Term Paper on "Marriage"
Term Paper 4 pages (1570 words) Sources: 3 Style: APA
[EXCERPT] . . . .
Marriage is arguably one of the most poignant themes at the core of Jane Austen's novels. The plots of her most famous books generally revolve around the subject of marriage and lay emphasis especially on its tremendous importance in the lives of the nineteen century women. In Jane Austen's time, marriage often took the form of a social contract between two parties, the fate of both men and women being affected to the greatest extent by the marriages they contracted. Of the two genders, the women were obviously the ones who suffered most from the consequences of a very inflexible social system, that did not allow them to be anything else than wives to men and, afterwards, mothers. As such, a good match was a young girl's highest aspiration in life and her only means of acquiring a situation in society, since a profession of any kind was almost out of the question for any woman. This patriarchal ideology is very common in Austen's novels. Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Persuasion all relate the stories of unmarried young women who are in search of a good marriage. The main characters in the three stories manage after many intricacies of the plot to find almost fairytale matches, not only because they marry rich and accomplished men, but also because they marry for love. Nevertheless, Jane Austen downplays this idealistic effect of these stories, by setting examples of many infelicitous marriages in the background and by using her keen irony to reveal the long-term, general unhappiness that these relationships produced. As a rule, it can be said that Austen divides the marriages into unhappy and happy ones, based on whether they were contracted for money or for love.Thus, in Pride and Prejudice, the
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In Emma, the main plot of the novel also revolves around the marriage issue. The tone of the novel seems however a little lighter, and the irony less scathing: Emma is a young woman, with a very good social position and almost no worries in her life, and on this account, she is not concerned at all with her own situation and does not feel that she has any reason to marry. Emma's attitude betrays precisely the extent to which marriage for a young woman was a social necessity, meant to ensure a woman's survival and to place her in her habitual and unique existential role as a wife: "I have none of the usual inducements of women to marry. Fortune I do not want; employment I do not want; consequence I do not want; I believe few married women are half as much mistress of their husband's house, as I am of Hartfield; and never, never could I expect to be so truly beloved and important; so always first and always right in any man's eyes as I am in my father's" (Austen, 1996, p.84). However, the obsession with match making reappears, since Emma, although not concerned with her own case, becomes very concerned for her orphan friend, Harriet Smith. Harriet becomes the innocent victim of Emma's well-intended but irresponsible games. The moral of the story is clear: Emma inadvertently tries to conquer social prejudice by introducing her friend in the high ranks of society, through a convenient marriage. Her attempts are disastrous, since she almost ruins her friend's chance to be happy with the simple but honest Mr. Martin, and by urging her into unfit matches with Mr. Elton and Frank Churchill. In chapter forty-nine of the novel, the idea that for a woman marriage meant security in the age, more than romance is made clear by Mr. Knightly: "A man would always wish to give a woman a better home than the one he takes her from." (Austen, 1996, p.393). The failure of Emma's endeavors emphasizes again the rigidity of the social system that did not allow for a low-born woman to be integrated in the higher circles.
The theme of marriage as a social contract is even more bitterly exposed in Persuasion. Here, another Mrs. Smith, a thirty years old widow, reflects through her situation the down sides of marriage in the nineteenth century,. While for some happy cases marriage proved to be a very lucky contract, the general poor opinion that the society has of Mrs. Smith is very telling for the less fortunate situations. A former school companion of the main character in the book, Ms. Anne Elliot, Mrs. Smith seems to enjoy none of the privileges that might give her any kind of position in society: she is the widow of an undistinguished and unsuccessful man, who left her with no material situation, she is plain and often in a poor health condition, because of the hardships. In chapter fifteen, Sir Walter, conversing with Anne, derides Mrs. Smith's poor condition, pointing to the insignificance that society generally attached to the persons that did not have a good social position: "A Mrs. Smith. A widow Mrs. Smith; and who was her husband? One of five thousand Mr. Smiths whose names are to be met with everywhere. And what is her attraction? That she is old and sickly. Upon my word, Miss Anne Elliot, you have the most extraordinary taste!"(Austen, 2003,… READ MORE
Quoted Instructions for "Marriage" Assignment:
Pick one topic from these three, the books are Pride & Prejudice, Emma and Persuasion:
Topic 1:
Discuss the ways in which ***** Austen uses caricature to ridicule or point out the faults of a rigid class system in characters such as Sir Walter, Mr. Woodhouse, and Mr. Collins. Extend your explanation of these character's personalities and goals to those of one or two of today's politicians. Are there parallels between Mr. Woodhouse, for example, and members of the Congress or Legislature? Explain your answer.
Topic 2:
Austen's use of irony in her novels offers important insights to her characters about life. What would Anne Elliot in Persuasion share with Harriet in Emma and Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice about women, class mobility, and marriage in lessons learned from her friendship with Mrs. Smith? Compare and contrast their experiences and lessons "learned." Can any of those lessons be applied to the experiences of women today? Why or why not?
Topic 3:
The rigid class system of ***** Austen's world obligated women to marry if they wished to improve their status in life. Yet the experiences of women such as Harriet Smith in Emma, Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, and Mrs. Smith in Persuasion, showed that the marriage and the prospect of marriage had its down sides as well. Who or what is really to blame in Mrs. Bennet's and Mrs. Smith's marriage? Remember to find and mention appropriate chapters from the novels.
How to Reference "Marriage" Term Paper in a Bibliography
“Marriage.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2007, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/marriage-arguably-one/85133. Accessed 5 Oct 2024.
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