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1、On Jane Austens Point of View of Marriage inPride and PrejudiceAcknowledgementsThis thesis has finally come into being to meet critical eyes through two months of hard work. From the very beginning when I chose the topic till the completion of the thesis, I have benefited from many people . First of
2、 all I would like to show my sincere gratitude to my tutor, Shen Guozheng. Without his sincere and trustworthy guidance，valuable suggestions and critical comments，it would be difficult for me to accomplish this thesisHis loyalty to teaching and punctilious work style has profoundly impressed me.More
3、over, I heartily thank all the teachers who have helped me in the past four years, who have provided me with incentives and direction for my study. Thanks are also due to my classmates and friends for their constant encouragement and their ways of assistance in the course of writing. Last but not le
4、ast, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my family members, for their selfless support，thoughtfulness and encouragementAbstractJane Austen was one of the distinguished realistic novelists in the nineteenth- century-English literaturePride and Prejudice is a world wide popular novel publis
5、hed in 1813Austen set the story in the first decade of the nineteenth centuryAt that time，marriage was the only way for women to gain social status and recognition. The author of the present thesis will analyze the five marriage patterns from the perspective of sociohistorical literary criticism to
6、explore the important role that money and love plays in marriage. It can be seen clearly that Austen fully expresses her original views on marriage：property, social status and love are three indispensable elements in a marriageIt is wrong to marry for money，but it is unwise to marry without money. A
7、ustens views on marriage emphasize love and economic condition, but love plays the significant role，which is the predominant aspect at Austens time. The thesis tries to draw some inspiration from Austen and provide some hints for modern women in their view of marriage, and add something new into the
8、 literary criticism of the great work of Jane Austen.Key Words：Pride and Prejudice; views on marriage; love; property; realistic significance内容摘要简奥斯汀是十九世纪英国文学史上最伟大的现实主义小说家之一。她的傲慢与偏见于1813年问世，是一部享誉世界的著名小说。小说将故事情节置于十九世纪初，十九世纪的英国，婚姻是女性获得社会地位和社会认知的唯一途径。本文使用社会历史批评的方法来分析小说中五种不同类型的婚姻，探讨金钱与爱情在婚姻中的重要作用，从而得出作者
9、简奥斯汀的婚姻观：财产、门第和爱情是婚姻中必不可少的三个因素，为了金钱而结婚是错误的，然而缺少金钱的婚姻也是不明智的。奥斯汀的婚姻观强调爱情和经济条件，但是爱情起着重要的作用，这一点在奥斯汀所处时代是有重要意义的。本文作者意在借用奥斯汀的一些进步观点为现代女性在婚姻观方面提供一些借鉴，同时为使用文学批评方法研究奥斯汀的这一著作增添一些新的东西。关键词：傲慢与偏见；婚姻观；爱情；财产；现实意义ContentsAcknowledgements. Abstract(English) Abstract(Chinese)1.Introduction. 12.Sociohistorial literary
10、 criticism 13.Sociohistorical analysis of five marriages in Pride and Prejudice 23.1 Mr. and Mrs. Bennet 33.2 Jane and Bingley 43.3 Elizabeth and Darcy 53.4 Lydia and Wickham 53.5 Charlotte and Collins 64.Significance of Austens views on marriage in Pride and Prejudice 74.1 Progressiveness of Austen
11、s views on marriage 84.2 Limitation of Austens views on marriage 85.Conclusion. 9Works Cited. 111. IntroductionJane Austen was one of the distinguished English novelists of the nineteenth centuryShe was born on December 16，1775，in the village of Steventon Hampshire，EnglandAs a daughter of a country
12、clergyman，Austen never entered a formal school，but she was well educated by her family. At the age of about twelve，Austen began to writeShe wrote and completed six novels and three minor writings in her life timeShe was obviously a fruitful novelist and engaged in writing for all her life“She is sai
13、d to have the equal name as Sir Walter Scott”(Duckworth 23).Both in the west and in China, Pride and Prejudice has got great attention from the critics and many critics have commented it from sociohistorical aspectAlthough some scholars analyzed Austens views on marriage，the marriage of Mr. and Mrs.
14、 Bennet is often neglectedSo the thesis aims to make a deep analysis of marriages in Pride and Prejudice，in order that we can fully understand the original views on marriage，and can add something new into the literary criticism of the great work of Jane AustenLike her other novels，Pride and Prejudic
15、e focuses on five families in the townThe main characters are the ladies from the genteel class. Austen uses characters as literary devices to show the relationship between married for love and married for alternative reasonsMarriage was thought to be the single possible fulfillment for a woman at t
16、he time when Austen wrote the novelMarriage played an important role in womens lifeThe author of the present thesis will analyze the five marriage patterns from the perspective of sociohistorical literary criticism. Part one is a brief introduction of Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice. Part two wi
17、ll introduce sociohistorical literary criticism in a brief way, and next the thesis will present a sociohistorical anslysis of five marriages in Pride and Prejudice. Part four is the significance of Austens views on marriage. The positive aspects that Austen emphasizes on love between male and femal
18、e and on womens education are included, as well as the limitation. The last part of the thesis is conclusion. Although women become independent in economy, marriage is still their important life goalAustens views on marriage give useful advice for selecting their proper mates 2. Sociohistorical lite
19、rary criticismSociohistorical literary criticism first appeared in Italy, but became popular in FranceIt emphasizes the relationship between literary and social activitiesIt is thought that literary represents the life and forms in a certain social and historical environmentSo the main literary valu
20、e lies in its understanding of the social function and historical significanceThe principle of it is that analyzing，understanding and evaluation of a literary work will be taken into consideration of the works social and historical background and the writers life and other experiences. Therefore, th
21、e analysis of literature must be started from the social and historical situationSociohistorical approach has four main characteristics：1Analyzing literary works through specific social and historical contextEach literary work belongs to its age and its people，each has its own special environmentIt
22、needs to be placed in the times it has been created2To regard works as a cognitive model to deep understanding of the communitySocial and historical criticism tries to analyze works social background so as to deeply understand society3To view the degree of reflecting the reality as an important crit
23、erion to judge the workSocial and historical criticism requires the writers to reflect real life，and to advocate creation of typical images，that is to see the universality from specificity in order to reflect the reality of real life4When explaining a literary work，society, class and political facto
24、rs are always in first place so as to explore works social，class and political valueSocial and historical criticism has the significance of the original criticisms，as literature is always a product of social historyUsing historical perspective to search for the spiritual relations between literary a
25、nd social history, and combine the reality of society and historical continuity, in order that given due attention to the complex diversity of literary and social historyThat is just the essence of social and historical criticism3. Sociohistorical analysis of five marriages in Pride and PrejudiceIn
26、Pride and Prejudice，Austen opens with a direct reference to money marriage and shows that how the delicate human emotions interact with and are influenced by financial considerations. The brilliant first sentence outlines the plot and states the underlying theme of social criticism：“It is a truth un
27、iversally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife”(Austen 1)“a good fortune” and “in want of”are two key phrases“in want of” means the single man needs a wife objectively, while “a good fortune” means that single man becomes a subjective target of the
28、 girl who wants to capture him as husbandSuch kind of words makes the proposition have more objectivity of “truth”Womens choices in Jane Austens society were severely limitedMarriage was not merely a problem of love；what is more，it was a problem of economyBoth Austen and her heroines are more intere
29、sted in money than in other more important considerations when it comes to choosing husbandsHowever, it does not mean that Austens views on marriage are vulgar. On the contrary, they truly reflect the social and historical conventions of her timeAs a female writer of womens love and marriage at her
30、time，Jane Austen describes marriage as more for convenience rather than compatibilityMarriage is based on economic and social backgroundsIn other words，it is far more based on money and not on 1oveThroughout Pride and Prejudice，Austens views on marriage are conveyed through the marriage of several d
31、ifferent characters and their marriage patterns.3.1 Mr. and Mrs. BennetThe marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet is a typical instance of the traditional marriage in the eighteenth centuryTheir marriage quite dearly shows that the two have never experienced much mutual love and is done mostly for financia
32、l benefit. It is a safe preserve to Mrs. Bennet，but is a tragedy to Mr. Bennet.Austen depicts Mrs. Bennet as a simple-minded pretty woman who frequently complains about her nerve:Her mind was less difficult to developShe was a woman of mean understanding，little information，and uncertain temper. When
33、 she was discontented she fancied herself nervousThe business of her life was to get her daughters married；its solace was visiting and news(Austen 3)Mr. Bennet is an intelligent and witty manHe “was so odd a mixture of quick parts，sarcastic humor, reserve and caprice，that the experience of three and
34、 twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character”(Austen 3)It shows that there is no marital happiness of emotional and intellectual understanding between the coupleMr. Bennet married for beauty and moneyAfter marriage，he soon realized that Mrs. Bennet，due to her intelle
35、ctual weakness and narrow vision，would not make her an ideal wifeHe puts an end to all real affection for herTo Mrand Mrs. Bennet，their marriage is a social responsibility, even when love disappears，the marriage still can be continuingThrough their marriage，Austen tries to show that Mrs. Bennet is u
36、nfairly treated，and the womens social status is very low in the patriarchal societyAs a typical woman of that time，she was merely educated in pleasing the maleBut in the real lifeshe could not satisfy with her husbandAusten seems to ridicule Mrs. Bennet，in fact，she criticizes this unequal society. S
37、he believes that both men and women should enjoy equal treatmentAlthough the world is dominated by men，and men are considered as intelligent and sensible，not all of them are qualifiedMr. Bennet provides a good exampleHe has intelligence and insights，but he is not a qualified husband，nor a qualified
38、father3.2 Jane and BingleyJane，the eldest daughter of Bennet family, is a good-natured and gentle woman with introverted dispositionBingley is a wealthy, handsome，cordial and simple young man who is easy to approach and constant in loveAt a dancing party in Meryton，Jane and Bingley fall in love with
39、 each other at first sightJane expresses her true feelings to Bingley：“He is just what a young man ought to be，”“sensible，good-humored，lively；and I never saw such happy manners!-so much ease，with such perfect good breeding” (Austen 10). In the eyes of Bingley, Jane is “the most beautiful creature I
40、ever beheld”(Austen 8)The marriage of Jane and Bingley is based on mutual loveBoth of them possess so many common virtuesThey are good-tempered and modestThey share a mutual understanding and always think best of othersHowever they also have weaknessesTo conceal her passions to Bingley shows that Ja
41、ne lacks strength and self-confidencePleasant and modest as he is，Bingley can not to be a man with strong and determined dispositionHis indecisive character determines that he lacks independence in his marriageBoth of them are weak in judgment and easy to be influenced by others so they need help in
42、 some momentsIt is fortunate enough that Jane and Bingley can always receive considerate and beneficial advice from Elizabeth and Darcy3.3 Elizabeth and DarcyElizabeth，the second daughter of Bennet family and the protagonist of Pride and Prejudice，is an intelligent and quick-witted young ladyShe is
43、Jane Austens own favorite and she wrote her sister when it appeared：“I must confess that I think her the heroine，Elizabeth as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print；and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least I do not know” (Rubinstein 345)Austens dreams which cou
44、ld not be realized in the reality have been realized by her favorite female creature in the novelElizabeth is certainly a striking and satisfactory self-portrait of AustenDarcy is a “fine，tall person，with handsome features，”(Austen 7). His proud is further emphasized with his offensive rejection of
45、dancing with ElizabethHowever, Darcy is increasingly attracted by Elizabeths dark eyes，disposition and intelligenceBut his haughty proposal insulted Elizabeths self-esteemShe feels that she is not treated equally with DarcyShe is by no means to sacrifice her self-respect to accept his offerThe tempt
46、ation of money and social status can not make her disregard the inequality between men and womenTherefore she firmly turned down his offer and rebukes him rashlyElizabeths refusal makes him recognize his faults of pride and social prejudiceThe visit to Darcys home makes Elizabeths judgment of Darcy
47、radically change and makes her recognize that she loves Darcy and she at last accepts a prefect-going DarcyThe marriage between Elizabeth and Darcy is an ideal oneIt is based on affection，esteem and passionIn the time when the couple lived，economic conditions and status took a significant role in marriageThey also have a great influence on Elizabeth and Darcys marriageWhen Elizabeth sees Pe
