turned his proposal down, Mr. Collins said that poverty would take out her loveliness if she rejects him, implying that the refusal of a proposal will bring about financial instability and emptiness. In the early 1800’s, the women’s economic security as well as maintaining a good reputation was essential; the man now became the dominant figure in society. 

Pride and Prejudice Intro

In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen satirizes the conventions of marriage in the early 1800’s in which marriage is based off of the economic well being of each individual. Life in these early times was much different than times in the present day. Women were expected to get married and would receive a bad reputation if she and her partner didn’t tie the knot. Time was of the essence and as women aged; it became more crucial for the women to get married because marriage often provided a sense of security for the future well being of the individual. Now a days, the intentions of marriage are different and there is not a certain time frame where the women needs to get married by. Equality now plays a role in the lives of many women. In contrast to present day social norms in which marriage is based off of strong physical and emotional connections, Austen satirizes the follies of marriage which are based on the intent of gaining money, status, and sensibility. 

Pride and Prejudice Outline

Question:

Explain the importance of marriage in the early 1800’s in England and describe how social status and sensibility affects ones desire to marry. How has the view of marriage changed from then to now?

Intro:

In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen satirizes the conventions of marriage in the early 1800’s in which marriage is based off of the economic well being of each individual.  

Thesis:

In contrast to present day social norms in which marriage is based off of strong physical and emotional connections, Austen satirizes the follies of marriage which

are based on the intent of gaining money, status, and sensibility.

First Few Paragraphs:

Marriage in the early 1800’s

First Paragraph Topic Sentence:

In the early 1800’s, marriage is cenetered on financial obligations rather than   the typical romance.

-Expectations

            -Mrs. Bennet wants her five daughters to get married

            -She wants her daughters to have financial stability

             because Mr. Bennets property is entailed to Mr. Collins

                        -Marrying for money

                        -Charlotte marries Mr. Collins for money

                        -Wickham marries Lydia to pay off his debt

                        -if a women did not get married, she would become an outcast and 

                         wouldn’t  be accepted

                        -whether a women marries or not influences the women’s reputation

-As a women age, it is more crucial for her to get married   because marriage usually promises financial stability

                        -time is of the essence

                        -for example, Charlotte doesn’t want to “die an old maid”

-Marriage is not about love, it is about survival and obligation

                        -explain Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Bennets relationship

                        -their relationship shows the impact that this type of obligatory

                         marriage has on one another

                        -Charlotte and Mr. Collins weren’t really in love

Second Paragraph Topic Sentence:

In the patriarchal society that Austen illustrates, the man is the dominant figure who leaves little room for the women’s opinion.

-Male dominance in marriage

            -Patriarchal society where women are in a certain way “required” to

             submit to the male and the male is the dominate figure

            -The male controls the female in all aspects of life including socially,

             politically, and economically

            -The male leads the family and does the dirty work where the woman

             is expected to stay in the household and do the “housekeeping” work

            -Since women do the household chores, they can not compete with the

             man

            -The women would take the mans name

Next Few Paragraphs:

Today’s marriage

Third Paragraph Topic Sentence:

On the other hand, today’s marriages are generally centered on physical and emotional connections.            

-Intentions of marriage

-Most people get married and have families but it is not an expectation

            -Divorce is an option

            -Happiness is more important than obligation

            -Cheating

            -There are all different types of couples

-Couples that marry outside of their socioeconomic status

-Couples that marry the same sex

-Couples that are inter-racial

            -Some people have families but they don’t marry

            -Commitment issues-commitments now a days sometimes means nothing

            -Children-birth control, choice of abortions

Fourth Paragraph Topic Sentence:

Modern marriages tend to create partnership in which each partner works together and shares mutual interests.

-Gender roles           

-Roles based on sex are becoming less defined

            -Many women work to provide for themselves

            -Today is more of a partnership in which both are equal

            -There’s not always a dominant figure

            -Women are moving more away from domestic jobs

            -Both men and women work and have equal rights

Conclusion:

           

Austen’s point about love

Austen satirizes the conventions of love and marriage in the early 1800’s to show the follies and intentions of marriage.

   

Pride and Prejudice Essay Question:

Question:

Explain the importance of marriage in the early 1800’s in England and describe how social status and sensibility affects ones desire to marry. How has the view of marriage changed from then to now? 

D.W. Harding - Pride and Prejudice

D.W. Hardings argument is that labeling Pride and Prejudice as a satire is not completely accurate. Her work is more about getting along with the readers as well as creating caricatures. She makes her characters have aspects of their lives that are bigger than they really are. For example, you could relate this to a cartoonist looking at their model but then making the head look bigger than it appears. A lot of Austen’s characters that she brings into the story act as “foils.” I agree and disagree with what D.W. Harding is saying. In one way, there is over exaggeration but in another there is also satire. It just depends on how you want to label it. 

Pride and Prejudice Question Formulation

Rachael and Jonah

1.     How do gender and class influence the relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Collins? (X)

2.     How is Miss Bingley’s courtship of Darcy affected by class and gender?

3.     How do the effects of gender and class in courtship show their influence through Jane and Bingley’s relationship?

4.     How do gender and class influence marriage? (X)

5.     How does Austen reveal her opinion about the role of class and gender in marriage/courtship through discussions of entailment? (X)

Advantages of closed ended questions: short, to the point, easy

Disadvantages of closed ended questions: don’t discuss much, don’t offer interpretation and complex thought

Advantages of open ended questions: go in depth, think about it, understand it

Disadvantages of open ended questions: harder, require more thinking, sometimes you can go off track and write about the wrong thing

Why Questions with “X:”

The answers are more apparent