I. Introduction
Jane Austen (1775 12) was born in Steventon, Hampshire, England. She has eight brothers and sisters. She is not a long-lived writer. 18 16 At the beginning of the year, she was seriously ill and her body became weaker day by day. Unfortunately, she died in her sister's arms on July 81KLOC-0/8. Austin is not a prolific writer either, although she was only 2 1 year old when she wrote her first novel, First Impression (which was rewritten after 19, that is, Pride and Prejudice). However, in her creative career, there are only six representative works. But this has not weakened Austin's position in English literature at all, but has become more and more important with the passage of time. Even today, her readers are still increasing. Her works have been adapted into movies and TV series for many times, which are deeply loved by the audience. The critic Toba Macaulay once praised: "Jane Austen is undoubtedly the closest writer to this master, and this woman is the pride of Britain. She created a lot of characters for us ... "
Second, love marriage and love description
From the end of 18 to the beginning of 19, vulgar and boring "sentimental novels" and "gothic novels" flooded the British literary world, while Austin's novels showed the daily life and pastoral scenery of the British rural middle class that had not been impacted by capitalism at that time. She is "the first novelist who realistically describes the daily life of ordinary people." Her works reflect the comedy of middle-class life in Britain at that time and show the possibility of family literature. She has explored the self-discovery process of young heroines from love to marriage many times. This method, which focuses on analyzing the characters' personalities and the tension between the heroine and the society, makes her novels get rid of the tradition of18th century and close to modern life. It is this modernity, coupled with her humor, that can attract readers for a long time. [1] Although the breadth and depth of reflection were limited, it played a very good role in changing the vulgar atmosphere in novel creation at that time, so Austin's novels played a connecting role in the history of English novel development.
Jane Austen has lived in a small country town all her life. The people she contacted were mainly small and medium-sized landlords and priests, and their quiet and comfortable life was the main observation environment. In her works, we can't see any reflection of the main social contradictions. Interestingly, although Austin never married, the description of marriage and love is the most talked about in her works. She vividly and truly describes the small world around Jane Austen, especially the love and marriage turmoil between gentlemen and ladies, with women's unique careful observation and grasp of delicate emotions.
Jane Austen's six novels are all marriage novels with the theme of marriage. Although her view of marriage is inevitably branded with the times, it is not completely orthodox. The work that clearly shows the writer's view on marriage and love is undoubtedly Pride and Prejudice. This novel reflecting the marriage problem is the author's favorite work and her most popular work. On March 1 2007, World Reading Day, Pride and Prejudice was selected as one of the top ten indispensable books by British readers. The whole work focuses on the marriage experience of Bennett's daughter and the emotional experience of Elizabeth and Darcy, and shows the marital status of the British aristocracy in the middle and late18th century. To some extent, it also discusses the connotation of marriage, so this book also has certain social and practical significance. Mark Shore, a literary critic, once commented on Pride and Prejudice: Pride and Prejudice and Austin's later novels will shock fools. If her point of view can be recognized, this society composed of fools will be completely transformed. ”[2]
Three, three marriages show three realms.
The motive of choosing a spouse determines the standard of choosing a spouse. People's criteria for choosing a spouse will vary with different motives. Since ancient times, people's criteria for choosing a spouse should not only follow the natural attributes of marriage, but also be influenced by the social attributes of marriage. The natural nature of marriage determines that people should consider each other's physical, economic, religious and moral factors when choosing a spouse. It is impossible for a person to have only one motive when choosing a marriage partner, but several motives exist at the same time, but the emphasis is different. And this difference in emphasis is manifested in the different standards of people's mate selection.
According to the differences of mate selection criteria, historian Lawrence Si Tong divided the motives of British people in choosing a spouse into four categories in his masterpiece 1500- 1800: consolidating the economic, political or social status of the family; For personal feelings, love and friendship; Sexual attraction; Passionate love. [3] In Pride and Prejudice, most of the marriage relationships created by the author can find corresponding types. For example, the combination of Charlotte and Collins is in line with the type of "consolidating the family's economic, political or social status".
Jane Austen describes a series of activities related to marriage in a humorous way in Pride and Prejudice. How men choose their wives and how young women and their mothers choose their future husbands constitute many wonderful scenes in this novel. In this work about marriage, the author focuses on several different marriage relationships. In addition to the marriage between Charlotte and Collins mentioned above, there are several more important marriages: Lydia and Wickham; Elizabeth and Darcy and so on. Although they all entered the besieged city of marriage, the happiness of marriage is different. This is because Austin's marriage involves not only feelings, but also the economy. "A bachelor with property must marry a wife, which has become a universally recognized truth." [4] The first sentence of this book points out an important factor affecting marriage-money, but is this really the truth? By analyzing the novel, we can divide the marriage in the book into three different realms. By comparison, we will have our own judgment.
(A) Lydia and Wickham's marriage: blind passion for pleasure
In Pride and Prejudice, if you want to choose the most absurd and unpopular marriage, it is undoubtedly the marriage of Lydia and Wickham. The author didn't even describe positively how they got together and then left. Simply let the reader know the general situation through the letters written by Jane and Aunt M Gardner to Elizabeth. It's hard to say what love there is between two people. Even if there is reluctance, it can only be regarded as blind passion produced by "carnal love". Jane Austen is critical of their marriage. Lydia's frivolity, recklessness and ignorance have not changed even at the end of the novel, and Wickham's cunning, ambition and shallowness also disgust us. Reason, emotion and morality can be said to be the most important components in the spirit of marriage, but they have none, and their marriage has long been doomed to failure.
The foundation of marriage is the foundation of marriage, which determines the characteristics of marriage. Western marriage pays more attention to sexual factors. In their view, the combination of men and women "mainly rewards the satisfaction of sexual relations." For a long time, westerners have a concept that marriage is for love and seeking a partner, and some are for sexual harmony and avoiding loneliness. Lydia is used to being fascinated by men, and she always takes advantage of it skillfully. "As long as she is seduced by others, she will take the bait for everyone." For those she likes and dislikes, the only criterion for choosing a man is whether the other person's face is beautiful or not. When a beautiful man appears, her attention will be immediately focused. As for whether she is in love with each other, she doesn't care at all, let alone whether the other party really loves her.
This marriage with distinctive personality based on sex is unstable. Marriage is a personal matter and has nothing to do with others, so it is easier to make decisions and take actions without any restrictions or obstacles. Love itself is unstable and the most elusive part of human emotions. [5] Wei said: "In all love, sex is the strongest, most confusing and most unstable." Therefore, a marriage based on sex always contains a "hidden crisis". [6] Moreover, there is a tendency of "liking the new and hating the old" in human nature, which aggravates the instability of sex-based marriage. Lydia and Wickham's marriage is both personal and rooted in sex, so its instability is inevitable. In addition, the emotional communication between people in western society is relatively limited. In this environment, it is difficult to get rid of the emotional obstacles caused by the contradiction between husband and wife, and it is easy to produce discord and emotional trauma and cracks over time. This emotional scar can't heal and completely collapse. With the disappearance of sex as the basis of marriage, marriage is naturally unnecessary. In the last chapter of Pride and Prejudice, the author implicitly points out the marriage prospect of Lydia and Wickham: "Wickham will soon be relaxed and happy, and Lydia will hold on for him for a while."
The book does not specify why Wickham chose Lydia, but money played an important role in his agreement to marry Lydia. Wickham is a real playboy. Before she eloped with Lydia, she had courted Miss King and Miss Darcy, not for sex, but for money. Wickham's mentality was related to the social atmosphere at that time. /kloc-in the 0 th and 8 th centuries, wealth is still the focus of mate selection for the upper and middle classes in society. As daniel defoe complained in 1727, "money and hymen are still the goals people consider." At the same time, as a lower middle class, Wickham did not inherit a lot of property, which aggravated his greed for money. Finally, Mr. Darcy came forward and paid off Wickham's debts. Besides the money in Lydia's name, he gave her 1000, bought an office for Wickham, and finally promoted the marriage between Wickham and Lydia. "Beauty, like ordinary people, also needs food and clothing." It can be seen that in this marriage, in addition to blind passion, money also plays the role of "Mr. Key".
(B) The marriage of Charlotte and Collins: Compromise with reality
In Pride and Prejudice, money, love and marriage are often inseparable. In the novel, when people talk about marriage, there is always a shadow of money, and the most typical example to explain the choice of money for marriage is the combination of pastor Collins and Charlotte Lucas.
Collins chose Charlotte as his wife, obviously not because he fell in love with her. When Collins proposed to Elizabeth, he explained his reasons for getting married: "First, I think every well-off priest (like me) should set an example for the parish in marriage; Second, I believe that marriage will greatly enhance my sense of happiness; Third-maybe this point should be mentioned earlier. The lady I was fortunate enough to be a benefactor specifically advised me to get married. " So when Collins' proposal to Elizabeth was rejected, he turned to Miss Charlotte without hesitation. Collins was in a hurry to get married, not out of personal need, but in order to complete a task entrusted to him by Mrs. Delport (menstruation of Darcy) whom he admired. As long as he got married, he finished the task. It doesn't matter who you marry or whether you have feelings for her. Besides, Miss Charlotte is a lady of noble birth and a suitable person, which is enough.
Collins doesn't know how to love and run a marriage. He looks clumsy, unmanly and conceited. To a certain extent, his marriage followed the popular view of marriage in the society at that time: "It has become a universally recognized truth that all bachelors with property must marry a wife."
Charlotte Lucas in Pride and Prejudice is a thoughtful and rational woman. She was the first to see Darcy's interest in Elizabeth, and expressed her concern about the emotional development of Jane and Bentley to Elizabeth (it turned out that she was right). Charlotte's cleverness is impressive, but what is even more impressive is her shrewdness in marriage choice. She clearly realized the universality of upper-middle class marriage in British society at that time: material factors were an important factor in the marriage life of British society from18th century to19th century. The Lucas family also belongs to the aristocratic class. During the period from 16 to 18 century, British aristocrats "marriage is not a private union to meet personal psychological and physical needs, but an institutional strategy to ensure the permanent existence of the family and its property." [7] The marriage of nobles is largely subordinate to family interests, and they attach great importance to the economic benefits brought by marriage. This is especially true for many nobles with financial difficulties. Therefore, Charlotte, who belongs to a ruined aristocratic family, does not have much dowry, nor can she climb high and ask for expensive things. Being forced to marry Collins is actually a helpless choice. Moreover, at the end of 18 and the beginning of 19, Britain was also a male-centered era, where men and women were unequal and women's social status was very low. According to the law, women have no right to inherit property, and family life is considered to be the most suitable world for women. Marriage is the shortcut and the only way for women to survive and get life security and "economic security". This led to the marriage at that time not only as the destination of love, but also as a means of "making a living", which inevitably produced some seemingly absurd things. "Moreover, Marx (and Bell) once said that the position of women in the relationship with men enables us to judge the degree of freedom and non-freedom in a certain society. [8]
What a clever woman Charlotte is! She had already seen that Mr. Collins was unreasonable and unlovable, and it was really boring to get along with him. His love for her must be "illusory", but she chose him as her husband, because this kind of marriage chosen by Charlotte is always the most suitable for women's safety, which can guarantee that she will not be hungry and cold, and she will not have to worry about her husband's change of heart. As for whether the marriage is happy or not, it is put in a secondary position. So when Elizabeth visited her friends, she found that "Mr. Collins sometimes said something that embarrassed Charlotte very much" and "Charlotte always pretended not to hear it wisely." Moreover, Charlotte didn't take him to heart, and she was very happy to show her sister and Elizabeth around the house alone. It seems that Collins does not exist, and there is really a very comfortable atmosphere. This is the marriage of Charlotte and Collins. Obviously, the key to this marriage is money. For Collins, such a life made him very satisfied and the "purpose" of marriage was realized. And Charlotte "how to control her husband and how to tolerate him, I have to admit, things are handled quite well." Although such a marriage maintained by money and wealth is not perfect, it is still a marriage.
In this marriage, there is no warm and happy feeling between Charlotte and Collins, only an ordinary life. Perhaps only after giving birth to the next generation will they have a kind of love for each other-love for the next generation and care for their children, and then their marriage may not be so boring. Austin doesn't appreciate this kind of marriage, and her satire on this kind of marriage can be felt through the text. But from our modern eyes, Charlotte's choice is also forced by reality. You may delay, but time will not. For an old girl like her, having a home seems to be the most important thing. Of course we won't appreciate Charlotte's choice, but can we try to be more understanding and tolerant of her?
Refer to comments in ~ ~/tiankongbujime/blog/item/b7E5F8C873df63157F3E6FEF.html #.
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Master thesis: On Jane Austen's view of marriage in Pride and Prejudice.
introduce
Jenny Austen (1775-is 17) was one of the British women in the 19th century.
Writer. Austenwasborn VillageCalled Steventoninhampshire, England. American Statistical Society; usa standards institute
Although she is the daughter of the local headmaster, so is she.
Receive family education. In fact, besides painting and graphic design,
She learned all her education from her father's books.
Whether it is serious or popular literature. (Herfatherhadalibraryof500
books by 180 1)shedidafairaamountofreading。 Later, she
Start writing. In her lifetime, ShewasengagedinwritingButreceived Little Public.
Recognition. These four novels were published when Feeling and Loneliness was published.
sensibility yt( 18 1 1)rideandPrejudice( 18 13)； Mansfield manor (1814); Under Armour
( 18 16)-appeardewithoutnameonthetitlepage； Usually their author is
Attribute donly to“alady ") Austin, The Great Narrator of Marriage,
Never married, looks like she wrote "baby", and then left her family.
in win wester atage 42。 In her short life, she has finished six or more novels.
minor writings:senseandsensibility rideandprejudice； NorthangerAbbey
Mansfield Park, EmrnaandPersuasion. Her novels not only received high praise.
Their satire, humor and description of contemporary English rural life, but also
Because of their potentially high quality. In Britain,
And familyreadingactivity ybecamemoryandmoretoring. When PrideandPrejudice
First published in 18 13, it did not cause a great sensation.
Only print copies 1500. Anyway, janeanaustventuredthewashtubintothe
Vase; Invalid, she translated18th century novels, which is ok.
clumsyanprimitiveperformance-intaworofart。 SheinventedHerown special program
Modern administration, middle-class family statistics, romance, reality
account of quiet backwaters of everyday life for the countryfamiliesofrency
englandrformthelate 1790 suntil 18 15。 All this helped his family.
averyimportantwriterinthehistoryofbritishliture。 Sheissaidtohavetheequal
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Comment on Pride and Prejudice
In fact, I don't read many books, and I won't know if they are good until I finish reading them. As for why, most people can't say why. I'm forgetful. I only remember a rough idea after reading many books and dare not comment. When junior high school began to be interested in extracurricular reading, my good classmate gave me a copy of Pride and Prejudice on my birthday. Sun Zhili translated it into the first famous book I read, and I started reading it from then on. However, no matter which famous book I often read (although I can't say most of the classic sentences in it now), whenever I close my eyes and recall the contents of this book, I always imagine Mr. Darcy's appearance and Elizabeth's expression at the dance, the ridiculous scene of Mr. Collins, Mr. Lucas, Elizabeth and Darcy's tit-for-tat, the fierce quarrel and Elizabeth's dramatic letter, and the details of their meeting in Pemberley. These are dramatic scenes, which have been well interpreted in the BBC95 mini-TV series, and are still one of the best examples of adapting famous works into TV series in my mind.
When I was young, I was deeply poisoned by some thoughts. I have always thought that a great novel must be something that inspires you to fight for a great cause far greater than life. Therefore, I have always regretted the "petty" of this work, but I was deeply attracted by it involuntarily and was impressed by the exquisiteness of "carved on two inches of ivory". Austen's satire on funny people's works is bitter, but it also makes sense. In her works, the snobbish and vulgar side of human nature is vividly portrayed, which makes people smile at first and then torture their souls. At the beginning of the novel, "a rich bachelor always wants to marry a wife" has become a universally recognized truth. It's already a famous sentence Such a dramatic story is in sharp contrast with the author's unremarkable life. The previous film Being Jane arranged Austin's life story as the antonym of Pride and Prejudice. As an Austin fan, like most fans, I deeply disagree with this. According to experts' research, Austin's unmarried life is not because he can't forget this Mr. Lafoy mentioned in the movie. The reason is complicated. It seems that her last novel "Persuasion" is also quite close. The heroine Anne fell in love with the hero Frank when she was young. However, due to various secular reasons and the advice of her elders, she finally gave up this relationship. Many years later, she met and found that the old love was still there, only in Austin's real life. Her Frank did not appear as a naval officer who returned to his hometown, but unfortunately died of a sudden illness. In the end, the story ends with irretrievable regret. Austin has no pain and still lives her quiet and peaceful family life.
It is commendable that in Austin's six novels, we can't see any self-injury emotion. No matter what kind of personality the heroine is, we can see that writers really care about their life experiences, which is a universal concern. Indeed, marriage may not be the whole of a person's life, but what kind of marriage you choose will really have a great impact on a person's life. There is always nothing wrong with pursuing the happiness of marriage. Austin's Pride and Prejudice also had a profound influence on many novels and movies. This is how Mrs. Catherine Gaskell's "South and North" is unfolded, although the background is different. The love pattern between the hero and heroine is exactly the same as that in Pride and Prejudice. It also breaks through prejudice and misunderstanding, gradually understands through a series of conflicts, and finally achieves perfect harmony. BJ's Diary of Singles is also a proud tribute of a fan of Jane Eyre. He not only named the hero Mark Darcy, but also specially invited Mr. Colin Firth from BBC95 to play this role. Why is this model particularly popular with people? As the saying goes, "it's not that enemies don't get together." In fact, most of them are complementary in character. According to experienced people, this relationship is relatively long. Austin seems to understand this truth. Writing here, I can't help thinking, maybe, sometimes, the soul collision between people really needs to be carried out fiercely to increase the interest of life. Only after experiencing some storms can you see the people around you clearly, or only in the storms can you know what persistence is and what is valuable. Therefore, in a sense, the unfortunate scandal of the Elizabeth family in North and South, the deception of Bridget Jones in Margaret's Parents and Love in a Fallen City, like the fall of the city of Hong Kong in Love in a Fallen City, are all aimed at fulfilling this pair of enemies. Let those monks shake their heads!
It's not well written I suggest you read this book: /group/topic/2 176670/
It is worth mentioning that the screenwriter of 95BBC TV series is the famous British screenwriter andrew davis. I am a writer, Austin fan, male. He successfully adapted many works, such as George Eliot's Middlemarch and Mrs Gaskell's wife and daughter. In Pride and Prejudice, he added an extra scene for Colin Firth, which is not in the book, that is, swimming in a pond, getting out of the water soaked and bumping into Elizabeth by chance. This scene is modern and unobtrusive, so it attracts many young fans for him. It's amazing!