09 concept, but is still presented in Pride and Prejudice. As stated by Norman Sherry, “marriage is the main issues in her books. The right marriage and the wrong marriage … the right and wrong reasons for marriage”. This is evident to a great extent in Pride and Prejudice. The topic of the book is established through the comical opening phrase – ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Marriage was of great importance in the 19th century, as it gave women an establishment, a supporter and a family.
Jane Austen’s novels, specifically Northanger Abbey, have key undertones of modernity. Namely, the heroine struggles with this modernity as a passage of their bildungsroman. These struggles with modernity are relatable and help to Austen’s success throughout the 19th, 20th and now 21st century. Catherine Morland, heroine of Northanger Abbey, confronts the influence of Gothic fiction which is widely available for the female audience and she opposes the political unrest during that period; the threat of riots and war of the age. Gothic fiction became socially acceptable around the time Austen was writing Northanger.
Even today in some cultures monogamy and love are not seen as a necessary part of a marriage, men or woman can seek out other needs and not be ridiculed for it It is believed mostly in Western culture that “married couples should be best friends, sharing their most intimate feelings and secrets. They should express affection openly but also talk candidly about problems and be sexually faithful to each other. Emotional happiness seems the ultimate goal. A happy marriage is defined differently throughout the world, but only recently have the emotional and sexual needs of the partners become emphasized. Sell2 This seems unrealistic when compared against a historical world view especially how Western Cultures revere marriage.
During the novel Pride and Prejudice, there are several proposals of marriage. Marriage itself is one of the main themes of the book. This is shown instantaneously by the famous opening sentence. We are told immediately how important marriage was in Jane Austen's era. However we also find out throughout the course of the book how marriage wasn't always about love.
Many debates have happened whether or not these women approach feminism for their time period. The answer to that is ambiguous and depends on how the reader takes in their writings. One can say that even though Wollstonecraft is so obviously pining for co-education, and in that way to be equal to men, she is not promoting equality for anything else. By not wanting to be equal in anything else, how can she be approaching feminism? Pizan so obviously from the start of her writing, introduces how women should behave (from the perspective of a princess), so that her actions shall be beneficial to her and her husband.
This is proven as she creatively reshapes the central value of Marriage and women and the preconceived ideas we had about these central values before immersing ourselves in Letters to Alice on first reading Jane Austen. Prior to reading letters to Alice, most readers would condemn Mrs Bennett’s behaviour and obsession in pursuing marriage for all her daughters. We are introduced to her obsession immediately from the very first page of the novel “A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls...you must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them.” The heightened tone of obsessive excitement highlights the fixation of marriage for the women of Austen’s context. With Austen inclusion of Mrs Bennett’s obsession from the very start of the novel emphasise that this value of marriage is most common among all women in Austen’s context.
AP English Open-ended Prompt: 1987 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen seems to challenge the traditional order of society in her time and age, where women marry not out of love but rather for wealth and an establishment of a stable household. She presents this progressive stance through the contrasting relationships of couples who had a love marriage such as, Darcy and Elizabeth as well as Jane and Bingley, as opposed to couples who did not - Mr. and Mrs. Bennett as well as Lydia and Wickham. From the very beginning of the novel, it is clear to the readers that Mr. and Mrs. Bennett do not have a very loving nor compatible relationship, despite the frequency to which she addresses him as ‘my dear’. In fact, it is evident that even
Marriage is the most important social institution, and it is a formality for the perpetuation of procreation; hence same sex marriage cannot meet this requirement. In other words, same sex marriage does not aid in procreation, which sustains our species. Same sex marriage will destroy our society. Some believe that although gay couples cannot produce children, they can have adopted children and fulfill a social need. That may seem like a good idea, but I am sure that there must be differences between a child who grows up in an environment with same sex couples than with regular heterosexual parents.
Since we haven’t reached that point, affirmative action for women is seen as more or less acceptable. However, these “sameness criteria” have nothing to do with authentic gender equality, and instead introduce an element of confusion when discussing this subject. Assuming that equality means sameness is inherently problematic since if you want men and women to make exactly the same career choices, family choices and lifestyles choices, then you are basically trying to fit individuals into your own preconceived notion of reality. A Better Definition Equality between the sexes simply means that men and women have equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities. According to this definition we need to remove all legal discrimination as well as break down stereotypes that prevent people from leading the lives that they want.
When talking about homosexual vs. heterosexual unions, they are comparable in all ways; however, legalizing them together would cause irrevocable damage to our already weak view of the institution of marriage. Our young generation is in a time where they are being told how to speak and sometimes think, and societal indifference to gay marriage would further confuse our youths who already find their sexuality hard. It is very important that we continue to take strides toward accepting homosexual unions; however, legalizing gay marriage is not a necessary step for that to