"Love & Marriage" in "Pride & Prejudice"

"Love & Marriage" in "Pride & Prejudice"
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." Jane Austen stated the main subject of the novel is stated in the first sentence. In this statement, Jane has cleverly done three things: she has declared that the main subject of the novel will be courtship and marriage; she has established the humorous tone of the novel by taking a simple subject to elaborate and to speak intelligently of, and she has prepared the reader for a chase in the novel of either a husband in reach of a wife, or a woman in pursuit of a husband. All the five marriages in the novel contrast each other to reveal Jane's opinions and thoughts on the subject of marriage.
The marriage between Darcy and Elizabeth reveals the characteristics, which constitutes a successful marriage. One of these characteristics is that the feeling cannot be brought on by appearances, and must gradually develop between the two people as they get to know one another. In the beginning Elizabeth and Darcy were distant from each other because of their prejudice. The series of events, which they both experienced, gave them the opportunity to understand one another and the time to reconcile their feelings for each other. Thus, their mutual understanding is the foundation of their relationship and will lead them to a peaceful and lasting marriage. This relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy reveals the importance of getting to know one's partner before marrying. At the end, Elizabeth feels the pure sincerity of Darcy.
"She began now to comprehend that he was exactly the man, who in disposition and talents would most suit to her". So, Elizabeth and Darcy's marriage is marriage of dissimilarity and long understanding and we know that long understanding always helps in judging positive and negative points of each other. In this way their marriage is a successful marriage.
The marriage between Jane and Bingley is also an example of successful marriage. Jane Austen, through Elizabeth, expresses her opinion of this in the novel "really, believed all his (Bingley) expectations of felicity, to be rationally founded, because they had for basis the excellent understanding, and super excellent disposition of Jane, and a general similarity of feeling and taste between her and himself."
However, unlike Darcy and Elizabeth, there is a plan in their relationships. The flow in that both characters are too gullible and too good-hearted to ever act strongly against external forces that may attempt to separate them.
Mr. Bennet says: "You (Jane and Bingley) are each of you so complying, that nothing will ever be resolved on; so easy, that every servant will cheat you; and so generous, that you will always exceed your income." So, their marriage is in between success and failure.
Obviously, Lydia and Wickham's marriage is an example of bad marriage. Their marriage was based on appearances, good looks, and sensual or sexual pleasures and youthful vivacity. Once each other can no longer see these qualities, the once strong relationship will solemnly fade away. As in the novel, Lydia and Wickham's marriage gradually disintegrates. Lydia becomes a regular visitor at her two elder sisters’ home and "her husband was gone to enjoy himself in London or Bath." Through their relationship Jane Austen shows that hasty marriage based on superficial qualities quickly looks and leads to unhappiness.
Marriage of Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet was similar to that of Lydia and Wickham. Mr. Bennt had married a woman he found sexually attractive without realizing she was an unintelligent woman. Mrs. Bennet's favouritism towards Lydia and her comments on how she was once as energetic as Lydia reveals this similarity. Mr. Bennet's comment on Wickham being his favourite son-in-law reinforces this parallelism. The effect of the relationships was that Mr. Bennet would isolate himself from his family, he found refuge in his library or in mocking his wife. Mr. Bennet's self-realization at the end of the novel in which he discovers that his lack of attention towards his family had lead his family to develop the way they are, was too late to save his family. He is Jane Austen's example of a weak father. Austen says about Mrs. Bennet: "she was a woman of mean understanding, little information and uncertain temperament, the business of her life was to get her daughters marry. Therefore, her solace was visiting and views."
About their marriage: “Her father captivating by youth and beauty and that appearance of good humour, with youth and beauty generally gave, had married a woman whose weak understanding and illiberal mind had very early in their marriage put an end to all real affection for her. Respect, esteem and confidence had vanished forever and all his veins of domestic happiness were over thrown."
In these two later relationships, Austen shows that it is necessary to use good judgment to select a spouse; otherwise the two people will lose respect for each other.
The last example of a marriage is of a different nature them the ones mentioned above. The marriage between Mr. Collins and Charlotte is based on economics rather them on love or appearance. It was a common practice during Austen's time for women to marry a husband to save her from spinsterhood or to gain financial security. However, Jane Austen dramatizes this form of women inequality and shows that women who submits them to this type of marriage will have to suffer in tormenting silence as Charlotte does.
"When Mr. Collins said anything of which his wife might reasonably be ashamed, which certainly was not unseldom, she (Elizabeth) would involuntarily turned her eye on Charlotte. Once or twice she could discern a faint blush; but in general Charlotte wisely did not hear."
In Pride and Prejudice Jane has denounced the elements of Marriage and society that she found distasteful. These five marriages contribute that a happy and strong marriage takes time to build and must be based on mutual feeling, understanding, and respect. Hasty marriages acting on impulse and based on superficial qualities will not survive and will lead to inevitable unhappiness. In this novel, “Love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage."