Consider the Treatment of Love and Mariiage in 'John Donne' Pride and Prejudice and Daughters of the Vicar

2254 Words10 Pages
Consider the treatment of love and marriage in ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ ‘Daughters of the Vicar’ and the poems of John Donne Although ‘Daughters of the Vicar’ by DH Lawrence and ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen were published approximately a century apart, they both deal with similar issues with each of their respective societies and the pressure to marry which is inherent in them. Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ focusses on the Bennetts, an upper middle class family consisting of five Daughters. In the late Jacobean era, the first born son of a family would inherit the fortunes upon the passing of the mother and father; they would also provide an income for their family. In a family of five daughters therefore, Austen tackles the difficulty in balancing Love and Marriage with stability for the family, and she shows the disadvantages that women face when considering a potential suitor. According to Austen ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.’ We certainly see examples of this in the text- Mr Bingley’s interest in Jane, and Mr Collins with Elizabeth and subsequently Charlotte, however Austen contrasts the fairy tale love experienced between Jane and Mr Bingley with the partnership between Charlotte and Mr Collins to show that marriage for financial and hierarchical status is considered more important than love at the time. Lawrence also has a cynical view of love as the partnership between Mr Massey and Mary is so graphically depicted leading us to feel disgust at the partnership. The poetry of John Donne is also relevant when drawing comparison on love and marriage as his poetry varies from the love of a woman that ‘nothing else is’ in ‘the Sun Rising,’ to the cynical, satirical stance from which he writes ‘Go and catch a falling star,’ where the woman is shown to be untrustworthy and

More about Consider the Treatment of Love and Mariiage in 'John Donne' Pride and Prejudice and Daughters of the Vicar

Open Document