Abstract

Jane Austen, the writer of The Pride and Prejudice, is one of the most famous female writers in English literature, and her works are still very popular nowadays. She reveals a picture of different lives of the young people in the early 19th century. Pride and Prejudice mainly talks about the different attitudes towards love and marriage: Mr and Mrs. Bennet’s hasty and irresponsible marriage, Collins and Charlotte’s conventional and utilitarian marriage, Lydia and Wickham’s sex-oriented and blind marriage, Jane and Mr. Bingley’s ideal marriage, Darcy and Elizabeth’s perfect marriage. Jane described five different marriages to show a correct view of marriage: the true love is never based on the money and status and it is unwise the choose a mate without counting the realistic factors. Nowadays, with the development of the economy and the sci-tech, people's attitudes towards love and marriage have changed. Many of the young people don't believe love and are confused by the money, greed and desire. The perfect love in this novel may set a pattern for today's young people about their views on the love and marriages.

Key words：Marriage; love; money; the marriage concept

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction1

1.1 The Introduction of Jane Austen 1

1.2 The Introduction of Pride and Prejudice1

2. The Five Marriages in Pride and Prejudice2

2.1 Mr and Mrs. Bennet’s Marriage: A Hasty and Irresponsible Marriage 2

2.2 .Collins and Charlotte’s Marriage: A Conventional and Utilitarian Marriage 4

2.3 Lydia and Wickham’s Marriage: A Sex-oriented and Blind Marriage 6

2.4 Jane and Mr. Bingley’s Marriage: An Ideal Marriage. 8

2.5 Darcy and Elizabeth’s Marriage: A Perfect Marriage 10

3. Jane Austen’s Attitudes Towards Marriage 12

3.1 The Basement of the Marriage: Love 12

3.2 The Guarantee of the Marriage: Money 13

4. Conclusion 14

References 15