Pride and Prejudice The Cost of Marriage free essay sample

This paper takes a look at marriage in Jane Austins time through her book Pride and Prejudice. This paper is a literary critique about the novel Pride and Prejudice. It comments on the view of marriage as portrayed through the characters in the novel. 19th century England had serious social problems from the heyday of Royalty and Nobility. One of the most significant of these was the tendency to marry for money. A person sought a partner 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 and handsome man could woo a rich young girl. In these marriages, money was the only consideration. Love was left out, with the thought 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. We will write a custom essay sample on Pride and Prejudice: The Cost of Marriage or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This is clearly evident from the very first line of the novel: It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife (Austen, 1).