摘要
简·奥斯汀（1775—1817）是英国文学史上一位非常出色的女性作家。她在短暂的一生中虽然主要创作了六部作品，但这丝毫没影响她在文学史上的地位。她的作品主题都是爱情与婚姻，而最能反映出她的婚姻观的就要数《傲慢与偏见》了，《傲慢与偏见》以班内特家5个女儿的爱情婚姻为基点，通过对四段婚姻的分析，体现出作者的爱情婚姻观。爱情、金钱、社会地位、性格等都是婚姻中必须要考虑的因素，爱情和相互尊重是婚姻的基础，但金钱也为婚姻稳定提供了条件，婚姻是个严肃的问题，综合考虑各种因素的爱情婚姻才是幸福的。这种婚姻观对当时和现在的社会都有着深远的影响。
本文主要通过对人物性格及其婚姻进行分析，探索作者所倡导的正确婚姻观。主要分为三个部分：第一部分主要分析作者所生活的时代背景以及其生活经历；第二部分着重通过对小说人物形象和他们的婚姻的分析，揭示作者的婚姻观；第三部分主要讨论作者的婚姻观以及这种婚姻观对我们的启示和影响。通过查阅大量文献，结合作者的生活经历，总结出作者以爱情为基础的婚姻观，提出婚姻在我们每个人的一生中都占有重要的位置，它关系着我们是否能够幸福快乐的生活，选择好自己的婚姻对象自然尤为重要。其中，爱情是基础。简·奥斯汀的婚姻观给了我们重大启示，为我们寻找幸福的婚姻指明了方向，而且对女性独立自由意识的觉醒也有重要影响。
关键词：《傲慢与偏见》；婚姻；爱情；金钱；启示
Abstract
Jane Austen (1775—1817) is one of the most excellent female writers of English literature. Although in her short life, Austen only created six works，her effect in literary world has never changed. The theme of all her novels is love and marriage, and among all, Pride and Prejudice is the work that can best reflect Jane Austen’s views of marriage. Pride and Prejudice mainly focuses on the love and marriage of five girls from Bennet. The novel reflects the author’s views on love marriage: love, money, status and character. Marriage should be based on love and respect, and in addition, money provides the practical foundation for the stability of the marriage. Taking all of the factors into consideration, we can establish a happy marriage.
This thesis aims at exploring Jane Austen’s marital views by analyzing the personality and marriages of the characters in the novel. It can be divided into three parts: the first part deals with the background of the society and Jane Austen’s life experience; the second part deals with the analysis of the main characters and their marriage with the aim of revealing the writer’s views on marriage; the last part focuses on the effect and inspiration from Jane Austen’s view on marriage. We can get the conclusion that marriage plays an important role in our lives, since it has a lot to do with our happiness. Choosing a suitable partner for marriage means a lot; therefore, love should be put on the first place. Jane Austen’s views of marriage give us much inspiration, it can also rouse female’s sense of independence and freedom.
Key words: Pride and Prejudice; marriage; love; inspiration
Contents
Abstract (Chinese) (i)
Abstract (English) (ii)
Contents (iii)
1.0 Introduction (1)
2.0 The background of society and Jane Austen (2)
3.0 Four different marriages in Pride and Prejudice................................. . (3)
3.1 Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage (3)
3.2 Jane and Bingley’s marriage (4)
3.3 Chalotte and Collin’s marriage (5)
3.4 Lydia and Wickham’s marriage... (6)
4.0Analysis and understandings of the four marriages (6)
4.1Perfect marriage based on true love (6)
4.2Happ y marriage based on sense and similar int erest (7)
4.3P at h et i c m ar ri a ge b as ed o n m on e y o r be ne fi t s (7)
4.4 Absurd marriage based on lust and vanity (8)
4.5J a n e A u s t e n’s v i e w s o n m a r r i a g e (8)
5.0 The inspiration from Jane Austen’s views on marriage (9)
6.0 Conclusion (10)
Acknowledgements (11)
References (12)
Appendix: Thesis Proposal
1.0 Introduction
Jane Austen was born in a middle class family in 1775, and she spend her whole life in the countryside, she was so fascinated with the peaceful and ease life in countryside. Although she was unmarried the whole life, the theme of her novels were love and marriage, basically, the love and marriage between a gentleman and a fairy lady. Her best-known works are Emma (1815), Pride and Prejudice (1813) and Sense and Sensibility (1811).
The novel talks about four different marriages: Collin and Challote’s marriage which is based on money; Lydia and Wickham’s marriage which is based on lust; Jane and Bingley’s marriage which is based on sense, Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage which is based on love. Which weighs the most in marriage, love, possession, or social status? Jane Austen has different attitude and description about the four marriages. The first sentence in this novel is impressive. It says: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” The undertone is very clear: the foundation of the marriage at that time is not love but possession, but Jane Austen tells us a different story.
The main story of this novel happens between Elizabeth Bennet and Darcy. Elizabeth Bennet is a 20-year-old young lady. She is her father's favourite daughter and inherits his intelligence and wisdom. Darcy is a pride and kind gentleman with great fortune. Although, they were not attracted by each other at the very beginning, because they all have some complaints about the other, Elizabeth loathes Darcy’s arrogance, and she also has some misunderstandings on him, Darcy thinks Elizabeth is a very proud girl, and her families leave an awful impression on him. But at last, they fall in love and have a happy marriage. What changes their attitude towards each other? Because the pride and prejudice between them is long gone. They finally know each other deeply and accept each other. Their marriage is rooted in their love and respect. Comparing with other marriages in the story, Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage is the perfect one. The story reflects the author’s marriage view: it is wrong to marry just for the possession, lust and position. She emphasizes the importance of the ideal marriage that we should marry for love and emotion.
Elizabeth and Darcy have a happy ending not only because of their love, but to some extent, Darcy’s property provides them the material need. From this we can see the author’s views: marriage is based on love, but property and position should be taken into account. In modern society, a lot of people marriage for money and social status, sometimes, it leads to a sad ending. I think, no matter when, Jane Austen’s views on marriage are of great value in leading us to the ideal marriage.
My thesis consists of three chapters. The first chapter deals with the background of the society and Jane Austen’s life experience, and how does those factors influence her writings; the second chapter reveal the authors views on marriage and the standard of the ideal marriage advocated by Jane Austen through analyzing the characters and their marriage in the story; the last chapter talks about the conditions of the modern marriage and how to found the ideal marriage from the inspiration of Jane Austen’s view on marriage.
2.0 The background of the society and Jane Austen
In 18th and 19th centuries, the England society’s had serious social problems. One of the severest of these was the tendency to marry for money. A person sought a partner based on the dowry receivable and their allowance. In the 19th century, women were not well respected compared with the ones in the present society. There was no equality between woman and man. Women were considered to be inferior to men in terms of intelligence and capacity. The central life of women was forced to be staying at home. Their roles were to deal with the family affairs, such as taking care of the children and serving for the husband. This process went both ways: a beautiful woman might be able to snag a rich husband, or a charring and handsome man could woo a rich young girl. In these marriages, money was the only consideration. Love was left out, with the thought that it would develop as the years went by. Jane Austen (December 16, 1775--July 18, 1817), an outstanding female novelist of British, was born in the village of Steventon, near Basingstoke, in Hampshire. Her father is the local vicar. She did not have the normal schooling, but she got good education from family's literature teaching. From the end of the 18th century to the early 19th century, “the sentiment novel” and “the gothic novel” were the themes of English
literature, while Austen made a different way. Most of her works were about romantic love. That might have something to do with her failure in marriage. Jane Austen was unmarried her whole life, but she had fallen in love with a young man. Their love was pure and faithful. However, this young man had to submit to the marriage that his aunt arranged for him, because he was under lots of burden from family. Then Jane broke up with him, since she did not want to stand in the way of the young man’s future, and a lso in her opinion, marriage should be based on love. She loved no one else after that. That is the reason why she was unmarried all her life. So she put all her feelings in creating romantic and happy marriages.
3.0 Four different marriages in Pride and Prejudice
3.1 Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage
Once Mr. Qian Zhongshu has compared marriage to a castle, b ut I don’t think this marriage theory is suitable for Darcy and Elizabeth. The marriage is tortuous between them but deep-rooted of love based. As we all know, Elizabeth and Darcy left a quite bad impression on each other at the beginning. Elizabeth thinks Darcy is insolent and arrogant, and Darcy does not like Elizabeth because of Elizabeth’s social class and her indecent relatives. But Darcy finally rea lized Elizabeth's preciousness, and Elizabeth’s prejudice and misunderstandings towards Darcy are gone. They deeply in love and possess a wonderful marriage at last. Their love and marriage are tortuous and kind of mysterious. I will analysis their marriage start with analyzing the two characters.
Elizabeth Bennet is a person who is worth our imitation. She is a model because she is different from the others. She does not adhere rigidly to the standards set forth by society, she is self-reliant and independent. She is wit and intelligent. Most of the girls married in pursuit of money and fame at that time, even her best friend Chalotte who married a rich man for changing her poor conditions. However, Elizabeth is not submit to this mood of society. She would never violate her principle and her integrity. She is like the pure lotus that lives in mud but never contaminated by the dirty. That is the reason why she rejects Mr. Collin's proposal, because she would not marry without love. On the other hand, she does
not totally disregard social costumes. She has good manners; her slight breach of decorum is justified by walking alone to Nether field Park to visit her sister who is ill with her genuine concern. She has good manners. When Lady Catherine criticizes Elizabeth skill of playing piano, she can have good manners to keep polite. Mr. Darcy is pride on the surface, but we know he is warm-hearted. He is a good friend, he is afraid that Mr. Bingley would be cheated and hurt by Jane, although he is proved wrong later. He is a good brother; he takes care of his younger sister very well. He is kind; he helps Wickham and Lydia with money even though he was misunderstood by Elizabeth because of Wickham’s rumors. The two people’s personalities are clear and sharp. At the first time, Elizabeth and her sisters go to attend the ball held in Meryton, and she is coldly treated by Darcy, but she uses her healthy sense of humor to joke about Mr. Darcy’s rude behavior at the ball. Darcy is handsome, tall, and intelligent, but not convivial, his indifferent manners are seen by many as an excessive pride and concern for social status. He makes a poor impression on strangers, but he is valued by those who know him well. He gradually finds out Elizabeth’s intelligence, wisdom and beauty. He begins pursuing her. However, at the beginning, Elizabeth rejects his love expression, because she does not like him, even looks down on him though Darcy loves her very much. In Elizabeth’s eyes, Darcy is arrogant and unreasonable because he is rich and has high social status. Realizing that, Darcy begins to get rid of those bad habits quietly. Because of Darcy’s perfect behavior and good education, Elizabeth gradually eliminates the prejudice on Darcy. Most importantly, the misunderstanding, prejudice and pride are disappearing as they know each other better and better. Then they spontaneously fall in love. So Elizabeth accept Darcy’s proposal at the second time, then they get married and have happy family lives.
3.2 Jane and Bingley’s marriage
In this novel, the combination of pleasant Bingley and mild Jane is one of the most blessed and happy marriages. The couple has similar interests and they insist on pursuing their true love which leads them to a happy and perfect marriage. Mr. Bingley was a handsome and gentleman with great fortune. As a young man who is well-bred, he was
cordial and simple. With this character he never appeared dissatisfied. He is easy to get along and constant in love although he is extremely rich. However he is in short of strength and independence in his marriage which is a big weakness of him. In this story, Bingley is popular with almost everybody in everywhere. Jane is the oldest children in her family. She is an amiable and mild girl who possesses the most beautiful appearance among her sisters. As an introverted girl, she is faithful in love but lacks strength and self-confidence. She is too shy to profess her love towards Bingley, nor admit it, thought she has feelings for Bingley at the time they met. Sometimes she is a little innocent. In her eyes, everybody is nice. She never see through the rotten side of life even she is deceived. Her character is vividly showed in many parts of the novel. So it seems quite natural for Jane to fall in love with the pleasant and simple Bingley. They meet each other at the ball, they are attracted by each other at the first sight, and they dance and talk together. As times goes by, their feelings to each other are getting stronger. But Jane has no courage to express her love, she buries it in heart and for Bingley, he is not a strong and determined man. This is his advantage but also his disadvantage. His cordial and simple character causes his quiet romance with Jane. However, his weak and easily-led character causes his departure from Jane. He suddenly leaves Jane when their romance goes smoothly, which nearly put his pure love and marriage in end. To a great extent, Binley left Jane because of Darcy’s misunderstandings on Jane. They establish a steady and constant friendship although they have totally different characters. Darcy wants to help his friend. In his opinion, it is impossible for Jane to love Bingley. He thinks Jane love Bingley because Bingley is rich, but Bingley’s love for Jane is pure. He doesn’t want his best fri end get hurt. So he persuades Bingley to stay away from Jane and she is not a good marriage option. But they do love each other.
During those days when Jane stays in London at Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner’s invitation, she visits Bingley’s sister in person in o rder to get some information of Mr. Bingley. At last, they get together after the misunderstanding between Elizabeth and Darcy disappears. So the love and marriage between Jane and Bingley is pure and stable. They fall in love at first sight heartily. Thei r marriage is kind of tortuous just like Elizabeth and Darcy’s, but the true
love won’t stop them from being together.
3.3 Chalotte and Collin’s marriage
Charlotte and Collins’s marriage is the most realistic one in the story. Their marriage is based on money instead of love. Charlotte is the best friend of Elizabeth, but they are very different in the choice of marriage. Chalotte’s parents, like the Bennet couple, can’t give her much fortune, and she is as sensible and intelligent as Elizabeth, but her pursuit for spiritual happiness is not as strong as that of Elizabeth. In addition, Chalotte is a plain girl who is a little bit prudent. As a woman who is 26 years old, her choice of marriage is entirely out of realistic consideration. When she first meets Collins, she sees his folly. When he asks her to marry him, she also clearly knows that Collins is certainly not a reasonable person. But she immediately says “yes”, because “Marriage has always been her aim, what kind of man she is going to marry as is less important”, marrying a rich man can shelter her from suffering poverty. She thinks money can bring her sense of security. William Collins, a man of 29 years old, is Mr. Bennet's distant relatives, since Mr. Bennet has no son; Collins becomes the he ir to Bennets’ estate. Jane Austen describes him as “not a sensible man, and the deficiency of nature had been but little assisted by education or society”. Informed that the eldest daughter Jane has a boyfriend, he switches his aim at the second daughter Elizabeth, but Elizabeth has no feelings for him, what’s more, Elizabeth gets tired of him. Eventually, she rejects him with sharp tongue. However, Collins quickly seeks comfort from Charlotte who is desperately in need of love from a male and believes marriage is the elegant way to save a poor girl from suffering, and then they get married as quickly as the lightning. Such marriage without love is too practical and realistic, so it is a kind of superficial marriage without happiness.
Marriage is just a task for them, but Collins couples get what they want from marriage: Charlotte gets the stability and prosperity of life; Collins also gets a warm home. This is how they understand marriage. There is no love and same interests between them; their marriage is based on benefits. Although they get what they want, marriage without love is not happy and stable.
3.4 Lydia and Wickham’s marriage
Lydia, Bennett's third daughter, is a simple, frivolous, vanity girl. She is keen on social networking at an early age, enjoying contacting with Merry's officers, and even feels proud of it. “Whenever anyone urg es, she will be put into anyone's arms. Her feelings are always kept rolling, swing”. Wickham is a handsome, actual moral, luxurious, and treacherous man. At first, he seduces wealthy Miss Darcy, but his conspiracy fails. After joined the regiment, he first does everything to please Elizabeth, and then pursues wealthy Miss Kim, finally elopes with Lydia. Then, he gets into debt. So, he needs money and become rich and changes his social status through marriage. For his purpose, he seduces Lydia and wins her love easily, because she is young, innocent and frivolous, and loves to go ease and hates to work hard, and she is also spoiled by her mother. Getting love and praise from a man is what she dreams of. So when Wickham wants to reach his aim－getting wealth by loving and exalting her beauty hypocritically, she forgets who she is and feels she is the most beautiful and happiest girl in the world. Their love is forbidden by the parents, and then they elope. When Elizabeth hears the news, she believes that he does not love her but the wealth of her family. The marriage is admitted on the condition of Darcy's help. Their marriage is considered as a scandal to Bennett’s f amily. But Mrs. Bennet is not shameful of this marriage. The marriage between Lydia and Wickham is conditional. Thanks to Darcy's help, they get married and continue their lives. This kind of marriage is doomed to be unstable. After marriage, they are extravagant; just enjoy the pleasure at the moment, never considering their future. They always ask Jane or Elizabeth for help, counting on their support to pay bills. Wickham's love for Lydia soon suffer a disastrous decline, finally he is indifference to Lydia. They get what they want: Lydia gets erotic satisfaction; Wickham, he also gets the wealth; but their marriage is not satisfactory. This is how they understand marriage.
4.0 Analysis and understandings of the four marriages
4.1 Perfect marriage based on true love
Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage is intricate but is the ideal marriage because their love is based on love, they cherish each other, they tolerate each other, and of course after marring Darcy who has great fortune, Elizabeth’s life and socia l status are improved, and their marriage gets material security, but at first, Elizabeth refuses the rich man- Mr. Collins’ proposal without any hesitation because she does not and will never love him, from Elizabeth’s perspective, marriage without love w ill never be happy. Elizabeth has a deep understanding of all the things around her. She has a clear understanding about her own social status. Because of this, she resists extremely against the arrogance of Darcy, and she tries to protect herself from being hurt by Darcy's insolent attitude. She believes that she must make him know that she is not woozy. The ultimate failure wakes Darcy up. He is aware of his own short-comings. He accepts Elizabeth’s criticism, and faithfully corrects the shortcomings and mistakes. He is no longer arrogant and has a faithful love with Elizabeth. I remember when the sister asks Elizabeth how she would love Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth replies that she should date from the day she see the beautiful lane manor park. The statement seems to refer to the possession of Darcy. In addition to referring to the specific manor, she also refers the new Darcy seen in the garden.
Elizabeth is a wise girl; she understands that marriage involves many factors, such as love, personality, status, property. Among all, love is essential to marriage, which is the author’s views on marriage that reflected in this novel. We should take marriage seriously; impulse will destroy someone’s happy marriage. Having a clear understanding about the person you are going to marriage is vital. Whether you can live a better life both physically and mentally is important to your marriage. That is to say, all the factors should be taken into consideration carefully. Those are the reasons why Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage is the perfect one in the story.
4.2 Happy marriage based on sense and similar interests
Jane and Bingley’s marriage is also rooted in pure love, and also their concern for each other. It seems that their characters are quite suitable for each other. It seems that only their marriage involves purest love with no tint of money at all. Then why is not Bingley penniless but a “young man of large fortune”? This arrangement can also reflect author’s views on marriage. Love is essential for marriage, and money is also plays an important role in marriage. According to the relationship between Bingley and Jane love and similar interests are also the basic factors of a successful and happy marriage. With many similarities in character people can understand each other easily. Above all, their understandings lead to helps and supporting between them. They can live happily together in this way. They don’t care about the shortcomings of their partners and even they don’t see any faults in each other. Just as the old saying going “Birds of a feather flock together people of a mind fill into the same group”.
4.3 Pathetic marriage based on money or benefits
Chalotte and Collins’s marriage is kind of beyond our expectations. At that time, a girl from the low class, who has no pretty appearance and good education, takes marriage as the only way to change their situations. Jane Austen objects this marriage that based on benefits. Maybe lots of people feel pity for the females who lived in that age, but in no time should we make such hasty decision about our marriage. Many do play an important role in marriage, but a marriage without love which is just based on money won’t be pleasant, at last, people will get hurt from the painful marriage. Once I read a story from a magazine, a girl from a poor family married a rich man, she almost did nothing rather than shopping and seeking pleasures, she squandered her husband’s money so quickly, later, the man got tired of her, they divorced. The woman lost the source of money, but she has gotten used to the luxurious life, she can’t live independently. At last, she tried to blackmail some rich man and ended in jail. This is a tragedy; girls should be independent and marry the person who really loves you just like you love him. So Chal otte and Collins’s marriage is doomed to be
unhappy, Chalotte once said to Elizabeth, “I am not romantic, you know; I never was, I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins’ character, connections, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state.”(Pride and Prejudice, 144) Therefore, Charlotte seems to have found some kind of satisfaction and happiness in her marriage without any love. It is interesting that in such a marriage based on money-transaction, the woman from poor family does marry a single man with a good fortune, but the husband himself has nothing to do with the enjoyment the marriage bring to her.
4.4 Absurd marriage based on lust and vanity
The combination of Lydia and Wickham is absurd. Her admiration to Wickham is entirely up to his “handsome face, comely shape and charming talk”. Their relationship is entirely built on lust and impulse without love foundation. Their marriage is neither practical nor romantic. Lydia and Wickham’s marriage is built on sex lust and impulse. It is kind of ridiculous. They treat their marriage so carelessly, it is impossible for them to get a happy marriage. Lydia is attracted by Wickham’s handsome sur face at first. As a flippant girl, she seeks sexual pleasure. Then they make a rash decision to get married. This marriage is one without love. They don’t understand the real meaning of marriage; they only want to satisfy their aspiration. So this is a kind of impromptu love and marriage without true love and responsibility.
4.5 Jane Austen’s views on marriage
After reading the novel, we can see that people’s views on marriage in England at that time. In the 18th century, women longed for marrying a gentleman who possessed considerable wealth and high social status. Love, seems count for nothing. This was because at that time, women were forbidden from inheriting the possession. Marring a rich man was their only way to live a decent life after their fat hers’ death. That is the reason why Mrs. Bonnet is crazy to marry her daughters off. However, Austen has her own idea. She also emphasizes love. From her perspective, happy marriage is equal to “love + wealth +
equal social status”. Marriage should be based on love and trust. People can’t just marry someone for whom he/she has no feelings at all. Austen also points that wealth and social status put great importance on marriage. Austen casts her criticism to the dark fact that people’s attention is only on property and high social status. In Austen’s eyes, marriage without love is contemptuous. We know Elizabeth and Darcy, also Jane and Bingley, both have a happy marriage. From these two cases, we can find out what kind of marriage Jane Austen prefers--- love is basic; enough wealth, good behaviors and equal social status are all necessary. These two examples are exactly the right explanation of Austen’s outlook on marriage. To draw a conclusion, in the novel Pride and Prejudice, Austen casts her criticism to people who take wealth and high social states as the only factors in marriage, with neglecting love. She expresses her views on marriage that marriage should be built on love but at the same time should take wealth, characters and social status into consideration.
I think Austen’s outlooks on marriage are well worth our deep consideration even today.
5.0 The inspiration from Jane Austen’s views on marriage
Jane Austen’s views on marriage have a profound effect on lots of people, especially on females. What is marriage all about? I think it is a question that is worth our deliberation. Marriage is an everlasting topic in our lives. Throughout the literary history, many masterworks are about marriage. Everyone has his or her own understanding of it. Some marry for money, some for passion, some for love and so on. Marriage plays an important role in our life. Whether your marriage is happy or not will influence you a lot. Austen shows us a different view of marriage; also let us think that what kind of marriage we want and we suit. Many people try to find out the secret of marriage, because everyone wants to own a happy marriage. Some think that marriage contains all sorts of worldly things: house, money. To get marry is to get money; marriage is their shelters that helps them out of plight and keep them from poor or other sufferings. However, Austen shows us that marriage is built on love. It is wrong to marry for wealth or for the sake of beauty and passion of blind. Those kinds of marriage can't last long a nd we can’t get happiness.The truly happy marriage is based on love and reason. Jane Austen leaves us lots of inspirations, especially
for females. Women should try to be independent in marriage, since many parents try to interfere with their children’s m arriage. They should be wise and have their own opinions when it comes to marriage. Choose the right person after the deep consideration. Marriage is built on people’s deep love to each other and similar interests and topics. Of course, abundant economic foundations can provide us a desirable life, because living in poverty will bring some negative effects on marriage. So marriage should take many effective factors into account.
6.0 Conclusion
Austen's position and the importance of her works cannot be ignored in the history of English literature no matter how short her life is. During Jane Austin’s42 years’ life, she kept unmarried. She devoted her whole life to creating happy marriages in her novels. As is known to all of us, there were many novels talking about marriage during that time, but there was barely any writer who could be as Austen as in revealing the pathetic-essence of women’s marriage in her times. Women’s status was quite low at that time, marriage was taken as the only way to change their situations, so most people just married for money and high social scales, but Austen had different views from others in marriage, her feminine consciousness in her outlooks of marriage was quite obvious. She pointed out that marriage should be based on love, similar interests, sense and sensibility, in the agreement of ideality and reality, and on the equality between men and women. Maybe that is why she failed in her marriage. She wanted to get rid of secular marital views at that time, but at the same time it was hard for her to find the one who matched her from all aspects. She did love a young man, but she left him because of his responsibility to his family, and Austen didn’t want to stand in the man’s way of pursuing a bright future. Therefore, Austen gave up; instead, she poured all her feelings into lovers in her works and delivered her ideal pattern of marriage.
In Pride and Prejudice, Austen talked about four marriages, marriages based on love, sense, money, and impulse. We can understand why there come four different marriages by combining the characters’analysis with the background of that time. Chalotte married
Collins for money. Lydia and Wickham’s marriage was so absurd since it was based on sex impulse. Jane and Bingley’s marriage was perfect and happy, just like Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage. Austen gave their marriages different outcomes; of course, the first two couples did not get happiness and pleasure from their marriage. So here comes back to Austen’s views on marriage again, marriage without love is not happy. Many factors should be taken into consideration, such as love (the most important one), similar interests, sense, possession and social status.
Although love is basic to marriage, marriage doesn't equal to love. In Pride and Prejudice, Darcy and Elizabeth’s marriage is the happiest, with deep-rooted of love, and a necessary condition that Darcy is strongly wealthy. Money and other factors do play important roles in marriage, we can’t ignore them. Everyone should be clear and care ful about their marriage, for women, we should have our own views in choosing marriage, don’t neglect any factors that can effect marriage. Then, happy marriage can be possessed by all of us.
Acknowledgements
First, I would like to take this chance to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Yu Cuihong, for her constant encouragement and guidance. She has helped me through all the stages of the writing of this thesis. Under her supervision, my essay can be successfully completed. Her willingness to give her time so generously has been very much appreciated.
My gratitude also extends to all the teachers who taught me during my four years in university, for their kind encouragement and patient instructions, not only on my academic but also in my life. My thanks would go to my beloved family for their loving considerations and great confidence in me through all these years. At last, I give the heartiest thanks to all my friends and classmates for their great help. I hope they all get bright future.
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On Jane Austen’s Point of View of Marriage in Pride and Prejudice Acknowledgements This thesis has finally come into being to meet critical eyes through two months of hard work. From the very beginning when I chose the topic till the completion of the thesis, I have benefited from many people . First of all I would like to show my sincere gratitude to my tutor, Shen Guozheng. Without his sincere and trustworthy guidance，valuable suggestions and critical comments，it would be difficult for me to accomplish this thesis．His loyalty to teaching and punctilious work style has profoundly impressed me. Moreover, I heartily thank all the teachers who have helped me in the past four years, who have provided me with incentives and direction for my study. Thanks are also due to my classmates and friends for their constant encouragement and their ways of assistance in the course of writing. Last but not least, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my family members, for their selfless support，thoughtfulness and encouragement．
百度，输入诺觉桑寺，找到读书的网络 作家简介： 简·奥斯丁，（1775—1817）英国女作家，18世纪末19世纪初英国杰出的现实主义大师，被誉为“道德教育家”。出生于英格兰汉普郡的斯蒂文顿村，父亲是教区的主管牧师。在父兄的熏陶下，奥斯丁从小就阅读了大量的文学作品。她16岁时开始写作，是第一个通过描绘日常生活中的普通人，使小说具有鲜明现代性质的小说家。奥斯丁一生中共创作了6部长篇小说《理智与情感为（1811）、《傲慢与偏见》（1813）、《曼斯菲尔德庄园》（1814）、《爱玛》（1815）、（诺桑觉修道院》和《劝服》（后两部出版于她去世后的1818年）小说内容多是刻画当时英国乡村的风俗民情、社交和男女恋情等。她的创作开启了19世纪30年代的现实主义小说高潮，在英国小说的发展史上具有承上启下的意义。 作品目录 ·《傲慢与偏见》 《傲慢与偏见》是奥斯丁的代表作。这部作品以日常生活为素材，一反当时社会上流行的感伤小说的内 容和矫揉造作的写作方法，生动地反映了18世纪末到19世纪初处于保守和闭塞状态下的英国乡镇生活和世 态人情。这部社会风情画式的小说不仅在当时吸引着广大的读者，时至今日，仍给读者以独特的艺术享受。 ·《理智与情感》 简·奥斯丁在她诞生地汉普郡的斯蒂文顿繁荣而稳定的乡间长大，十二三岁就开始写作。她早期的习作 都是中短篇，光是十五六岁时写的，后人就编成了两部集子。一七九七年，简二十二岁，完成第一部长篇小 说《第一面印象》。接着开始写《埃莉诺与玛丽安》。这两本都是书信体小说，十多年后，分别改写成用第 三人称叙述的长篇小说《傲慢与偏见》和《理智与情感》。后者于1811年出版，等到前者于两年后问世时，后者于同年再版。所以，尽管《傲慢与偏见》的原始本子写作在前，她第一部出版的作品却是《理智与情感》。 ·《爱玛》 发表于1818年，英国女作家，奥斯丁小说。女主人公爱玛是一个“从来不在外面住宿的天下少有的女人”，孤零零的，但是充满了感情与思想，她经过一系列误会后，与男主人公先生终成佳偶。小说情节紧奏，细节描写生动、鲜明，语言就像作者歌颂... ·《曼斯菲尔德庄园》 范妮是个出身贫寒的少女，10岁时被姨父母伯特伦爵士夫妇收养。在姨父母家，除了二表哥埃德蒙处处 呵护她外，受到众人的冷落，过着寄人篱下的日子。但她始终有颗温柔善良的心肠，辨是非，明大理。她坚 决抵制大表哥等人要在家里排演有伤大雅的情节剧，毫不动摇地顶住了纨绔子弟克劳福德的无理纠缠，始终 不渝地暗恋着埃德蒙，特别是在克劳福德小姐对埃德蒙“旧情复发”时，她告诫表哥不要被她的假象所迷惑，
傲慢与偏见婚姻观 main meaning: Marriage is the central topic in Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Emma: the plots of the novels and the actions of the characters revolve around marriage. For Austen's characters, marriage does not mean the act of ungoverned passion but a complex engagement between the marrying couple and society. Austen's characters are completely integrated into society and play out the stories within the social rules. Based on Socialist-feminism, this thesis examines social background in Austen's time and explores how social conditions influence females' psychological struggle and anxiety toward marriage. For Socialist-feminists, material factors shape women's marital consciousness in determinate ways. The discussions of male class and female status in the end of the eighteenth century are helpful for understanding why marriage is the central topic in Austen's novels. In a sense, marriage is regarded as a market place to exchange upward class mobility and financial support for Austen's characters. In order to achieve the goal of marriage, females are good at transforming themselves into commodities by displaying their appearances and accomplishments to appeal to male gazers. They realize that marriage can provide opportunities of class mobility and financial support; money and class are thus closely connected in their decision of marital partners. keywords: Plot overview ;.Analysis of the major character ;Themes ;Motifs ;Pride and Prejudice ;marriage The feeling of 《Pride And Prejudice》 Then man treat great event in one's life with punishing, Demonstrate different attitudes to the love question of the marriage of young girl of the family origin of middle class of villages and towns, Thus reflected authors oneself's marriage view: It is wrong to get married for the property, money and position; Get married and does not consider that above-mentioned factors are unwise too . So, she objects to getting married for money , objecting to regarding the marriage as a trifling matter . She emphasizes the importance of the ideal marriage , and regard men and women's emotion as the foundation stone which concludes the ideal marriage . The woman protagonist in the book Elizabeth comes from the little landlord's family, reaches the west to have deep love for for the rich and powerful people sons and younger brothers. Reach the disparity of ignoring family status and wealth of the west, propose to her, but is refused. Elizabeth's
Jane Austen, she is one of the greatest authors in Britain history. I really admire and appreciate her works, Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Emma, and Sense and Sensibility. In my eyes, every heroine has her own uniqueness, different from other girls in those novels. They are so brave to pursue their love, no care about the prejudice, the gossip from their parents, their neighbors , their relatives, even the society. In addition, all of them succeed in loving their true love; all the endings are so good and so beautiful. Every time, when I saw the couple got together after suffering so many misfortunes in the very end of the novel, I cried for happiness, not for sadness. From those heroines’ character, I really can find a genuine image of Jane herself. Although I do not know clearly about her love, her lover, I can easily get the information that she missed her true love from her whole single life. Therefore, she sets the hopes into her novels, encourages everyone who love somebody by heart has courage to pursue their true love.
简·奥斯汀睿智名句 A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment. 女人的思维很有跳跃性：从仰慕到爱慕，从爱慕到结 婚都是一眨眼间的事。 A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of. 我所知道最有效的幸福秘方就是“赚大钱”。 A woman, especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can. 一个女人要是不幸聪明得什么都懂，那就必须同时懂 得怎么伪装成什么都不懂。 An engaged woman is always more agreeable than a disengaged. She is satisfied with herself. Her cares are over, and she feels that she may exert all her powers of pleasing without suspicion. 订了婚的女人最可爱了。她什么都满足了，什么忧虑都消散了，她可以大大方方去讨好自己未来老公，而无需担心人家以为她在玩暧昧。 Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love. 治愈情伤最好的药就是友谊带来的安慰。 Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. 幸福的婚姻都是靠碰运气赚来的。 How quick come the reasons for approving what we like! 想给我们的喜好找个理由时，脑袋转 的是最快的。 I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.
湖北省高等教育自学考试英语专业毕业论文论《傲慢与偏见》留给世人的感想 准考证号：013510210640 学生姓名：李月辉 指导教师：赵红英 二○一二年九月
On the "Pride and Prejudice" for the feelings of the world Li Yuehui Tutor: Zhao Hongying September 2012
摘要 作为英国文学的经典之作，有关《傲慢与偏见》的研究几乎从未间断过。《傲慢与偏见》是简·奥斯汀脍炙人口的艺术精品,具有很高的可读性和艺术性。作者在作品的题材选择、人物塑造以及艺术表现手法三个方面都别具匠心,具有不朽的审美价值和艺术价值。同时，《傲慢与偏见》也一直是英国人心目中的经典书目，它在英国人心目中的地位仍然超过流行。我在该论文中论述的主要内容包括：对小说作者的介绍和当时18世纪末到19世纪初处于保守和闭塞状态下的英国乡镇生活和世态人情的介绍，仔细研究小说中爱情、金钱与婚姻之间的纠葛，挖掘作品中的内在矛盾性和各个人物特征以及他们在整部小说中所起的独特作用，以夹叙夹议、不断归纳、不断总结的方式论证文章的观点。 关键词：《傲慢与偏见》；审美；女性主义；戏剧性；反讽
ABSTRACT English literature classic, The Pride and Prejudice is almost never stopped. The Pride and Prejudice is Jane Austen thrilling fine arts, has the very high readability and artistic quality. The author in the works of subject choice and characterization and artistic methods three aspects does not provide craftsmanship, has the immortality of aesthetic value and artistic value. At the same time, The Pride and Prejudice, and has also been the British seared in the minds of bibliography, it in the mind of the British position still more than popular. The paper discusses the main content including: introduction to the novel of the end of the 18th century to 19th century early in the under conservative and occlusion state of England township life and state of the world favors the introduction carefully study the novel of love, money and marriage of disputes between mining the inherent contradictions in the works and character features and the unique role they played in the entire novel, a narrative proposal and continue to be summarized, constantly sum up the view of the demonstration article. Key words：The Pride and Prejudice; aesthetic; feminism; dramatic; irony
生平和作品 THE IMPRESSION of the condition of the Church of England in the eighteenth century which is conveyed by the character and writings of Laurence Sterne receives some necessary modification from a study of the life and works of Jane Austen. Her father, the Reverend George Austen, held the two rectories of Deane and Steventon in Hampshire, having been appointed to them by the favor of a cousin and an uncle. He thus belonged to the gentry, and it seems likely that he entered the church more as a profession than a vocation. He considered that he fulfilled his functions by preaching once a week and administering the sacraments; and though he does not seem to have been a man of spiritual gifts, the decent and dignified performance of these formal duties earned him the reputation of a model pastor. His abundant leisure he occupied in farming the rectory acres, educating his children, and sharing the social life of his class. The environment of refined worldliness and good breeding thus indicated was that in which his daughter lived, and which she pictured in her books. Jane Austen was born at Steventon on December 16, 1775, the youngest of seven children. She received her education—scanty enough, by modern standards—at home. Besides the usual elementary subjects, she learned French and some Italian, sang a little, and became an expert needle-woman. Her reading extended little beyond the literature of the eighteenth century, and within that period she seems to have cared most for the novels of Richardson and Miss Burney, and the poems of Cowper and Crabbe. Dr. Johnson, too, she admired, and later was delighted with both the poetry and prose of Scott. The first twenty-five years of her life she spent at Steventon; in 1801 she moved with her family to Bath, then a great center of fashion; after the death of her father in 1805, she lived with her mother and sister, first at Southampton and then at Chawton; finally she took lodgings at Winchester to be near a doctor, and there she died on July 18, 1817, and was buried in the cathedral. Apart from a few visits to friends in London and elsewhere, and the vague report of a love affair with a gentleman who died suddenly, there is little else to chronicle in this quiet and uneventful life. But quiet and uneventful though her life was, it yet supplied her with material for half a dozen novels as perfect of their kind as any in the language. While still a young girl she had experimented with various styles of writing, and when she completed "Pride and Prejudice" at the age of twenty-two, it was clear that she had found her appropriate form. This novel, which in many respects she never surpassed, was followed a year later by "Northanger Abbey," a satire on the "Gothic" romances then in vogue; and in 1809 she finished "Sense and Sensibility," begun a dozen years before. So far she had not succeeded in having any of her works printed; but in 1811 "Sense and Sensibility" appeared in London and won enough recognition to make easy the publication of the others. Success gave stimulus, and between 1811 and 1816, she completed "Mansfield Park," "Emma," and "Persuasion." The last of these and "Northanger Abbey" were published posthumously. The most remarkable characteristic of Jane Austen as a novelist is her recognition of the limits of her knowledge of life and her determination never to go beyond these limits in her books. She describes her own class, in the part of the country with which she was acquainted; and both the types of character and the events are such as she knew from first-hand observation and experience. But to the portrayal of these she brought an extraordinary power of delicate and subtle delineation, a gift of lively dialogue, and a peculiar detachment. She abounds in humor, but it is always quiet and
On the Relationship between Money and Marriage in Pride and Prejudice 《傲慢与偏见》中金钱与婚姻的关系 On the Relationship between Money and Marriage in Pride and Prejudice I.Literature Review Pride and Prejudice is a very popular novel written by Jane Austen and it is read widely all over the world. It was written in 1813. That specific history time decided that people at that time took money much more seriously, even on their marriage. From the ancient times to the present, there are many studies about Jane Austen and her major works. In 1813, Oxford World's Classics for the first time recorded and published the work Pride and Prejudice and aroused great repercussion around the world. Then, in 1826 after the work has been widely read, Sir Walter Scott analyzed Pride and Prejudice from an overall perspective. In his article “The Journal of Sir Walter Scott”, he summarized the features of Jane Austen, he said that “Jane Austen has a talent for describing the involvements and feelings and characters of ordinary life which is to me the most wonderful that I ever met with.”The background of Pride and
Becoming a woman，becoming a legend "A woman especially if she has the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can." ――Jane Austen The movie, Becoming Jane, fabricates a character, the hero Tom Lefroy, to show us audience Jane Austen’s romance. It ever or never happened in Jane’s life. Nevertheless undoubtedly, the movie is a successful one. We are all moved by Jane’s sense and sensibility. Jane completes a legend by her lifetime of becoming a great woman. There are many commentaries on the film―― Her own life is her greatest inspiration. Between Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice was a life worth writing about. No one can ignore Jane’s achievement. Six immortal works about romance leave us a deep impression on the importance of being together with our true love. Relatively, few people know Austen’s own romances. She never get married. I think many people would like to consider that Jane uses her life to memorize a love and explain her understanding about love. She insists. She believes a marriage without love will never be happy, and a love without money will never be real. According to the movie, the great novel, Pride and Prejudice, is based on Jane’s love story with Tom Lefroy. The arrogant and handsome hero in the fiction insinuates Tom who is just a practical lawyer. But Darcy is rich, independent, owning authority and position, while Tom relies on his uncle and has little money. At the same time, the beautiful, clever and a little extreme Elizabeth just insinuates Jane herself. Obviously, there is an insurmountable distance between the novel and the reality. In the Pride and Prejudice, Darcy and Elizabeth get together eventually. Yet Jane and Tom Lefroy can only be friends, not lovers. In my mind, Jane is trying to give herself and Tom a happy ending in her novel which will never come true in reality. What will we do when our dream is so different from the reality? To surrender or to surmount? Maybe there can be a few people protect their love to go through their life, like Jane Austen, and never betray their love. However, the courage is not owned by everyone. Too much affection and emotion need to be called to our mind and pondered over. A Jane will live our heart, bringing us an opportunity to share the legend.
走进简·奥斯汀的世界 ――从《傲慢与偏见》《爱玛》《理智与情感》中认识简·奥斯汀 论文概要：本文分为初识简·奥斯汀，认识简·奥斯汀，爱上简·奥斯汀，简·奥斯汀与我们四部分，从简·奥斯汀的三部作品来介绍，逐渐深入，层层剖开简·奥斯汀的世界，着重于在特定的社会背景下分析作品中的重要人物和事件，并联系简·奥斯汀的人生经历解析作品的内涵，探索简·奥斯汀的文学世界。 初识简·奥斯汀 既无曲折离奇的情节，也无波澜壮阔的场面，小小的天地，普通的男女，但就是这样的内容的作品却把它们的作者推进世界文学史上一流作家的行列，而这位作者只活了四十二岁，一生只写了六部小说，生前出的作品都用笔名，死后才公布了她的真名和身份，她，简·奥斯汀，一个响亮的名字。 简·奥斯汀于1775年出生在英国汉普郡一个名叫斯蒂文森的村子里，父亲是一位乡村牧师。她没有受过多少正规的教育，却在父亲的影响下大量涉猎各种书籍，获益良多。十四五岁就开始写短剧，小品，娱乐家人，简在二十二岁前就已经完成了两部小说，即《理智与情感》《傲慢与偏见》，后来相继写出《诺桑觉寺》《曼斯菲尔德花园》《爱玛》《劝导》等不朽的杰作。简·奥斯汀所写的都是英格兰乡村和邻近地区中产阶级的生活，完全限于自己所熟悉的那个很小的生活圈子，但她的观察细致入微，构思巧妙合理，人物刻画细腻生动，写作风格朴实无华，清秀隽永，表面上琐碎的叙述读起来颇耐人寻味。她的作品被评论家誉为“简约的艺术”。她的作品里没有声势浩大的东西，但充满理性的光芒。故事情节说不上跌宕起伏，却丝丝入扣，不断荡漾着“茶杯里的风波”。 从18世纪末到19世纪初，庸俗无聊的“感伤小说”和“哥特小说”充斥着英国文坛，而奥斯汀创作的小说则是一反常规地展现当时尚未受到资本主义冲击的英国乡村中产阶级的日常生活和田园风光。简·奥斯汀之所以能成为十九世纪最杰出的小说家之一，不仅是因为她小说天衣无缝的结构和精湛精确的刻画技巧，而且也是因为她的小说有着深刻丰富的思想内容和在英国文学史上的开创性意义。她是第一个现实地描绘日常平凡生活中平凡人物的小说家。她的作品反映了当时英国中产阶级生活的喜剧，显示了家庭文学的可能性。她以女性特有的细致入微的观察力和对细腻情感的把握，生动真实地描绘了自己周围世界的小天地，她多次探索青年女主角从恋爱到结婚中的自我发现过程，这种着力分析人物性格以及女主角和社会之间紧张关系的做法，使她的小说摆脱十八世纪的传统而接近于现代的生活。正是这种现代性，加上她的机智和风趣，她的小说能长期吸引读者。 认识简·奥斯汀 简·奥斯汀的形象在从简生活的年代到现在的200年中有各种各样的解释。有亨利·詹姆士的观点----简有无师自通的天才，几乎没有特别意识就在做针线活和探亲访友的过程中创造了完美精湛的艺术微缩品。D.H.劳伦斯和夏洛蒂·勃朗特都写到，她是一个用理智而不只用情感写作的，精明博学的单身女子。也有和蔼可亲的“简姑妈”形象，这是她家人的体会，是一位终身专于家庭，不为任何烦恼忧愁，避免谈到男人和金钱，战争话题的女性，简也被许多人认为是最初的女权主义者。简·奥斯汀笔下的女主人公都很有个性，或多或少渗透出作者本人的性格特征和看问题的方法。 伊丽莎白·贝纳特：“想要满足是她自己的事----当然快乐是她的气质”。机智活泼的伊丽莎白·贝纳特比起其他女主人公来说更像年轻时代的简·奥斯汀。“书中只要出现她这个人物，她就是快乐的”----作者给她的定语。爱玛·伍德豪斯：“思想活跃轻松，看不到事情的发生也无所谓，没有回应的事情看不到也行。”简赋予这个该受人指责的女主人公活跃
毕业论文 毕业论文题目：On Irony in Pride and Prejudice 学生姓名： 学号： 院（系）：外国语学院英语系 专业：双学位经贸英语 班级： 指导教师姓名： 指导教师称谓：讲师 起止时间：2012年10月—2013年5月
On Irony in Pride and Prejudice A Thesis Submitted To Foreign Languages Department Of Zhongyuan University of Technology In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Bachelor of Arts By Supervisor： May, 2013 ii
SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES Zhongyuan University of Technology Declaration of Academic Integrity I promise that the thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any institutes of higher learning and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person, except when due reference is made in the text of the thesis. I understand that to do so would mean that I had committed plagiarism, and that it is my responsibility to be aware of the University’s regulations on plagiarism and their importance. Signed: Date: iii
一、【作者生平简介】 简·奥斯汀[1]（1775年12月16日～1817年7月18日）简·奥斯汀出生在英国南部汉普郡一个乡村牧师家里，未进过正规学校，在家里由父母指导学习，终身未婚，四十二岁时与世长辞。奥斯汀十二三岁时就开始创作故事、戏剧和小小说。一七九五年她开始写作《埃莉诺与马里纳》，这就是她后来发表的第一部小说《理智与感情》的雏形。一年以后，一七九六年她开始创作《初次印象》。一七九七年《初次印象》完成后，未能出版。这部小说后经作者修改更名为《傲慢与偏见》，于一八一三年一月在伦敦问世，这是她发表的第二部小说。此外，自一八一一年至一八一八年她先后发表了《理智与感情》、《曼斯菲尔德庄园》、《爱玛》、《诺桑觉寺》和《劝导》等五部小说。奥斯汀生长在十八世纪末十九世纪初封建保守势力相当强大的英国乡村。在这样的时代中，妇女只能在其所生长的阶层的圈子中生活。 社会习俗禁止她们在社会的任何其他领域里活动。奥斯汀出身英国乡村的中产阶级家庭，与之交往的都是乡间那些乡绅贵族的绅士淑女，生活圈子自然十分狭小。奥斯汀就在这样狭小的天地里观察、研究和创作。虽说：“在乡下一带地方，你是在一个非常狭小而又一成不变的社会里活动。”“乡下能为这样的研究提供的对象一般是很少的。”“可是人本身是经常不断变化的，在他们身上永远都可以观察到一些新的东西。”奥斯汀就以她特有的敏锐洞察力观察着她所处的社会和她身边的人与事，研究各种人的性格及其变化。在这样的观察研究中，奥斯汀最关注的是妇女的命运。在奥斯汀所处的当时社会里，一般妇女除了当老处女和家庭教师外，别的惟一出路就是嫁人。嫁一户有钱有地位的体面人家，就成了一个年轻小姐得到并保持可靠社会与经济地位的理想途径。尤其是那些“一般财产不多，教养有素的青年女子，都是把结婚当作惟一一条未雨绸缪的体面出路，不管如何心中无数，幸福难卜，结婚成家都是她们最可心合意的避风港，预防她们以后不致缺衣少食。”因此，要赢得一位理想的丈夫似乎就是奥斯汀小说中那些年轻小姐们的人生惟一目标，而她们为达到这一目标不断地进行着有形无形的激烈竞争。奥斯汀的小说都是围绕着乡绅贵族绅士淑女的恋爱求婚、男婚女嫁的错综复杂的情节来展开的。作者通过这些情节，用细腻的笔触深刻剖析作品中人物的心理，展示他们的道德品质，表现作者关于人生、特别是婚姻的道德观。她批判当时大多数联姻的方式，而且她小说中的大多数婚姻都是有缺陷的。但她同时通过她的故事告诉读者，理想的婚姻是可能的。这种理想婚姻的主要品质，除了女方花容月貌天生丽质、男方英俊潇洒一表人才之外，就是彼此了解，情投意合，心心相印，自由平等，互敬互惠，它将对彼此的炽烈爱情融合在稳定融洽、相互促进的家庭关系之中，所以她小说的所有女主人公都是为真正的爱情而结婚，而不是为终身有靠而草草苟合。她通过《傲慢与偏见》中贝内特小姐的口说：“没有爱情千万不要结婚。”她批判那种惟利是图的金钱婚姻，但她并不把金钱与爱情绝对分开，而且显示金钱在确立稳固的理想婚姻中起着决定性的作用。正如《傲慢与偏见》开宗明义的第一句话所幽默指出的：“一个家财万贯的单身汉，必定需要一位太太，这是一条举世公认的真理。”奥斯汀在《傲慢与偏见》这部小说里最仔细审慎地剖析描述了绅士淑女恋爱求婚的全过程，并全面透彻地说明了她所谓的理想婚姻的各种基础。 从18世纪末到19世纪初，“感伤小说”和“哥特小说”充斥英国文坛，而奥斯汀的小说破旧立新，一反常规地展现了当时尚未受到资本主义工业革命冲击的英国乡村中产阶级的日常生活和田园风光。她的作品往往通过喜剧性的场面嘲讽人们的愚蠢、自私、势利和盲目自信等可鄙可笑的弱点。奥斯丁的小说出现在19世纪初叶，一扫风行一时的假浪漫主义潮流，继承和发展了英国18世纪优秀的现实主义传统，为19世纪现实主义小说的高潮做了准备。虽然其作品反映的广度和深度有限，但她的作品如“两寸牙雕”，从一个小窗口中窥视到整个社会形态和人情世故，对改变当时小说创作中的风气起了好的作用，在英国小说的发展史上有承上启下的意义，被誉为地位“可与莎士比亚平起平坐”的作家。 简·奥斯汀是世界上为数极少的著名女性作家之一，介于新古典主义和浪漫运动的抒情主义