Pride and Prejudice: Marriage for Money

A detailed Summary of Pride and Prejudice: Marriage for Money

19th century England had some serious social problems left over

from the heyday of Royalty and Nobility. One of the most significant of

these was the tendency to marry for money. In this basic equation, a

person sought a spouse based on the dowry receivable and their allowance.

This process went both ways; a beautiful woman might be able to snag a

rich husband, or a charring handsome man could woo a rich young girl. In

these marriages, money was the only consideration. Love was left out,

with a feeling that it would develop as the years went by. In Pride and

Prejudice, Jane Austen comments that marriage in her time is a financial

contract, where love is strictly a matter of chance.

Lady Catherine states the fact that happiness in marriage is

strictly a matter of chance. This holds true in the conception of

marriage held in the novel. All of the marriages in the book formed under

the bonds of money rather than the bonds of love end up unhappy or

to a person as rich as himself, no matter how obnoxious he is. He seems

it to mean that a wealthy man either actively pursues a wife based on his

Approximate Word count = 678
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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