Marriage in Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice question 28
The general consensus yesterday about Jane Austen's concept of marriage was that, though sad, it's true that Jane Austen would not encourage her heroines to marry for love if there was no money. Poor Mr Darcy may never have had the chance to marry Elizabeth if he wasn't fabulously rich, though I'd prefer to think she would have loved him anyway. It's hard for us to understand this now, when there are career opportunities out there for people who are determined to improve their lot in life (though with the economic crunch, there are certain limitations), but in Jane Austen's world, few people could aspire to move beyond their class. People like Captain Wentworth are all the more "heroic" because they actually succeeded. The general objection to the Navy was that people could rise from the ranks and advance despite not having the backing one would need in the army. (If you haven't seen/read Sharpe, that's a great place to see how hard it is to ...