Analysis of a Paragraph From Jane Austen's Piece Pride and Prejudice

This fragment belongs to Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice and it comes from at the beginning of the chapter 1, more specifically, to the first sentences of the novel. The novel was written by Jane Austen (1775-1817) in 1813 during the Regency Period.

At first, we can find that the fragment and almost the entire novel has a third person omniscient narrator, since the narrator is a external person to the plot of the novel but he has knowledge of the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters.

This fragment is said by the author Jane Austen.

As it can be seen, this fragment is of great relevance to the novel because it perfectly reflects one of the main ideas and themes that Jane Austen tries to express in her novel, marriage for convenience. In fact, that idea was a very common reality at that time, in which women who are not rich have to marry well, that is, with a rich man, despite the fact that there is no attraction or mutual love between the two, since that only the economic good is sought.

Get quality help now

Sweet V

Verified writer

Proficient in: Free Essays

4.9 (984)

“ Ok, let me say I’m extremely satisfy with the result while it was a last minute thing. I really enjoy the effort put in. ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

A marriage an advantage both socially and economically for both men and women.

Moreover, this idea is defended by Mrs. Bennet, since she does not care about what the rich man is like, but the fortune he has, since she has five daughters and she needs to see them all married. In addition, we will see later in the novel how this idea takes place, in which Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth Bennet's best friend, marries Mr.

Collins, causing a reckless marriage, in contrast to Elizabeth Bennet, who seeks true love and a prudent marriage, in which love and happiness overcome social classes, a process of mutual improvement. To clarify it, Charlotte explains that she is getting older and that she needs it for financial reasons, in search of a good life with her husband and her own home, being an independent person from her family; in this case, however, heart does not dictate marriage.

To conclude, this passage is very important because it introduces a style of irony that is constantly shown throughout the novel of what Jane Austen really understands by love, since she thinks that love is something independent of social forces and she is against imprudent marriages. Nevertheless, it should be noticed that the only way to gain social status and reputation was through a good marriage, in other words, an upward social mobility, which is why women, and especially their mothers, seek a man's fortune as soon as possible.