The role of marriage in Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice'

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Münster, course: The Rise of the English Novel, 8 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Since it was my part to introduce Jane Austen in a paper on 18th century women writers I wanted to know more about the female writers at her time. I chose Pride and Prejudice because it is one of Jane Austen's most famous novels. While I was reading it I soon discovered that marriage is the main theme of the novel. I want to compare the different kinds of marriages described in the novel putting emphasis on the marriage of the hero-ine and the hero. I want to show the importance of marriage in women's eyes in the 18th century. In a further step I will take a closer look at the ending of the novel which has often been described as a fairytale ending on the one hand and as confirmation of patriarchal structures on the other. I want to show that the ending can be interpreted in a different way. I shall reveal that marriage in Pride and Prejudice is not only the essence romantic novels are made of but rather important to the existence of women in the 18th century.

Dettagli