Jane Austen's Views on Marriage and Relationship as Depicted in Pride and Prejudice

Abstract

Aim: This study examines Jane Austen’s views on love, marriage, and women’s autonomy in Pride and Prejudice, highlighting how the novel negotiates emotional compatibility, moral integrity, and financial security in marital choice. Focusing on Elizabeth Bennet’s relationships with Mr. Collins, Mr. Wickham, and Mr. Darcy, it argues that Austen rejects both marriages based solely on wealth and unions formed without economic prudence.

Methodology and Approach: The research adopts a qualitative, text-centered approach grounded in close reading of Pride and Prejudice (Austen, 1813/2005) and supported by relevant secondary criticism. Key moments of proposals, refusals, and shifting affections—Elizabeth’s responses to Collins and Darcy, her attraction to Wickham, and her eventual union with Darcy—are examined within their narrative and social contexts.

Outcome: The findings show that Elizabeth embodies Austen’s rational heroine, rejecting financial expediency without affection and romance without stability. Her marriage to Darcy becomes possible only after mutual moral growth, self-correction, and recognition of economic compatibility.

Conclusion and Suggestions: Austen’s Pride and Prejudice presents a pragmatic yet progressive model of marriage, where moral integrity and mutual esteem are central, financial security is necessary, and affection provides enduring cohesion. Elizabeth’s development underscores women’s agency through discernment and self-awareness within social constraints.