在简•奥斯丁最受欢迎的小说《傲慢与偏见》中，她用温和、幽默的方式描写了英国中上层社会中妇女对婚姻的热切追求。作为一名女性作家，她通过描述反映十八世纪英国社会的婚姻状况及其价值取向的几对男女的婚恋关系和故事，展现了不同人物对婚姻的不同态度。
Abstract
The most popular of Jane Austen’s works is Pride and Prejudice, in which she describes the women’s eager pursuit of marriage in the British upper-middle class society in a mildly humorous way. As a female writer, she shows different characters’ attitudes toward different marriages by depicting a few couples whose relations and stories reflect the marriage situations and the conventional views on marriage in the British society in the 18th century. The ideal pattern of marriage is that of Elizabeth and Darcy. The whole novel is filled with the writer’s wisdom and insight. Her opinions cannot escape from the reach of her living circle, and her novel reveals some of her views on the worldly life. Jane Austen thinks that love, morality and common interests are three important elements in a marriage. She opposes a marriage for the sake of property, lust and appearance. In Pride and Prejudice, the marriage between Charlotte and Collins is based on property, the marriage between Elizabeth and Darcy is an ideal one, the marriage between Lydia and Wickham is caused by lust, the marriage between Jane and Bingley is created by love, the marriage between Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet is for the sake of appearance, and the marriage between Mr. Gardiner and Mrs. Gardiner is based on common interests.
Jane Austen (1775-1817), a most well-known female writer in the history of English literature, was born into the family of a country clergyman at Steventon in southern England. She was beautiful, amorous and full of talent, but she never got married in her life. However, it is she who has brought wonders before the eyes of the readers. Pride and Prejudice is her magnum opus, in which she describes vividly and incisively the women’s eager pursuit of marriage in the British upper-middle class society. She tries to convey her view that marriage is related to a woman’s life happiness.
Part II Different Patterns of Marriage in Pride and Prejudice
2.1 Marriage Based on Property
The marriage between Charlotte and Collins is first realized in the novel Pride and Prejudice. At the very beginning of the first chapter, Jane Austen writes, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” (Austen, 1946: 1). This opening sentence is a good reflexion of a most popular opinion of marriage in the period when Jane Austen lived. Here the two aspects “fortune” and “want” play decisive roles in the novel. In the marriage between Charlotte and Collins, “fortune” is the basis, and “want” is the chance for Charlotte. The two aspects at last provide the possibility of their marriage. Obviously, the marriage between Charlotte and Collins is a reflexion of the “truth universally acknowledged”. Their combination results from the consideration of property and need.
2.3 Marriage Caused by Lust
2.4 Marriage Created by Love
2.5 Marriage for the Sake of Appearance
2.6 Marriage Based on Common Interests
Part III Conclusion
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