Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, set against the backdrop of the early 19th century, offers a vivid portrayal of societal norms and expectations, especially concerning marriage. The Bennett family, with its five daughters and financial concerns, becomes a lens through which Austen critiques the prevailing attitudes towards matrimony. Pride and Prejudice depicts the life of the Bennet family, focusing particularly on that of Elizabeth Bennet. The initial chapters tell of the visit of a group of high-class people and the ensuing ball that takes place. The story introduces us to the Bennet family, particularly Mr and Mrs. Bennet, and puts special focus on their two eldest daughters, Jane and Elizabeth Bennet. The initial chapters tell of the visit of a group of high-class people and the ensuing ball that takes place. The story introduces us to the Bennet family, particularly Mr and Mrs. Bennet, and puts special focus on their two eldest daughters, Jane and Elizabeth Bennet. This family serves to embody the traits of the Victorian Era, and Elizabeth Bennet in particular serves as a sort of exception to the others. There is additionally present a character worthy of specific mention. Charlotte Lucas, the daughter of the Lucas family, is an unique character that doesn’t quite conform to modern or Victorian standards.
There are various situations within the story where a sort of fake love is mentioned. However, no other example is as notable as that of Charlotte Lucas. In the case of Charlotte Lucas, marriage isn’t about love or happiness—they instead care about maintaining or improving their situation in life. Charlotte herself confides in Elizabeth that “I am not romantic, you know; I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins’s character, connection, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state” (Austen 89). The presence of this mindset allows Charlotte Lucas to stand out as a nonconformist within the tale of Pride and Prejudice, breaking both traditional Victorian era norms as well modern norms. It is important to note that this sort of mindset for a marriage isn’t all that bad.
The detrimental side of entering into this sort of relationship should be pretty plain cut. Charlotte is now stuck for the rest of her life in a relationship with a companion she is indifferent towards. Furthermore, her husband, Mr. Collins, is implied at various points to be stupid, uncivil, and overall unpleasant. Near the beginning of the story, when Mr. Collins is brought up, Mrs. Bennet is seen to have an intense dislike of him: “I cannot bear to hear that mentioned. Pray do not talk of that odious man. I do think it is the hardest thing in the world, that your estate should be entailed away from your own children; and I am sure, if I had been you, I should have tried long ago to do something or other about it” (Austen 43). Similarly, later on, the third-person omniscient provides us with some background regarding his education and his manners: “Mr. Collins was not a sensible man, and the deficiency of nature had been but little assisted by education or society; the greatest part of his life having been spent under the guidance of an illiterate and miserly father; and though he belonged to one of the universities, he had merely kept the necessary terms, without forming at it any useful acquaintance” (Austen 49). Additionally, as it is customary for a Victorian woman during marriage to take up residence with her husband, Charlotte Lucas would have to go live with Mr. Collins. Mr. Collins happened across Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who became his patron. Charlotte now, if she moves in with Mr. Collins, would have to live as a neighbor next to Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who we are introduced to as an incivil and odious woman: “Her air was not conciliating, nor was her manner of receiving them such as to make her visitors forget their inferior rank. She was not rendered formidable by silence; but whatever she said was spoken in so authoritative a tone, as marked her self-importance” (Austen 113).
Some of the benefits of this marriage are also quite obvious to the reader. For one, Charlotte is able to obtain quite a luxurious living condition for the rest of her life, due to Mr. Collins’s steady income. Furthermore, Mr. Collins is set to inherit the entirety of the Bennet family’s Longbourne estate, and as Mr. Collins' wife she is hence set to receive a part of it. Furthermore, her living conditions would be improved quite drastically, as she would live on the Rosings estate of Lady Catherine, which is earlier described as beautiful, lavish, and expensive: “he declared he might almost have supposed himself in the small summer breakfast parlour at Rosings; a comparison that did not at first convey much gratification; but when Mrs. Phillips understood from him what Rosings was, and who was its proprietor—when she had listened to the description of only one of Lady Catherine’s drawing-rooms, and found that the chimney-piece alone had cost eight hundred pounds” (Austen 53). Other benefits may be less obvious; for instance, in doing this, Charlotte also fulfills the wishes of her parents, having effectively taken away the Longbourne estate from the Bennet family, their direct competitor. Additionally, happiness isn’t for the reader to determine; later in the story, Charlotte expresses her happiness at her current situation in life perfectly well.
In conclusion, Pride and Prejudice could be interpreted as not just a satire of Victorian era traditions and marriage norms, but could also be interpreted as a general satirization of love and marriage itself. The presence of Charlotte Lucas as a nonconforming person expresses clearly the intent to satirize existing norms, further emphasized by Charlotte’s later happiness in her situation.
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