Throughout "Pride and Prejudice", marriage is often upheld as the ultimate goal, whether or not romantic love is involved at all. This is clear from the very first line of the novel ("It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife"), and continues when, for instance, Elizabeth Bennett's friend Charlotte Lucas says that "happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance." However, Jane Austen shows the reader that real love is in fact a crucial part of a marriage. Moreover, she shows that sound love is based on both natural attraction, and both partners fully understanding and accepting each other.
For many characters in the novel, love and marriage don't exactly work out, and it's often because one key aspect is missing. For instance, Lydia running away with Wickham is entirely based on attraction and infatuation, and the fact that the two of them know next to nothing about each other means the union is doomed to fail. Charlotte Lucas, on the other hand, marries the "narrow-minded, silly" Mr. Collins, not because she feels any connection to him or understanding of him, but solely because he can provide her with a financially secure future. In both of these cases, a piece is missing, and a happy marriage seems impossible.
There's something to be said for the fact that Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy's relationship moves so slowly. While they're initially wary of each other, this gives them ample time to fully get to know one another, and by the time they agree to marry, they've seen each other at their best and worst. They know each other, and accept one another flaws and all. Elizabeth, who first thinks Darcy haughty and self important, sees how kind he is to his sister, and how he's helped the Bennett family. Darcy, who makes a rude early comment about Elizabeth's looks, learns over time of all the wonderful qualities that make him fall in love with her.
The successful couples in the book (Darcy and Elizabeth, as well as Jane Bennett and Mr. Bingley), marry not out of crazed infatuation or a desire for money or stability. Instead, they learn about their partners and take time to be sure of their feelings. Through them, Austen shows that the ever-important love is partly magical and inexplicable, and partly a result of accepting and supporting a partner in all ways.
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/pride-prejudice-idea-love
Excellent question! Jane Austen was far ahead of her time in many different ways and one of those was in how she presented real love. She did this in all of her books, and Pride and Prejudice was no exception.
Let's take the most important couple in the story, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. Darcy, of course, realizes Elizabeth's good qualities far before Elizabeth does the same for him, and his esteem for her begins fairly early. Elizabeth, because of her prejudice, makes no attempt to see anything good in Darcy. However, her opinion changes when she sees his actions toward others, including her aunt, uncle, Georgina, and herself when she visits Pemberley.
Jane Austen here shows us what she believes sound love is based on: accurate knowledge of the other person. Darcy was able to see what Elizabeth was truly like more quickly because she is an extroverted person and makes no attempt to hide her true self. Elizabeth, on the other hand, takes longer to understand Darcy because he is introverted and keeps his true feelings hidden from others, even those he loves. When she does see his true character, she understands him and why he acted as he did. Both of them made mistakes, and both of them hurt each other. By coming to know the other person completely by seeing how they act, they grow to understand one another, and this is what their love is based on.
The same is true for other couples in the book, such as Bingley and Jane. The opposite, of course, is also true. Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet, as well as Lydia and Wickham, do not enjoy a marriage of love, and we see the reason for this is in the fact that they married quickly before they really knew each other.
In this book, as in all that she wrote, we see Jane Austen as a modern thinker who appreciated the true meaning of romance.
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