Pride and Prejudice - The Novel

Introduction

The core aim of the famous author Jane Austin behind writing the classic novel “Pride and Prejudice” was to express her opinions and views about the significance of marital joy and class snobbery. Austin carried extraordinarily revolutionary views for a woman of her era. She had a belief that the shallow, fake and superficial feelings should not be the basis of marriages. Similarly, marriages should not be used for attaining any kind of social status (Brower, pp. 201).

Discussion

Austen was firmly of the opinion that in a marriage, there should be any difference in social class and the core reason for any marriage should only be the factor of love. In this novel, Austen has used some characters to depict the scenario of love marriages and the marriages that take place for the reasons other than love. She focused on the fact that the readers must understand that love should be the sole reason for marriage. This will ensure the survival of their marriage or else it may get ruined.

The opening sentences of Pride and Prejudice reflects the importance of marriage in the contemporary world of the novel. It illustrates the attainment of higher social class as the main reason of marriages and not the love. It shows that the marriages are used solely for the purpose of social security. In the society portrayed in this novel, the real source of the girls' parents was finding the most suitable spouses for their daughters. However, the character of Elizabeth Bennet stood out of this typical norm (Rogers, pp. 106).

Austen has used the character of Elizabeth as a literary tool to depict her beliefs and opinions on love marriage. The character of Elizabeth is designed and portrayed in such a way that the readers are made to relate with her view on the absurd reasons behind getting g married and not because of love. Elizabeth has stood out among the other female characters of the novel as she is strong and different unlike others. In the novel, she turned down the offer for getting married to a man she does not love. Elizabeth is a role model, although she made few mistakes but she learnt from her mistakes and developed herself.

In the novel, Mr. Collin's proposal of marriage was turned down by Elizabeth that turned out to be the fundamental landmark in the context of the novel. It is not an issue in today's world to reject a person whom one does not love, but in that era, it was a grave issue. As Mr. Collin was an established person, Elizabeth could have been provided with a home and other necessities if she had married with him, but there would not be any love. She might have faced the problem of nervous breakdown out of frustration. The readers would have sympathetic feelings towards Elizabeth and would agree with the belief that love is essential for any marriage (Robert, pp 109).

The novel represents a happy and a successful ...