Marriage. Community and Austen - Final Part

From the very beginning of the story, we are told how all the families wish to have their daughters “married well”, but based on evidence already presented, this “wellness” is clearly referring to worldly matters and social advantages, of which the society / community approves. Charlotte herself admits that she is not and has never been “romantic” and “considering Mr. Collins’s character, connections, and situation in life” she is sure that her “chance of happiness with him is as fair, as most people can boast on entering the marriage state”, which is clearly a criticism on the society and its attitudes regarding marriage. Therefore, we can claim that their marriage is completely approved by and based on social conventions and that “the relationship between Charlotte and Collins presents a complete abandonment of personal claims in favour of social claims”. On the extreme opposite we can claim that a marriage such as Wickham and Lydia’s has little social claims and may be based completely on their personal claims and so they are seen as “the violators of sacred convention”.

Between these two extremes, we have Darcy and Elizabeth, whose marriage shows a balance between personal and social claims, what Austen is advocating, in a sense. Both Elizabeth and Darcy have to give up part of their prior claims: Darcy his pride and Elizabeth her prejudice towards him. Before marriage Elizabeth is seen very much as an individual who both in attitude and action, denies and condemns the conventions of the society. She refuses to marry Mr. Collins or anyone else where there are no true affections involved. Her opinions regarding marriage extend to her sister and her friend Charlotte and hence she criticizes Charlotte on her choice. So she is a “headstrong foolish girl’ who will not be brought to reason in the light of the expectations of her community. Darcy, on the other hand, pays more heed to the customs regarding social class, financial situation, and the expectations and conventions involved in choosing a partner. Yet after their marriage things are different for both. After marriage they leave Longbourne and settle in Pemberley, which symbolically means that they withdraw from the community and its conventions. But they still receive their family and friends at their house, which would still get them involved in the community and its people rather than completely abandoning it.

It can be seen that “the Collins-Charlotte and Wickham-Lydia marriages help to dramatize the possible fate of a girl in Elizabeth’s social position”, but at the same time and most importantly they “show by contrast the desirability and integrity of the adjustment between Darcy and Elizabeth. Through this Austen is suggesting that neither a complete yielding to the conventions of society nor a breach of them will ensure happiness. This is probably the reason why the story did not finish with their marriage, so as to show the “desirability” of their life once they had achieved a balance between their duties as members of the community and their personal happiness.

[i] Mordecai, Marcus, “A Major Thematic Pattern,” Twentieth Century Interpretations of Pride and Prejudice, E. Rubinstein, ed. (New Jersey: Prentice – Hall, Inc., 1969) 87.