Jane Austen's General Vision and Viewpoint on Marriage

Jane Austen's General Vision and Viewpoint on Marriage

    Marriage is a very important part of the novel Pride and Prejudice and is basically what the whole book is centered around. The women do not have one conversation that doesn't revolve around men and trying to find a husband. Austen saw marriage in many different ways depending on the woman.      The more silly women in the novel seem to fall for men who could charm them and don't consider what would happen in the long term if they married them. This is shown when Lydia marries Wickham. Lydia truly believes herself and Wickham are in love and doesn't think about how her marriage to him would effect both her family and herself in the future. She cannot see past his tricks as she is so infatuated by his looks and charm. This is an example of a bad marriage in the novel and it is clear from it that Austen thinks that women cannot only think of love when getting married, but have to think about their families and their futures. 

   The more serious and practical women in Jane Austen's novel think about the money and the future when getting married and force themselves to ignore the fact that they will never find true love. Austen seems to think that money is a very important part of marriage in order to secure a future, however it is not everything that a marriage revolves around. We see this in Charlotte's marriage to Collins. It is clear that Charlotte was trying to run into Collins in a private place in the hope that he would propose to her as she realises that she is getting older and that she needs to marry someone soon if she'll have any chance of getting a husband at all. She marries Collins for security alone and does not love him or want to be around him. She tries to avoid Collins as much as possible, encouraging him to visit Lady Catherine or to tend to the gardening, showing us that she does not love him. The only chance of true love that Charlotte will now have is if she has a child who she can devote herself to entirely. This type of marriage, in Jane Austen's is more sensible than marrying solely for love, yet does not make a good marriage.
   There are few examples of good marriages in the novel, one of them being Elizabeth's marriage to Darcy. Elizabeth realises that she loves Darcy after seeing his house at Pemberley. This shows that she took money into consideration when agreeing to marry Darcy. Also, when she saw this house, she realised just how much Darcy was offering her when he first proposed and began to see Darcy as a gentleman, leading to her falling in love with him. It is clear at the end that the two of them love each other very much and balance each others flaws. These are all signs of a good marriage making us sure that Elizabeth and Darcy are a good match for one another.  
   To conclude, Austen believes that a good marriage is a balance of both a stable income and love and respect for your spouse. This seems to be a very difficult balance to find as only a few women in the novel have achieved this good marriage; Elizabeth, Jane and Mrs Gardiner. These are also all the more kind and intelligent women in the novel. Is this indicating that intelligence in needed in a marriage also? I believe that it may improve a marriage but is not necessarily vital. 

Sisters in Pride and Prejudice (G.V.V)

 Austen's View on Sisters in Pride and Prejudice

  Jane Austen portrays a generally positive view of sisters in her novel 'Pride and Prejudice'. The book centers around the Bennet family who have five daughters. We get to see all the various relationships between these five sisters as well as the interactions between the Bingly sisters and Mrs. Bennet and her sister.

  The main sister relationship in 'Pride and Prejudice' is that between the two eldest Bennet sisters, Elizabeth and Jane. If we were to judge Austen's view of sisters solely from this relationship we would say it is overwhelmingly positive. The two sisters are very supporting and caring to each other. Elizabeth constantly worries about Jane and does everything she can to defend and reassure her. She even risks her own happiness with Mr. Darcy for Jane's sake. " ..do you think that any consideration would tempt me to accept the man, who has been the means of ruining, perhaps forever, the happiness of a most beloved sister?" Jane likewise is always there for Lizzy and is her most trusted confidante "Elizabeth's impatience to acquaint Jane with what had happened could no longer be overcome..". Elizabeth depends on Jane for advice and often checks with her to see if her actions were justified "You do not blame me.. for refusing him?"

  Austen views these two as ideal sisters in the text. They are both inexplicably good to each other and, while having extremely different characters, never say or do anything that would belittle the other.

  The relationship between Mrs. Bennet and her sister Mrs. Phillips is a very interesting one in 'Pride and Prejudice'. We know that these two are sisters from the beginning of the novel but we only get to see them together towards the end of the book (when Lydia is in trouble). The view on these sisters is more negative. We know that Mrs .Bennet is silly but (well perhaps he's not the best judge) Mr. Collins does praise Mrs.Phillips on her good manners and kindness when he meets her. However it's when the two sisters are together we see the worst of them. Mrs.Phillips is then described as taxing and vulgar. The two women gossip together and only speak to praise themselves or chide the other.
  I think Austen's view of sisters here is two fold. Firstly she is commenting on how, when family members only come together in great happiness or distress, the reunion is often marked with bitterness and jealousy. Secondly, these two are a direct contrast to Elizabeth and Jane. Mrs. Bennet and Mrs. Phillips are remarkably similar while Lizzy and Jane are so different. Austen is showing here how relationships were those involved have differences yet are willing to accept them (e.g. also, Elizabeth and Darcy) often yield more felicity than those where they're excruciatingly similar (Lydia and Wickham).

  The third example of sisters in the novel is Caroline Bingly and Louisa Hurst.These two sisters do not have much of a relationship. Mrs. Hurst is married and therefore should have more authority yet she has almost no lines in the novel. All the focus is drawn to her -technically socially inferior- sister Caroline. Austen is showing here how, even though it is important to be in a relationship where you can challenge the other person, differences so vast that one person completely overshadows the other are not really relationships at all (e.g. If Darcy had married Lady Anne).

  In spite of these two negative examples and one positive one I do think that Austen's general view of sisters is an optimistic one. Jane and Elizabeth are key characters in the book and they are the ones who end with the greatest happiness. Throughout the text Austen is showing sisters who have a good relationship with each other in the most positive lights. She is trying to show how encouraging a nurturing family relationship is while also showing how detrimental a negative one can be.

Older People in Pride and Prejudice

Older People in Pride and Prejudice

In Pride and Prejudice, the older generation is often used as an example for different types of marriage. This is an interesting device as it allows the reader to look into the future of the younger characters, and shows us Austen's general viewpoint on marriage. In this way she gives us a much longer timeline than what we really see in the novel.

The first example of this occurs right at the start of the novel with Mr and Mrs Bennet. They are an example of a couple where there is a lack of love and respect, which reflects Lydia's marriage to Wickham later on. We can gather, from observing the Bennets, that because the Wickhams married hastily and for the wrong reasons, their marriage will soon break down into disrespect and mockery.

Mr Bennet worries that Elizabeth will follow in his footsteps and tells her this; "My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life."
The next example of marriage is given by the Lucases, who, in my opinion, have a safety marriage. Austen puts very little of Lady Lucas into the novel, but we see a lot of Sir William. This indicates that they don't spend much time together, just like Charlotte and Mr Collins. The viewpoint represented in the novel is that this is a perfectly good kind of marriage, as all the characters involved in them seem to be perfectly contented with their situation. In fact, Sir William is probably the most jovial character in the novel.
The sweetest older couple in the story is of course that of the Gardiners. They seem to respect and love each other more than any other couple, and operate very much as a team. This hopefully reflects the Darcys and perhaps even the Bingleys.
This reflection in the older generation could indicate that the general vision of the novel is one of repetition. We are all turning into our parents or aunts and uncles. Austen seems to believe that the world is stuck in a social rut. This would oppose the view of those who view her as a romance novelist, as the love which she presents is not star-crossed or revolutionary. She purposefully shows us the opposite; no love is new or special, love is at most nice, but not necessary, and this, in her view, never changes.
This use of the older generation in Pride and Prejudice heavily contrasts Shakespeare's use of the same in King Lear.
While Austen indicates an unchanging, constant way of life with her older characters, Shakespeare uses his to indicate the end of an era. This is clearest in the character of Lear, the oldest character in the play.
First of all, the younger characters in this play don't look to the advice of the older characters the same way that the younger characters in Pride and Prejudice do, and after Lear gives up his kingdom, the younger characters never seem to receive any unwanted guidance from the older generation. Mrs Bennet, however is able to interfere with her daughters' lives by leaving them alone with boys and forcing them to get sick.
The end of the play shows how direct a contrast Lear is to the older characters in Pride and Prejudice. Firstly, he is literally the end of an era, as he is the last of his family alive just before his death. However, he is also the end of an era of suffering, giving way to one of more knowledge and less pain, as indicated in the final lines of the play. Albany, one of the few characters remaining ponders the deaths, and sees that Lear's indicates the final life of such suffering. But when he says "speak what we feel", does he mean that people should stop bending to social expectations? This seems somewhat unrelated to much of the rest of the play, but is important enough to Shakespeare to end on, which must make it more significant than it seems. This would make the general vision similar to that in Pride and Prejudice in a way, as the disregard of social constructs is predominant in both positive and negative ways. Positive in Lizzy's case, for example, and negative in Lydia's.

"The weight of this sad time we must obey;
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
The oldest hath borne most: we that are young,
Shall never see so much, nor live so long"

Use of Animals in Imagery King Lear

It is not surprising that, along with the underlying themes of nature, superstition and

paganism present in King Lear, animals are featured pervasively in its imagery. In fact, almost every

character in the play is at some point likened to an animal, for example the “pelican daughters” who

feast upon their father, as Lear says in reference to the filial ingratitude of his progeny. The use of

animals in the descriptive imagery by Shakespeare serves two purposes; the first being as an outlet

for the anger and frustration felt by the characters, and the second being that many of these

similitudes are very effective at describing the characters mindset or ideals, for example Gloucester’s

“goatish disposition”. There are many examples of such imagery, as it is used dozens of times

throughout the text. Here are some of the most noteworthy of them.

The first and foremost example is Lear’s exclamation of “come not between the dragon and

his wrath”, as Kent intervenes in an attempt to rescue Cordelia from Lear’s fury, as he goes on to

disown her. The dragon is Lear, and you can easily imagine him as such, sitting upon his hoard of

gold which is, in this case, what had previously been his daughter’s affection and submissiveness.

One can imagine the wrath of the dragon against whoever attempts to steal from them, and in this

case Cordelia stole from her father the possibility of them living out his days cherishing each other. It

is Cordelia’s stubbornness towards her father’s games that incite his anger.

The second, and most prominent example of animal imagery being used as metaphors and

similes for descriptions of characters, is their prolific use by Lear and the Fool to describe his

ungrateful, spiteful and self serving daughters, Goneril and Regan. The first of these numerous

examples occurs in Act I, Scene IV, when the Fool wisely exclaims, “the hedge sparrow fed the

cuckoo for so long that it had its head bitten off by its young”. Later on in the play, Regan is likened

to a “vulture”. These two quotes are notable as they underline the ungratefulness and sheer cruelty

of his Lear’s eldest daughters. After leaving them all of his power, with the single request that he be

looked after in his old age, Goneril and Regan proceed to destroy him and leave him with nothing,

now that he is at his weakest. This provides an opportunity for Lear to see how foolish he was in

giving away his power to such spiteful daughters, to the extent that they are likened to carrion-

eating birds of prey, at the expense of the daughter who truly did care about him.

Less prominent but equally important examples of the use of animalistic imagery would

include Edgar, who takes on the persona of Poor Tom, a character whose roots are ambiguous, but is

definitely the most animalistic and pitiable character in the play. He is described as a “fox in stealth”,

a “wolf in greediness” and a “lion in prey”. Poor Tom is a prominent example of how animals can be

used to describe savagery and barbarism, such as is the case for Regan, but can also be equally

effective in  describing the more pitiable or outcast members of human society. Another message

that can be interpreted by Poor Tom’s description and behaviour is Shakespeare’s message to

Elizabethan society that, despite the formalities of the caste system, we are all animals, at the very

least on a biological level.

Shakespeare’s extensive use of animals in his descriptive and figurative imagery only further

enrich the play, and provide us with an insight into the context of the Elizabethan view of the

treatment of ones elders, inferiors and progeny.

Violent World of King Lear

The world of King Lear is a violent, twisted one and throughout the play this becomes more

apparent to the audience and King Lear alike. There are a few scenes however that stand out as key

moments which perfectly represent the violent world of King Lear, from the scene depicting Lears

descent into madness in the storm, to Gloucester getting mutilated and blinded, I will discuss these

Act III scene II contains a very memorable scene showing us the violence present in the world of

King Lear. In this scene King Lear stands before a raging storm, his madness already setting in.

With violent words he curses the storm, his daughters, and God himself.

“Rumble thy bellyful! Spit, fire! Spout, rain!”

This line is chosen perfectly by Shakespeare as its use of alliteration and cacophony help represent

the violent nature of the storm throught the words of the maddened King

“Blow, winds, crack your cheeks! Rage, blow!”

The words present in this line are perfect as each represent a violent element in both the storm, and

in King Lears mind, the raging winds seeming all too similar to the turbulent rage present in King

Lears family life. The 'rage' of the storm seems to mirror the rage Lear is finding deep within the

people around him, the 'cracked cheeks' showing us images of people spitting hate, lies and violent

words at each other from cracked, dried mouths.

“Such groans of roaring wind and rain, I never remember to have heard;

man's nature cannot carry the affliction nor the fear”

This line seems first to describe the violent nature of the present storm, however the storm is just a

representation for the violent world Lear finds himself in. In this line Lear has come to the sudden

realisation of all the violence and hate the people closest to him are capable of, there groans like

“unwhipped of justice, hide thee thou bloody hand!”

This line describes Lears shock at the violent crimes that go unpunished under his very nose, this

gives us perfect cultural context as to the violent world of King Lear.
By K.