Referring of course to Lydia and Wickham, in Pride and Prejudice.
Category Archives: Marriage
With such an husband…
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Filed under Images, Lydia Bennet, Marriage, Pride and Prejudice, Wickham
Marry? Mr. Collins?
“Mr. Collins to be sure was neither sensible nor agreeable; his society was irksome, and his attachment to her must be imaginary. But still he would be her husband. Without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it was the only honourable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want. This preservative she had now obtained; and at the age of twenty-seven, without having ever been handsome, she felt all the good luck of it.”
on Charlotte Lucas’s marrying Mr. Collins
Pride & Prejudice, Volume 1, Chapter 22
Filed under Charlotte Lucas, Marriage, Men, Money, Mr. Collins, Poverty, Pride and Prejudice
Provided she could marry well…
“Miss Crawford was glad to find a family of such consequence so very near them, and not at all displeased either at her sister’s early care, or the choice it had fallen on. Matrimony was her object, provided she could marry well, and having seen Mr. Bertram in town, she knew that objection could no more be made to his person than to his situation in life. While she treated it as a joke, therefore, she did not forget to think of it seriously.”
Mansfield Park, volume 1, chapter 4 (emphasis mine)
I want to condemn Mary Crawford for this sentiment, but no doubt it was the way (nearly) everyone thought then. And I wonder — how much have we really changed? Although my definition of marrying well and Mary Crawford’s are completely different.
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Filed under Mansfield Park, Marriage, Mary Crawford, Money, Money and Marriage
A new period of existence
“He had made his fortune, bought his house, and obtained his wife; and was beginning a new period of existence, with every probability of greater happiness than in any yet passed through.”
of Mr. Weston
Emma, volume 1, chapter 2
Who can be in doubt?
“Who can be in doubt of what followed? When any two young people take it into their heads to marry, they are pretty sure by perseverance to carry their point, be they ever so poor, or ever so imprudent, or ever so little likely to be necessary to each other’s ultimate comfort. This may be bad morality to conclude with, but I believe it to be truth; and if such parties succeed, how should a Captain Wentworth and an Anne Elliot, with the advantage of maturity of mind, consciousness of right, and one independent fortune between them, fail of bearing down every opposition?”
Persuasion, volume 2, chapter 12
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Filed under Anne Elliot, Capt. Wentworth, Marriage, Money, Money and Marriage, Persuasion
Marrying properly
“I would have everybody marry if they can do it properly; I do not like to have people throw themselves away; but everybody should marry as soon as they can do it to advantage.”
Mary Crawford
Mansfield Park, volume 1, chapter 4
Filed under Mansfield Park, Marriage, Mary Crawford, Money, Money and Marriage
Dear Mrs. Jennings
“It would be an excellent match, for he was rich, and she was handsome. . . . she was always anxious to get a good husband for every pretty girl.”
busybody Mrs. Jennings on why she thinks Marianne and Colonel Brandon should get together
Sense & Sensibility, volume 1, chapter 8
Filed under Beauty, Col. Brandon, Marianne, Marriage, Money, Money and Marriage, Mrs. Jennings, Sense and Sensibility, Wealth
That familiar truth
If we’re going to be talking about money, we have to revisit this old favorite.
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Filed under Illustrations, Marriage, Men, Money, Money and Marriage, Pride and Prejudice, Wealth
Imagination vs. truth
Marianne was astonished to find how much the imagination of her mother and herself had outstripped the truth.
Sense and Sensibility, volume 1, chapter 4
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Filed under Imagination, Marriage, Sense and Sensibility, Sense vs. Sensibility
The philosophy of a well-bred woman
. . . Lady Middleton resigned herself to the idea of it, with all the philosophy of a well-bred woman, contenting herself with merely giving her husband a gentle reprimand on the subject five or six times every day.
Sense and Sensibility, volume 1, chapter 21
Of Lady Middleton not wanting to receive a visit from the Miss Steeles
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Filed under Lady Middleton, Marriage, Self-deception, Sense and Sensibility
The Jane Austen Guide to Life: Thoughtful Lessons for the Modern Woman (May, 2012)
A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love, and Faith