Pride and Prejudice introduces Mrs. Bennet, who looks forward to the arrival of the rich, young man, Mr. Bingley, who will hopefully marry one of her five daughters. During the ball, Mr. Bingley shows great affection to Jane Bennet, whereas Mr. Darcy now holds the reputation of a wealthy yet selfish and prideful gentleman. As Jane and Bingley's relationship rises upwards, Caroline Bingley shows extreme hatred and jealousy towards the Bennets. Later, Mr. Darcy finds himself falling for Elizabeth Bennet, although she despises him for various reasons: he prevented her sister, Jane, and Mr. Bingley from seeing each other, breaking their relationship; George Wickham, Mr. Darcy's former friend, had said that he stole Wickham's inherited money from his father's master, late Mr. Darcy. However, it is soon discovered from his apological letter that Mr. Darcy had only tried separating Bingley and Jane as he thought it unsuitable for his friend to get attached to the Bennet family with its lack of wealth. George Wickham is also found to be lying and spent all his inheritance partying. Meanwhile, Mr. Collins becomes engaged to Elizabeth's best friend, Charlotte; Jane and Mr. Bingley happily reunite and marry; Wickham ends up married to Lydia Bennet, an unalert and naive girl; whereas Elizabeth accepts Mr. Darcy's proposal.
In most Victorian Era marriage cases, people of the same social class, similar financial condition, or same personality are well matched. The Bennet family’s marriages’ fulfillment of the Victorian Era trend varies and depends on accounting for social status, wealth, and behavior. In the novel, the Bennet sisters’ marriages include the engagement between Jane and Mr. Bingley, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, and Lydia and George Wickham. When focusing on social status and wealth, marriages do not necessarily fulfill the marriage trend of the Victorian Era. While the Bennet sisters are of middle class in social status and wealth, Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy are of higher class, whereas Wickham can be seen as a lower-class person. However, when the perspective shifts to the overall personality and behavior of each character, the matches are relatively more relevant and suitable. Jane and Mr. Bingley both possess gentleman and lady-like attitudes, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are both respectable and distinguished, and Lydia and Wickham are both unrealistic, naive, and half-witted. Overall, when having the requirements of both similar personality and social status, the Bennet sisters’ marriages aren’t extremely well-matched and are abnormal. Moreover, the Bennet parents most certainly don’t have the smoothest or normal marriage. From the novel, it is shown that they have quite a few quarrels and arguments now and then over nearly everything concerning their daughters’ future. Both sides have significantly different opinions and attitudes, causing the imbalanced condition of their relationship. Overall speaking, the Bennet family’s marriage theories do not necessarily fulfill the requirements of a suitable and matching Victorian-era marriage trend.
The increasing number of marriages that do not fulfill the Victorian-era trend impacted the significance of social status in modern marriages. The marriages that were once considered abnormal, much like the Bennet family’s marriages, are part of the majority nowadays. The novel shows the many marriages centering around the Bennet family, with most of them as abnormal marriages, or marriages when the two sides are part of different social statuses and social wealth. The Bennet family’s marriages, and many others, have created a significant impact on modern marriages, where matches of different social classes are no longer considered special and different. Modern marriage nowadays, especially in the West, is more focused on pure love; it is focused on the idea that two people meet, fall in love, and marry, instead of stressing about the difference in social class and financial conditions. In addition, people are relatively less pressured when choosing a marriage match, as divorces are common nowadays and the ability to make a new decision in marriage is available, people think less of their choices, unlike in the Victorian era, where marriage was seen as a more permanent relationship. The Bennet family and other abnormal marriages in the Victorian Era influenced modern marriage nowadays.
Nowadays, people’s opinions of marriage material, or a marriage that is compatible in the long term, are growing increasingly different from people’s opinions during older eras. Marriage material is a relationship where the other is extremely compatible and where the couple can live long-term together, which also signifies a high level of respect. The novel shows the past opinion of marriage material and emphasizes its difference from the modern opinion made by young people nowadays. Especially in the Victorian era, marriage material was considered to be an essential need in adulthood. Everyone was required to get married, but in more modern times, the amount long-term marriages is decreasing. Nowadays, more people are establishing a stable family in their 40s or even older, and the amount of people who stay single has doubled since 1960. In Pride and Prejudice, the need to get married off when one is still young is emphasized. In even earlier times, such as the time segment surrounding Ancient Egypt, people were required to get married off in their early teens. In more modern times, the need to get married at a young age is getting less and less important. Now, people prefer late marriage because they want economic empowerment: if people study longer to get a master's or doctor’s degree, then their marriage age would be relatively later than normal. Career goals also delay people’s marriage ages; some are delayed so late that people don’t see any point in marrying anymore. Throughout the advancement of the world, people nowadays are less interested in long-term relationships or marriage material and prefer late marriage.
In Pride and Prejudice, many different marriages centering different social classes and characters are introduced, such as the engagements between Jane and Bingley, Elizabeth and Darcy, Lydia and Wickham, and Charlotte and Collins. The Bennet family’s marriages don’t necessarily fulfill the proper marriage trend of the Victorian Era, as their marriages include people from a variety of social classes, social statuses, and wealth. Moreover, these once-considered abnormal marriages have impacted and influenced modern marriages nowadays. In more modern times, the number of abnormal marriages is increasing rapidly, along with late marriages. Young people now prefer late marriages, as they desire economic empowerment; reaching one’s career goals causes marriage to get delayed, so more people are starting to marry in their older years, much unlike the pattern and trends in the Victorian Era.
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