英语论文 傲慢与偏见 pride and prejudice AN ANALYSIS ON WOMEN’S SOCIAL STATUS AND THEIR MATRIMONIAL IDEAS IN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.doc

AN ANALYSIS ON WOMENS SOCIAL STATUS AND THEIR MATRIMONIAL IDEAS IN PRIDE AND PREJUDICECONTENTSABSTRACT.11. Introduction .22. A Brief Introduction to Jane Austin and Her Pride and Prejudice.32.1 A Brief Introduction to the Author.32.2 A Brief Introduction to Pride and Prejudice .42.2.1 Social Background.42.2.2 Cultural Background.52.2.3 Main Content of Pride and Prejudice. 53. Marriages in Pride and Prejudice.63.1 Peoples Ideas about Marriage.63.2 Marriages in Pride and Prejudice.7 3.2.1 The Analysis of Collins and Charlottes Marriage.73.2.2 The Analysis of Lydia and Wickhams Marriage7 3.2.3 The Analysis of Jane and Mr. Bingleys Marriage.7 3.2.4 The Analysis of Darcy and Elizabeths Marriage83.3 Summary .84. The Importance of Womens Social Status on Marriage in Pride and Prejudice84.1 Womens Social Status in the Novel.84.1.1 The Social Status of the Bennet girls.8 4.1.2 The Social Status of Charlotte.9 4.1.3 The Social Status of Miss Bingley.94.2 The Cause for Womens Inferior Social Status .9 4.2.1 Social Prejudice against Women.9 4.2.2 Womens Subjection10 4.2.2.1 The View of Mrs. Bennet.10 4.2.2.2 The Attitude of Darcys Cousin.104.3 Summary.115. Other Factors Which Influence Womens Matrimonial in Pride and Prejudice.115.1 Money.115.2 True Love.125.3 Summary.136. Conclusion .13References .15摘要16Abstract: Jane Austen, contrary to male writers before her times, tells stories of women from a feminine point of view. She explores life of society and process of history and reveals her feminine marriage concept through a vivid and realistic description of marriage and family life. Although Jane Austen never got married, marriage is always the subject in her novels. Love is the foundation of marriage. Besides love, people should marry someone with equal status. Women were always discriminated by people in old times. In Pride and Prejudice, women are the most important roles. The author describes the emotional and social status in detail. And the readers can generally know about the women in the18th century from the book.In the 18th century England, one of the most important concerns in conventional marriage is social status which is mainly related to peoples birth and family background. People who had no high social status could be looked down upon though they owned a great deal of wealth. Therefore, based on the introduction to four main marriages in Pride and Prejudice, the paper explores womens social status which greatly influence their matrimonial ideas when choosing marriages, together with the analysis of the causes for womens inferior status. And some other factors which influence womens matrimonial ideas are also included. The paper is written designed to give enlightenments to modern people about what are really important in marriage and thus mold their proper matrimonial ideas.Key words: social status, marriage, matrimonial ideas1. Introduction:Virginia Woolf, one of the English novelists, once said: Among all the greatest novelists, Jane Austen was the most difficult to catch her greatness in the twinkling of eye. Among her six novels, there was no impassioned expression like Lord Byron, nor was there soulstirring realist description. Thus, here comes the question-What is the Janes greatness? It seems that our readers can just see those meetings, gathering, balls and other forms of social activites including dancing, drinking tea, playing cards, and uncountable walking and chatting. And then how can we understand her greatness?To review Jane Austens novels, all of them describe love and marriage which are too ordinary and feminine. However, love and marriage are an important part of life and Jane Austen reveals human nature and social features in her novels by describing those ordinary things that would happen in peoples daily life. In addition, love and marriage is the everlasting topic and Jane Austen observes and analyses them with such keen eyes that her greatness is easily proved. Obviously, Pride and Prejudice is Jane Austens most successful and popular book which is worth being studied deeply.In Pride and Prejudice, the author uses the ironic and humorous words to tell us a story of marriage and love. And more importantly she shows womens social status and their different ideas and choices in marriages. Pride and prejudice has always been the focus of peoples analysis and comment. This study is no more than a part of it with the purpose of giving enlightenments to modern people about what are really important in marriage and thus molding their proper matrimonial ideas. The paper begins with a brief introduction to Jane Austin and Pride and Prejudice. And then based on the introduction to four main marriages in Pride and Prejudice, the paper explores womens social status which greatly influence their matrimonial ideas when choosing marriages, together with the analysis of the causes for womens inferior status. And some other factors which influence womens matrimonial ideas are also included. 2. A Brief Introduction to Jane Austin and Her Pride and Prejudice2.1 A Brief Introduction to the AuthorJane Austen (16 December 1775 18 July 1817), is one of the English novelists whose works impress people past and present greatly. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most beloved writers in English literature. Jane was born as the seventh child of her family in Steventon, Hampshire. Although her family was neither wealthy nor social significant, her father, George Austen, had an interest in education. So after some years schooling, Jane was educated mainly at home. And sometimes, she wrote some satires for her familys entertainments. Austen lived in an open, amused, easy intellectual atmosphere at home, according to Park Honan, a biographer of Austen. Because of a clergymans daughter, Austen had plenty of opportunities to study the habits of the middle class and widely read the books and materials available; she acquired a thorough knowledge of English literature in 18th century. All those opportunities provide materials for her novels. Jane Austen wrote six complete novels: Sense and Sensibility (1811) , Pride and Prejudice (1813) , Mansfield Park (1814) , Emma (1815) , Northanger Abbey (1817) and Persuasion (1817). The first four novels were printed in her life time, but the last two were published after her death. Besides the six published novels, Jane Austen wrote many other works. Lady Susan was a short epistolary novel written by her. But it was also an unfinished novel. Juvenilia contains most of her early works, it has three volumes. She wrote poems, stories and plays for her familys amusements when she was in the childhood, and those works were compiled into Juvenilia.After the death of her father in 1805, Jane Austen lived with her mother and sister, first at Southampton and then at Chawton. During her time at Chawton, Jane Austen successfully published four novels, which were generally well-received. In the early of 1816, Jane was ill. She ignored her illness at first and continued to work and to participate in the family activities. During that time, she rewrote the final two chapters of The Elliots and began work on her new novel which she called The Brothers (After named Sandition). Because of the irregular deterioration of her illness, Austen died in Winchester on 18 July 1817, at the age of 41.“Janite” is used to refer to Janes devoted fans. It was first appeared in a preface to an 1894 edition of Pride and Prejudice written by George Edward Bateman Saintsbury (1845-1933). This word can show the influence of Jane Austens novels and her status in the English literature.2.2 A Brief Introduction to Pride and Prejudice Jane Austens novels primarily describe marriage. Pride and Prejudice is not an exception. In this great book, the author amply demonstrates her points about love and marriage. 2.2.1 Social BackgroundThe story of Pride and Prejudice took place in the time of Regency in Britain. During that time, Britain was at the period of transition from the earlier stage of Capitalism to Capitalist Industrialization. Nevertheless, the rich family in the countryside still held great power and right. On the other hand, many country squires were likely to fawn upon them. With the development of Capitalism, the gap between the rich and the poor became smaller and smaller. And money was more and more important in peoples mind. But the class distinction was not easy to change in peoples mind. The plutocrats live entirely on their income from rents and inheritances, all powers were in their hands. For the women of the time, life was largely restricted to the home and the family. For the poor and the lower-class women, there was ample work in the home and in the fields to keep them busy. But for the ladies of the upper-class, life was full of dances, dinners, cards, and visits to friends and relatives. They were not required to do any housework. The life of them was quite leisure and ease. The only thing they concerned was finding a rich man to marry. “Ladies” could find their “Prince Charming” through balls . Girls were introduced to society in the balls. Take the fact that travelling in Jane Austens time was mainly by carriages to show it. For instance, Elizabeth walked to Mr. Bingleys house to see her ill sister. And Miss Bingley was astonished to know she went there not by a carriage but covered with mud. She was looked down because a horse-drawn carriage emblem their social status.2.2.2 Cultural Background Pride and Prejudice appeared in 1813. As the second novel of Jane Austen, she put more emphasis on the realistic style. Her novel was unlike any other novels at that time, which were mainly romantic. “Austen was the first novelist to portray realistic characters by using the direct method of telling a story in which dialogue and comment take an important place. She used the method to dissect the hypocrisy of individuals and the society in which they played their games of love and courtship.” (Diane Sauder, 1978). Pride and Prejudice had the different characteristics of people at the time of Jane Austen. They represented most 18th century peoples thoughts and behaviors. Austens literature centered on character studies from the beginning. Family life was the center of her works. The traditional value and belief in responsibility and rationality could be seen every parts of her novels. In the Pride and Prejudice, women talked about mens power, income, and social status; Men discussed womens beauty and their social conditions. Marriage was founded on money and social status. Even though it is a novel about love and marriage, it is not romantic and emotional, but realistic and practical.2.2.3 Main Content of Pride and Prejudice Pride and Prejudice(1813), Austens masterpiece, was originally called First Impression. It showed the life of British society through the description of marriage. The story was about the four daughters marriage of the Bennetts. Mr. Bentley, a rich and upper-status gentleman,who moved from London fell in love with the tender and beautiful eldest daughter Jane. And his friend, Darcy, fell in love with the second daughter Elizabeth. Because Elizabeth listened to the young officers calumny about Darcy, she had a prejudice against him at first. After a series of interesting things, the misunderstanding was finally disappear. Darcy overcame his arrogance, Elizabeth also erased the prejudice against him, and they got married in the end . Meanwhile, the story also involved the marriage of the other two couples. Charlotte ,who was already 27-year-old, married Collins, a rich man and could be relied on in her mind . Lydia flied away with Wayne because of her frivolity and got married with the help of Darcy in the end. Austen sang the praises of the marriage based on mutual understanding and good faith through the description of the four different marriages. At the same time,she also expressed her irony on the marriage based on status, property, and ardor.To a certain extent, the novel also reflected the aspirations and ideals of marriage of the British women then.3. Marriages in Pride and PrejudiceMany people may think Pride and Prejudice is simply a love story. Actually, it also includes peoples matrimonial ideas and womens status in marriage. Women dont have the privilege to inherit their fathers possessions; they should marry rich men to have a better life.3.1 Peoples Ideas about MarriageJane Austens Pride and Prejudice describes that a “good” marriage should connect with a “good” social status. And that social status is based on the wealth. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. (Pride and Prejudice p.1) From the first sentence in the novel, we can see possession and fortune are the two important words at that time in the society. And the word “want” gives a chance for a girl to choose a single man who has possession and fortune. In this novel, womens marriage concept in the 18th century has been showed vividly to us. Women had three choices at Jane Austens time: to be a wife, an old maid or a home teacher. To young and beautiful girl, especially to those girls who had low position and little money, grabbing an aristocrat was the best way to escape from poverty. That could also bring them respect and settle them down. But in that period in Britain, man wanted to find a girl in the same rank as his own. The ideal marriage should be rational, but not impulsive or emotional. Mr. Darcy in the Pride and Prejudice was a man of this kind of thinking.However, people can not gain happiness from the marriage based on money and possession, instead, they can get happiness from the marriage based on love. Jane Austen mentioned this view in the novel more than once. At the same time, she also emphasized on the influences of ones characteristic on the marriage. The prejudice and the weakness in characteristics will change marriage in another way. Maybe that is why the author changed “First Impression” to “Pride and Prejudice”. Both Darcy and Elizabeths marriage and Mr. and Mrs. Bingleys marriage can prove this point. 3.2 Marriages in Pride and Prejudice3.2.1 The Analysis of Collins and Charlottes Marriage In Pride and Prejudice, Charlotte and Collins are the first couple to get married. Their marriage is out of any expectation. At first, Collins proposed to his cousinElizabeth, because he would inherit Mr. Bennets wealth, and he was kind of admiring her. Unexpectedly, Elizabeth refused him with sharp tongue. Then Charlotte got a chance to step in. She is not very pretty, and there is not much money for her to inherit. Collins finds comforts from Charlotte, and Charlotte finds a wealthy man she wants. They get married as quickly as lightening. But on the other hand, this is also very dull.3.2.2 The Analysis of Lydia and Wickhams Marriage Elizabeths little sisterLydias marriage is another practical marriage. Wichhams misbehavior leads him to meet Lydia. Lydia is impulsive, vain and immature. She is crazy about Wichhams handsome appearance and his boasts, even elopes with him. Elopement is an embarrassment at that time. After marriage, they dont love each other as much as before. And the marriage depends on the help of Darcy. This marriage is another one without love. They dont know the real meaning of love and marriage. Of course, this kind of marriage will become another tragedy in the end.3.2.3 The Analysis of Jane and Mr. Bingleys MarriageJane Bennet and Charles Bingley is another happy couple, and is an ideal in most peoples eyes. They are Elizabeths beautiful elder sister and Darcys wealthy best friend. They first meet at the ball in Meryton and enjoy an immediate mutual attraction. Because Jane is a reserved girl, and Charles is made of excellent human dough, they lost many chances to show their love for each other. Although they have some sorts of difficulties and setbacks, they still get married. Strictly, Darcy and Elizabeths marriage is influenced by their marriage. 3.2.4 The Analysis of Darcy and Elizabeths Marriage The woman protagonist in the book Elizabeth comes from the landlords family. Elizabeth Bennet and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy has a romantic clash between each other on the ball. Elizabeth has a prejudice against Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Darcy looks down on the country girlthough she is very beautiful. Elizabeths prejudice against him is a reason for their misunderstanding, but the main reason is Darcys arrogance that she dislikes most. Besides the pride and prejudice, they experience many unexpected things, and then know more about each other. In the end, they fall in love and have a wonderful marriage. Love in this marriage emphasizes the its importance of the ideal marriage, and regards men and womens emotion as the foundation stone. 3.3 Summary There a