Jacqueline Barrett
During the early nineteenth century most of Europe experienced a dramatic transformation. Accompanying the greater emphasis on reason during the Enlightenment was a zealous exploration of human nature. Several Europeans, such as Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Voltaire, inspired by these novel ideas, questioned tradition and began to suggest restructuring society in accordance with these principles. They advocated reform of the previously conservative and unchanging institutions of government, religion, and society to mirror individual values such as equality. Although Austen failed to embrace the revolutionary ideas espoused by her radical contemporaries, she nonetheless saw value in reevaluating the antiquated premises upon which English society was based. Through her portrayal of marriage in Pride and Prejudice, the author takes an evolutionary perspective which synthesizes individual and community values. Austen breaks from the conservative tradition of maintaining a hierarchy founded on wealth and social status in order to advocate a new structure based on individual merit.
Austen takes a critical stance toward the community-based values of conservative society as seen by the unhappiness of those who strictly adhere to them in marriage. In general, the community values at the time focused on maintaining a sense of permanence and stability. These conservative ideas were especially important in terms of social structure. Members of wealthy, established families married other members of wealthy, established families. And the same was also seen in both the middle and professional classes.
This way, the respective classes as a whole were able to preserve their values and a sense of security. Duty also clearly played a role in this system based on community values. Not only did individuals have a duty to those above them in the social hierarchy, but also a duty to members of their class. The community-based idea of duty is especially strong in the marriage between Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins. Austen documents their unemotional proposal by stating, “In as short a time as Mr. Collins’s long speeches would allow, everything was settled between them to the satisfaction of both; as they entered the house, he earnestly entreated her to name the day that was to make him the happiest of men . . .” Instead of thoroughly describing the affair, Austen only dedicates a few sentences to the actual proposal. Since the characters lacked any true attachment to each other, any feelings that were expressed during this scene would have been contrived. Both characters merely act the way they think engaged people are supposed to act, since they are getting married for very calculated reasons.
Charlotte and Mr. Collins are of the same newly established and educated class and therefore not offending anyone else with their marriage. Both Charlotte and Mr. Collins fail to take their individual feelings into consideration when they conform to the social values and act out of duty. Charlotte marries not because she is in love, but in order to live a comfortable life without burdening her parents. Mr. Collins marries only because he thinks it is what a clergyman should do and in order to appease his patron, Lady Catherine De Bourgh. Although they are of the same class, Charlotte is clearly superior in both manners and intelligence. Both individuals would have found greater happiness if they had been focused more on the compatibility of their partner, rather than conforming to the community values. The fact that this marriage is both unfulfilling and unaffectionate is telling of Austen’s opinion. She feels less emphasis should be placed on preserving the social hierarchy, and more attention given to individual preferences, even if this contradicts the social message.Austen continues to build upon this idea by portraying another unhappy marriage based solely on community values. The circumstances of the proposal between Lydia and Mr. Wickham are noted in a letter sent to Elizabeth by her aunt. She writes, “. . . his situation must have been benefitted by marriage. By the found, in reply to this question, that Wickham still cherished the hope of more effectually making his fortune by marriage, in some other country . . . Wickham, of course, wanted more than he could get; but at length was reduced to be reasonable” (PP 313). Although this marriage was unlike the one between the Collinses, it was also based on community values. The two were forced to marry in order to preserve Lydia’s reputation during a time when a woman’s virtue was everything. By extension, the reputations of the rest of the Bennet family remain intact. This union actually closely resembled a financial transaction in that Wickham had to be bribed to marry Lydia. Since the community values were placed before individual needs, it is no surprise that the marriage was unsuccessful. Again, Austen portrays another marriage based solely on community values without real affection. Austen does not oppose marriages that maintain the social hierarchy and community as long as they are built on more than this. Individual preferences and merit should be a guiding force, even if community values are broken as a result.
The author contrasts these unfulfilling but uncontroversial marriages with successful marriages which tend to undermine the social hierarchy. Although the social structure is ignored, the couple gain something more valuable: compatibility. Austen describes the value of a union between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy by speculating, “It was a union that must have been to the advantage of both; by her ease and liveliness, his mind might have been softened, his manners improved; and from his judgment, information, and knowledge of the world, she must have received benefit of greater importance” (PP 302). The union between Elizabeth and Darcy breaks directly with community values which call for the preservation of the social hierarchy. By marrying Elizabeth, Darcy upsets his relatives and practically loses some of his respectability by gaining unfavorable connections. Elizabeth also breaks with the convention established by the community as well, although in a different way. Mr. Darcy’s aloofness had made him unattractive to most of the neighborhood, so she finds a marriage partner who is disapproved of even if he is rich.
Since both Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy need to overcome so many obstacles as a result of their class difference, they ensure that their relationship is built on enduring and compatible qualities. Elizabeth is able to successfully move into a higher class because her intelligence and personality are a match for the highly educated Darcy. The same is true of Jane and Bingley as a couple although they do not need to overcome as great of an obstacle since they are closer in terms of class. Overall, it seems as though Austen calls for a restructuring of society in which the most deserving can seamlessly advance. This is not to say that Austen would approve of just anyone making large social jumps. As critic Nicholas Marsh notes, “It is a cruel truth of Pride and Prejudice, that Mary Bennet could never occupy the social position Elizabeth attains, however hard she tries.”
This hypothetical match illustrates the principle of equality in which neither rank nor marriage determine marriage. An improbable marriage such as this could never occur, demonstrating that a break in community values should only occur for good reason.
Austen demonstrates the limits to individual ideals by focusing on an actual marriage based on equality. When discussing the unsuccessful relationship between Elizabeth’s parents, the author explains, “Her father, captivated by youth and beauty, and that appearance of good-humour which youth and beauty generally give, had married a woman whose weak understanding and illiberal mind had very early in their marriage put and end to all real affection for her” (PP 231). Austen provides background information on the marriage between the Bennet parents who were one of the only couples in this book to break the conventions established by their society. Mr. Bennet, a member of the landed gentry, married someone beneath him both in terms of money and social status. However, since this marriage was initially founded on fleeting “youth and beauty” rather than permanent interior qualities, this marriage was also doomed to fail. This marriage serves as a concrete illustration for Austen’s moderate stance on social mobility. The Bennets essentially stand for a couple who marry based on the belief of equality. They are much like the hypothetical couple of Mr. Darcy and Mary Bennet. While breaking the social hierarchy maintained by community values alone does not ruin a marriage, taking this idea a step farther to the notion of equality does. In her world, marriages in which the couple has neither intellectual nor social compatibility simply do not work. Social mobility and restructuring of the social order only work when talent and intelligence fill the gap made by differing social statuses. In this sense, Austen demonstrates her evolutionary stance on altering the regimented structure of society.
Through Austen’s exploration of the institution of marriage, she is able to discuss the dynamics between the individual and the community. She rejects the conservative idea of permanence in the social structure for the sole sake of maintaining tradition and community values. Austen ridicules marriages based only on community values by satirizing the union of couples within the same social class. These marriages allow community values to reign to the point that they resemble detached financial transactions. In these instances, the individual is completely ignored. Instead, the author allows talent and intelligence to dictate social mobility, shifting attention toward individual values. It is important to remember that Austen takes a very moderate stance, however. What she suggests is a far cry from the purely individual idea of equality. She still maintains a social hierarchy, even if it is somewhat restructured. This idea of allowing merit to determine one’s future is probably one of the reasons the book resonates so well with contemporary audiences. Even though she limits her thoughts to the narrow frame of marriage, her ideas can be applied to other areas of life. Essentially, Austen hints at the American dream with an early nineteenth- century English spin on it. Just as the most worthy women in the book are rewarded with successful marriages, the most worthy in society are able to achieve prosperity.
Work Cited
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice.