The marriage of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy in pride and prejudice 浅议《傲慢与偏见》中伊丽莎白与达西的婚姻

1、浅议傲慢与偏见中伊丽莎白与达西的婚姻the combination based on love and idealism results in a successful marriage-the marriage of elizabeth and mr. darcy in pride and prejudicecontentsabstract 3 i. introduction 4 . jane austen and her pride and prejudice 4 2.1. about the author 4 2.2. social background 5 2.3. womens po

2、sition in austens time 5 2.4. austens literary concern 5 iiicharacters of elizabeth and mr. darcy 5 3.1character of elizabeth 6 3.1.1 sensible 6 3.1.2 lovely and humor 7 3.1.3 pride and prejudice 73.1.4. independence 7 3.2 characters of darcy 8 3.2.1 pride 8 3.2.2 integrity and kindness 8 3.2.3 from

3、 a gentleman of blood to a gentleman of sensibility 9 iv. marriage between elizabeth and darcy 9 4.1 a successfulmarriage 10 4.2 social factors 10 4.3 social claims 10 v. conclusion 11 bibliography 11 abstract pride and prejudice has traditionally been interpreted as a work praising those women who

4、fought for a happy marriage. this article analyses the marriage of mr. darcy and elizabeth, two characters in jane austens pride and prejudice. it is analyzed from the two persons perspective characters, the social factors and the marriage influence on them. though this analysis, the paper proves th

5、at the marriage of mr. darcy and elizabeth is base on love and similar interests. the combination based on love and idealism results in a successful marriage. meanwhile, it expressed the viewpoints on marriage that money-oriented marriage and sex-oriented marriage are not successful although the peo

6、ple can live together.key words:marriage love successful idealism character浅议简.奥斯丁傲慢与偏见中两位主角伊丽沙白和达西的婚姻.摘要傲慢与偏见历来被认为是作者为讴歌女性追求幸福婚姻的不懈努力面作。这篇文章重在对奥斯丁的傲慢与偏见中两位主角伊丽沙白和达西他们各自的性格特征，以及当时的社会因素和这对婚姻的社会影响方面来具体分析。通过这些分析，用以证明他们的婚姻是建立在爱情和共同的性格的基础上，他们的婚姻是爱情与理想的成功结合。同时，也说明了建立在金钱和冲动的基础上的婚姻是不幸福的，虽然他们能生活在一起。关键词：婚姻 爱情

7、 成功 理想 性格. introductionthe book “pride and prejudice” has been value as the most successful and popular masterpiece. in this novel, jane austen mainly described the ordinary life of the bennets. she told us four different marriages to show the readers that different people have different attitudes t

8、owards love. and also she expressed her own viewpoints on marriage that a combination based on love and similar interests is a happy and perfect marriage. in her opinion, the money-oriented marriage and sex-oriented marriage are not successful although the people can live together. the theme is narr

9、ow, but she showed us a beautiful tableau of the england peoples life of her own time. it seems that she had a talent to describe the ordinary life of people.pride and prejudice begins with a most famous sentence in english literature, “it is a truth universallyacknowledgedthatasinglemaninpossession

10、ofa good fortune must be in want of a wife.” (austen1978:5) withthissentenceascore, the novel tells the story of the noble youngmandarcyandintelligentelizabeth, after a serial of events and misunderstanding, they get a happy ending. so, the combination of decent darcy and sensible elizabeth results

11、in a successful marriage. darcy is a good man of integrity with proud appearance. he is constant in his love and willing to make sacrifice for his lover; his true love to elizabeth leads to his first proposal to elizabeth regardless of her humble family and her inferior position; his descent charact

12、er and true love to elizabeth result in the fact that he did his utmost to rescue wickhame and lydia from their trouble. elizabeth is an intelligent and sensible girl, who is self-dignified and prone to hasty judgments. she is also brave and discreet in her love. her intelligence, bravery and discre

13、tion in love bring about the fact that she refused collins first proposal against her mothers will; the fact that she is self-dignified and prone to hasty judgments leads to her refusal of darcys proposal. her sensibility and right love concept bring about her successful marriage.“ii. jane austen an

14、d her pride and prejudice2.1about the authorjane austen is a famous english novelist in english literature in the 19th century. “she was born in 1775 at stevenson in hampshire of middle-class parents.”(london: macmillan education ltd, 1985) she never accepted the formal school education. but “the wi

15、de range of activities within the austen family country walks, charades, reading writing stories and family plays, constituted a rich informal education for the children, and stimulated jane austens ambition to become a novelist.”during the forty-two years of her life, austen had completed six novel

16、s northanger abbey, sense and sensibility, pride and prejudice, mansfield park, emma, and persuasion and left behind three fragments. pride and prejudice is jane austens masterpiece. the initial title of the novel pride and prejudice is “first impressions” which was written between october 1796 and

17、august 1797, it first publishes in 1813. the book tells a story about love affairs between the heroineelizabeth ben net and the hero-fitzwilliam darcy, and mainly talks about the process of their becoming lovers. firstly one possesses prejudice, the other possesses pride; then they both overcome the

18、ir shortcomings; finally, they achieve their happiness.2.2. social backgroundto know what austen writes pride and prejudice for, we should have a clear mind of the social background. there are many social straits in austens time and people in each class have different destinies. in austens days, the

19、re were no centrally organized systems of state-supported education. of course, women were not allowed to attend the institutionalized rungs on the educational ladder. at that time, britain was at the period of transition from the earlier stage of capitalism to capitalist industrialization. in the c

20、ountryside, the aristocratic family still held great power and right that country squires were likely to fawn upon them. however, as the development of capitalism and the expand of the rank of rich people. the distinction between social strata was becoming smaller and smaller, while money was gettin

21、g more and more important in peoples mind about social value, a western literature critic once said that “even david (a british economist) had a unlikely clearer understanding about the function of money in daily life as jane austen had”1 it is exactly because of the secure pledge in finance that th

22、e country squire society could be existing strongly and solidly. 2.3. womens position in austens timeat that time, the industrial revolution of the 18th century made womens liberation possible. mass production needed more hands and machine could be operated by women who were not physically as strong

23、 as men. the lower-class women became wage earners in factories. this was the beginning of their independence. but, women still enjoy a low social status in society, there was no requirement for academic education for women, they have no way to get education, and very little opportunity for women to

24、 use knowledge. therefore, marriage is a good way out for women. on the other hand, property is a very important factor in jane austens time. “only young women with beautiful appearance and food family background can they have lots of opportunities to get a satisfactory marriage.” 2.4. austens liter

25、ary concernas a novelist jane austen writes within every narrow sphere. the subject matter, the character range, the social setting and plots are all restricted to the provincial life of the late 18th-century england, concerning three or four landed gentry families their daily routine life, relation

26、ship with members of their own family and with their friend. dancing parties, tea parties, picnics, and gossips, in her works, austen vividly revealed the class relationship, social customs and social morals of her time by meticulously and humorously depicting the life of the rural gentry at that ti

27、me. she was the founder of the novel which deals with unimportant middle class people and of which there are many fine examples in later english fiction. she is also sparing of descrying the internal thoughts and emotions of male characters. austens careful craftsmanship has enabled her novels to be

28、 popular with readers in every generation.iiicharacters of elizabeth and mr. darcy though pride and prejudice, we find that darcyandelizabeth possess some good qualities. they have their own personal charm. elizabeth is the protagonist of pride and prejudice and one of the most well-known female cha

29、racters in english literature. elizabethhasmanyvirtues:sheisagirlwith wit,quicknessofobservation, intelligent, vivacious, humorous, lovely, playfuldisposition and she has a strong sense of personality and dignity. she converses as brilliantly as anyone. her honesty, virtue, and lively wit enable her

30、 to rise above the nonsense and bad behavior that pervade her class-bound and often spiteful society. mr. darcy is a wealthy and reserved man, though he often appears haughty or proud to strangers. but he is a good man, a man of integrity, with the somber attractiveness of a wicked one. such persons

31、 characters will enable them to make idealism and rationalism marriage. 3.1 character of elizabeth elizabeth is the 2nd daughter of bennets family and she is also “her fathers favorite daughter who having inherited his wit and intelligence.(london: york press, 1980) “elizabeth is much more spirited

32、and independent than a twenty-year-old lady of her period would ordinarily be.” she has perhaps received more admiration than any other heroine in english literature; she is “unique.” she is intelligent, vivacious, humorous, perceptive and quick-witted, and she has a strong sense of personality and

33、dignity. 3.1.1 sensibleamong the characters appeared in the novel, its no doubt that elizabeth is the most outstanding person. “she was a young woman very much addicted to making speeches, very pert often, fond of having the last word, and prone to hasty judgments, with really nothing but her pretti

34、ness and a certain sharp smartness of talk to recommend her.”(margaret oliphant 290) she was self-dignified and sensible, valued true love as something noble and lofty, but never trade self-esteem with love, never trade money with love. she is very sober in doing things. no matter what she does or s

35、ays, both in appropriate terms. she also stresses reality. so compare with her mother who “was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain tern per.”(beijing; foreign language teaching and research press, 1991, 3) and with her father who is able to adapt himself to different cir

36、cumstances and also very passive, indolent and with her three sisters who are very shallow, frivolous, capricious; and with her surrounding world which full of the foolish people, elizabeth is the only person who owns the superior reason.3.1.2 lovely and humorcomparison with some particular girl, el

37、izabeth disclosed her special characters; she is full of richer thoughts than miss. bingley, also she is more magnanimous, plainer than her; elizabeth is more beautiful than charlotte, and compare with her, elizabeth has greater ideal and higher pursuit; elizabeth is cleverer, more courageous than h

38、er sisters, comparing with jane, whose manner is elegant and temper is mild. “elizabeth has originality, especially in her liveliness, which makes her an interesting character.” (london: york press, 1980, 40).there is sentence taken from the novel, “she (elizabeth) had a lovely, playful disposition,

39、 which delighted in anything ridiculous” (beijing; foreign language teaching and research press, 1991, 3). this sentence can well summarize her lovely disposition. such disposition that she owns makes her attractive, well liked by other women (her aunt and charlottes lucas in particular) and much ad

40、mired by men. she is the most favorite daughter of her father. form this sentence, we can see her fathers likeness of her, and “lizzy has something more of quickness than her sister.”elizabeth was humors. her dialogue with darcy, her father and jane is full of humors; she seldom speaks without an el

41、egant manner. she “has more freedom of maneuver” with language, more conceptual space to move around in.” and as a result, she can foretell things and is capable of arriving at independent and thought-out conclusions of her own. elizabeth “has a healthy sense of humor, even to the point of joking ab

42、out mr. darcys rude behavior toward herself at the ball” (london: york press, 1980, 40). after hearing such rude words “she is tolerable; but not handsome enough to temp me, and i an in no humor at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men.” elizabeth doesnt fluster a

43、nd exasperate. instead, because she owns the sense of humor, she even tells these words with great spirit among her friends. what a lovely girl elizabeth is!3.1.3 pride and prejudice indeed, elizabeth is full of pride and prejudice. pride is the very element in her life. she openly declares, “there

44、are few people whom i really love, and still fewer of whom i think well.” however, her pride, generally speaking, is under good regulation.elizabeth is proud of her detachment on marriage. she shakes off conventions on this problem.elizabethhastoadmitthefactthatsheisnotinamuchwealthy family, thus sh

45、e must marry a wealthy man, and as a woman of that time, she has few chances to choose. however elizabethisasensiblewoman,shewouldnotacceptthemarriage unless it is on the base of understandingandequalityofbothsides. she rejects marrying only for the worldly advantage. she scorns miss bingleys over e

46、agerness to please darcy, and rejects charlottes schemes for securing a husband. she would not be controlled by man who is superior in position and property. sherejectsmarryingonlyfortheworldlyadvantage. she scorns miss bingleys over eagerness topleasedarcy,andrejectscharlottesschemesfor securing a

47、husband. shewouldnotbecontrolledbyman whoissuperiorinpositionand property. so whenmr. collinsproposeswithtoomuchconfidence, his speech is enough to offend elizabeth.“you must give meleavetoflattermyself,mydearcousin, that you refusal of my address is merely word of course, my reasons for believing i

48、t are briefly these.-and you should take it into further consideration, that inspiteofyourmanifold attractions, it is by no means certain that another offer of marriage my ever be made you. you portion is unhappily so small, that it will in all likelihood undo the effects of your liveliness and amia

49、ble qualifications.”(austen 1978:87-88) what he said is ridiculous to elizabeth, her rejection to this condescension is, “you could not make me happy, and i am convinced that i am the last woman in the world who would make you so.” (austen 1978:87)similarly, whendarcyfirstproposestoelizabeth, he exp

50、resses his sense of her inferiority at the same time when he expresses his love. elizabeth could see “he has no doubt of a favorable answer.” although she is sorry for his pain at first in spite of her dislike, she is offended by his pride again. darcy is unaware that by saying so he has hurt elizab

51、eths pride. then he gets such rejection” i has not known you a month before i felt that you were the last man in the world whom i could ever be prevailed on to marry.” (austen 1978:151)3.1.4 independence she despises her mothers dreadful mentality and unbearably vulgar and also her younger sisters f

52、lirtatiousness and dissoluteness, but is never ashamed of her amiable uncle and aunt, mr. and mrs. gardiner just because of their profession as merchants. she firmly refuse mr. collinss proposal, against her mothers expectation, because she does not will never love him, and declines mr. darcy resolu

53、tely, for his expressing his love to her arrogantly and impertinently. she once holds good feelings on wickham, considering him to be the most agreeable man she has ever met. but meanwhile, she thinks it is too imprudent to fall in love with him. she once says to her aunt, mrs. gardiner, “i will tak

54、e care of myself and of mr. wickham too. he shall not be in love with me, if i can prevent it.” so when wickham gets engaged with miss king, she does not feel a little bit sad but free. 3.2 characters of darcy3.2.1 prideat the front part of the novel, the readers attention is first drawn to mr. darc

55、y as a result of “his fine, tall person, handsome features, and noble mien”. “he was at first singled out for attention and his looks admired because he is rumored to have ten thousand a year. this makes him much handsomer than mr. bingley. however, by the end of the hall, he is found to have a forbidding, disagreeable countenance and is unworthy of comparison with his friend because of his bad manners.”(london: macmillan education lode, 1985, 45)since darcy is from the upper class, he grows up in a strong awareness of rank and power from his very childhood, so it is unavoidable th