The role of marriage in Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice'

Scholarly Paper aus dem Jahr 2004 im Fachbereich Anglistik - Literatur, einseitig bedruckt, Note: 1,3, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Veranstaltung: The Rise of the English Novel, 8 Eintragungen im Literaturverzeichnis, Sprache: Englisch, Abstract: Since it was my part to introduce Jane Austen in a paper on 18th century women writers I wanted to know more about the female writers at her time. I chose Pride and Prejudice because it is one of Jane Austen's most famous novels. While I was reading it I soon discovered that marriage is the main theme of the novel. I want to compare the different kinds of marriages described in the novel putting emphasis on the marriage of the hero-ine and the hero. I want to show the importance of marriage in women's eyes in the 18th century. In a further step I will take a closer look at the ending of the novel which has often been described as a fairytale ending on the one hand and as confirmation of patriarchal structures on the other. I want to show that the ending can be interpreted in a different way. I shall reveal that marriage in Pride and Prejudice is not only the essence romantic novels are made of but rather important to the existence of women in the 18th century.