First examining marriage in Pride and Prejudice, the prime example of it in this novel is that surrounding the Bennett family who are not wealthy people, and there is nothing that Mrs Bennett wants more than to see her daughters get married to wealthy men. She presents this desperation at the very beginning of the book when she is eagerly mentioning the fact that Netherfield Park has been let, and she is said to be speaking “impatiently” when her husband does not return this eagerness. This is shown when she says “you do not know what I suffer”. This suffering may be as a result of her own marriage (which disappoints her) or the fact that she wants each of her five daughters to find wealthy husbands. She states in the first chapter that the “solace” of marriage is “visiting and news.” This explains why Mrs Bennett is so desperate for her husband to visit Bingley and find out more about him and to introduce him to their daughters.
Your place in society was extremely important and made a huge impact on who you married. Upper and lower classes were not to be mixed and if done so, you were looked down upon. This concept is shown when Lady Bracknell interviews John before allowing her daughter, Gwendolen, to be with him. She has no interest in approving of John until she finds out that he is in fact from a very wealthy background. Wilde also does a good job of mocking the way men and women think of each other.
Although she claims to have been truly in love with the elder brother, and that “the Game was over” only after she has been “trick’d once by that Cheat call’d, LOVE,” (P.51), we can still see Moll’s manipulative nature and her extreme greed, by receiving money from the older brother in exchange to fulfill his sexual favors. This suggests that her attitude towards love and marriage is very emotionless, which is an attitude that she carries forward through many of her future affairs; another example is the affair with her long-lost brother, where she deceives him by saying “I had declar’d my self to be very Poor, so that in a word, I had him fast both ways; and tho’ he might say afterwards he was cheated, yet he could never say that I had cheated him” (P.68). This again shows the dirty ways that Moll often uses to manipulate men and take advantage of them; the reader rarely gets a picture of her as a sympathetic and loving creature, and thus would feel less sympathetic towards her as well. Moll might be cruel and heartless in the way she manipulates people to benefit herself. However, it is always important to
The only thing she regrets in her life is her old age which is consuming her beauty. The Wife of Bath seems to believe in the power of marriage but some of her actions during her five marriages can be me viewed as contradictory to this fact. Throughout the prologue she brings up a lot of issues which were believed to be anti-marriage stereotypes during her time period. She describes herself as being sexually veracious and using sex as a tool to get money. She also describes herself as dominating over her husbands.
She was married to Monsieur Loisel who could only provide her a not so comfortable lifestyle. She is unsatisfied of what she have that she became nearly unaware of almost everything around her but the wealth she does not have. She keeps on imagining an extravagant existence: an elaborate feast, fancy jewels and clothing. She has a wealthy friend Madame Forestier. Mathilde is jealous of her and she will do anything in her power to reverse the mistake of destiny that made her poor.
Austen reveals many messages through her characters on her major theme, being marriage. Through this, she is able to communicate her belief regarding an ideal marriage, which should include a high degree of love, understanding, and commitment. Pride and Prejudice's first sentence, 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,' introduces the theme of marriage, and money, in an ironic way. Jane Austen starts off using intellectual sounding words to introduce the hunt for a rich husband. The sentence contains a mixture of comedy, humour and irony that will continue throughout the novel.
The story starts off right away describing Madame Loisel beauty and charm but unfortunately she was born into the wrong class. She isn’t happy with the life that she has. She dreams of a life with parties and elegant dresses and jewels. Madame Loisel is so envious of a rich, old school friend who lives a different life that she actually refuses to go and visit because she feels worse about her life when she returns home. Her friend doesn’t appear to be proud of boastful in the story and doesn’t seem to care that Madame Loisel is poorer than her.
Mrs. Mooney was previously involved in a dysfunctional marriage to a “shabby stooped little drunkard” (61). Similar to her own marriage, Mrs. Mooney indirectly forces Polly to marry for money. Mrs. Mooney is a ruthless character as a result of her previous troubles. Consequently, Mrs. Mooney’s maternal connection with Polly is non-existent, turning their relationship into a business. When Mrs. Mooney is observing Polly’s interactions with young men, she becomes frustrated that “none of [the men] meant business” and considers sending Polly back to her previous job (63).
“Some say the root of all evil is money”. This is true for “Mathilde loisel”. She could love and care for her husband more, but she only sees what he can`t give to her. Mathilde can`t recognize what she has. Mathilde having a strong wish to be successful, but doesn`t want to work
Scarlett is a manipulative young lady that was born into wealth. Although all the guys in town want to marry her, she despise her peers and long for only Ashley, another wealthy southern gentleman. When news of Ashley and Melanie marriage spreads, Scarlett experiences troubles and feared that the love of her life would slip off her fingers. Scarlett being selfish and ruthless only wanted Ashley because she didn’t want anybody else to have him. She identifies herself as a goddess and all mighty.