Introduction
In Jane Austen’s
novel, pride and prejudice, main topics such as social power, gender roles and
class ranking are presented to us in different ways to help portray the customs
and affects they have on marriage in the 19th century. Through out
her novel, Jane uses satirical references and reiterates marriages to show in
her time how it is normal for women to be suppressed in what they want in a
marriage or how the parents have more of a say to decide who you marry. Because
of the lack of power that women had during the era, some never got to
experience a marriage truly based on love and married for the purpose to uphold
their family class or just to be economically stable. Austen expresses these
social norms in the 19th century thru the main character Elizabeth
Bennet, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s daughter, who goes though multiple marriages. The
different marriages between Fitzwilliam Darcy and Mr. Collins show the reader
the different reasons that she gets married but in this instance, for money,
social power and the other because of male dominance.
