My first reaction to this book is that it is based on much more on social hierarchy than I have imagined it to be.
The first sentence in this book is impreive.It reads: “It is a truth well known to all the world that an unmarried man in poeion of a large fortune must be in need of a wife”.It also hides such mattes: a single woman must be in want of a husband, especially a wealthy one.I think the undertone is very clear: the foundation of the marriage at that time is not emotion but poeion.So there is no difficulty to explain why Mr.Bennet eagerly wants to marry off her daughters to wealthy husbands.At that time in Britain, Only the eldest son had the privilege of inheriting his father’s poeions.Younger sons and daughters who are used to luxurious lives have no choice but marry a man or woman in poeion of a large fortune to continue their comfortable lives.Thus, we can see that getting married is a way to become wealthier, particularly for women without many poeions.Jane Austen told us that money and poeion determined everything, including marriage and love in her century.
In “Pride and Prejudice”, the sister of Mr.Bingley strongly opposed his plan of marrying Jane because the Bennets don’t have many poeions and their social positions are much lower than them.From this, we can see there are a lot of obstacles for a not very rich woman to marry a wealthy husband.There is a strong cla-consciousne in society at that time.
This cla-consciousne also appears in Darcy’s proposal of marriage to Elizabeth.“He spoke well, but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed, and he was not more eloquent on the subject of tenderne than of pride.His sense of her inferiority -of its being a degradation-of the family obstacles which judgment had always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on with a warmth which seemed due to the consequence he was wounding, but was very unlikely to recommend his suit.” As the above quote makes clear, he spends more time emphasizing her lower rank and unsuitability for marriage to him than he does complimenting her or pledging his love.
Darcy’s arrogance and the sense of the superiority prefigure the failure of the
proposal.
But, at the end of the story, Darcy and Bingley conquer the prejudice of social
hierarchy and find the true love.In modern society, although the marriages of economic needs have decreased rapidly,
the concept of “money determines everything” is still rooted in some people’s mind.A
lot of parents try hard to interfere their children’s marriages.Education background,
poeions, jobs remains the main reason that may influence one’s marriage.Marry
for money is still a big problem in our society.But I can’t help asking: if the rich
marry the rich, the poor marry the poor, how can the society improve?
