摘 要

简•奥斯汀写的《傲慢与偏见》，讲述了伦敦乡村中产阶级四段不同的爱情与婚姻。小说通过呈现以及比较四段不同的婚姻来体现奥斯汀的爱情观和婚姻观。本篇论文分别分析了小说中的四段婚姻，并探讨了作者对这四段婚姻的不同态度，以此启迪现代女性应该树立正确的爱情婚姻观：婚姻不是一场交易，婚姻的基础是真爱和相互理解，不能单单为了金钱和地位而结婚。

关键词：《傲慢与偏见》；爱情与婚姻；婚姻观；真爱；金钱

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Demonstration 2

2.1 Jane and Bingley's Love and Marriage 2

2.1.1. The development of Jane and Bingley's Love and Marriage 3

2.1.2. The Analysis of Jane and Bingley's Love and Marriage 3

2.2. Lydia and Wickham's Love and Marriage 4

2.2.1. The Development of Lydia and Wickham's Love and Marriage 4

2.2.2. The Analysis of Lydia and Wickham's Love and Marriage 4

2.3. Charlotte and Collins's Love and Marriage 6

2.3.1. The Development of Charlotte and Collins's Love and Marriage 6

2.3.2. The Analysis of Charlotte and Collins's Love and Marriage 6

2.4. Elizabeth and Darcy's Love 7

2.4.1 The Development of Elizabeth and Darcy's Love------------------------------------7

2.4.2 The Analysis of Elizabeth and Darcy's Love-------- ---------------------------------8

3. Conclusion 9

Works Cited 10

Bibliography 11

An Analysis of Love and Marriages in Pride and Prejudice

1. Introduction

Jane Austen, an English female writer, was born in the British countryside. She did not have a school education but received a good family education. As a single lady, she experienced poverty and frustration, but she didn’t submit to the oppressive society. She never stopped her writing career and pursuing true love through her life. She began writing at about 20 years old. In 1811, she published Sense and Sensibility and in 1813 she published Pride and Prejudice. From a fine female-specific point of view, her work depicted the real time status of rural life and rural scenery. Full of humor and comedic conflicts, they were welcomed by readers. Austen's novels appeared in the early 19th century, sweeping away the popular trend of false romanticism. Her work inherited and developed the excellent traditional realism of the 18th century, and also made preparations for the climax of the 19th century realist novels. She is known as the writer whose status is equal to Shakespeare’s. Liang Shiqiu also commented in History of English Literature that "In the 18th century, there were many female novelists, and Austen reached the highest achievement." (198). In recent years, with the development of feminist consciousness, the feminist viewpoint that Austen created has gradually attracted the attention of critics.

Pride and Prejudice has been valued as the most successful one among Jane Austen's novels. It is very important in the history of literature. In this novel, the author portrayed four marriages concerning wealth, social status as well as love. Everybody knows that wealth is a main factor for marriages, but fortune is not everything. Austen portrayed the four kinds of love and marriages with different characteristics and presented readers what the ideal love and marriage should be.

Scholars in China and abroad have studied Pride and Prejudice from the perspectives of female consciousness, love and marriages, characterization and writing skills. The study of marriages and love in Pride and Prejudice is the most important one. At present the research of marriages in Pride and Prejudice consists of three parts. The first is the interpretations of the four different marriages. The second is the analysis of the position of money in the influence of marital relationship, and the third is the exploration of the views on marriages. Dong Na commented that Elizabeth's view on marriages reflects Austen's view on marriages. That is “marring for status and money is wrong, but marriages without money and status is unreliable” (203). Comparing Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice with Bridget in B.J Single Dairy from the way of life, Lina drew the conclusion that the secular vision especially mothers' values had a major impact on girls' choice of marriage.

Focusing on the four different love and marriages in Pride and Prejudice, this thesis analyzes the characteristics of each pattern of love and marriage and explores the novelist’s views on them. That is, marrying for wealth and social status is stupid because marriage is not a deal. Marriage should be based on true love and mutual understanding. But then again, a stable marriage also needs wealth as a guarantee.

2. Demonstration

Jane Austen describes four patterns of love and marriages in Pride and Prejudice which includes the love and marriage between Elizabeth and Darcy, the love and marriage between Jane and Bingley, the love and marriage between Charlotte and Collins as well as the love and marriage between Lydia and Wickham. And each love and marriage has its own characteristics. By analyzing them, we can better understand the author’s views on love and marriages.