Friday, February 3, 2012

Comfortable Marriage..


After agreeing to marry Mr. Collins, Charlotte discusses her situation with Elizabeth. As readers, we can tell how male-dominated the institution of marriage is in Jane Austen’s day by examining age's relationship to availability. Although Charlotte is only a few years older than Elizabeth (who is of the “right” age for marriage), she has abandoned all of her ideas of love and romance in association with marriage. The only goal in Charlotte's mind when it comes to finding a man to spend the rest of her life with is "a comfortable home" (87). Although this seems initially absurd, we eventually find this perspective to be rather realistic and preferable (in comparison to some of the other conflicts with marriage and love). I feel as if Jane Austen almost endorses the business aspect of marriage over the trivial mental games that she presents throughout the rest of the novel. Personally, I was surprised that Charlotte expected so little out of marriage. However, after returning to the passage about the “comfortable home,” I found her expectation to be reasonable. The idea of the home being comfortable includes the idea of good company. With the husband and wife constantly at odds, I wouldn’t call the Bennett household completely comfortable. 

2 comments:

  1. I was surprised as well at first with Charlotte but she uses marriage as a way to survive outside of her family and as a way to secure a future for herself after her family is gone. After thinking about what life was like for women in the 1800s, it started to make more sense to me that she had to say yes to ultimately live a happy life and a comfortable one which doesn't sound so crazy afterall..

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've never thought about looking at the Bennetts' relationship from that perspective. Uncomfortable, yes. Mr. Bennett seems alternately resigned and bemused, having an inside joke of one at Mrs. Bennett's expense. But what's the difference between "good company" and a lifelong romantic relationship? I'm with Bethany K, on this-- why can't she have it both ways?
    The idea of the bare minimum for survival and "worthwhile goal" seem perfectly at odds to me.

    ReplyDelete