施佳倩

【Abstract】： In this novel， Pride and Prejudice， three kinds of motivations of or attitudes towards marriage are presented for manifestation- loveless marriage， loving at first sight and ideal marriage. After analyzing some typical love and marriage in this novel， the conclusion can be made that true love is not a requisite in happy marriage and in the meantime， true love may not lead to happy marriage. Besides， there are some suggestions of how to have true love and happy marriage forever.

【Keyword】： True love; Happy marriage; Pride and Prejudice

In this novel， Pride and Prejudice， three kinds of motivations of or attitudes towards marriage are presented for manifestation. First， there is marriage merely for fortune， money and social rank. The second is the tendency to marry for beauty， attraction and passion regardless of economic conditions or personal merits. The second marriage is a match with consideration of the lovers personal merits and economic conditions. And I hold the view that true love and happy marriage are not accurately equivalent.

The first marriage is loveless. This is to be found in Miss Bingleys pursuit of Darcy， Lady de Bourghs intention to arrange a marriage between her daughter and Darcy， and in Charlotte Lucass marriage to Mr. Collins. In modern society， such kind of “l(fā)ove” is severely castigated. However， some people are still deeply influenced by backward ideas like for women， having a good job inferior to marrying a wealthy husband. As far as I am concerned， the inequality of female and male positions and peoples superficial desires for fortune， money and social rank are fully accounted for. Although there is not true love of the couple， they can still live a happy marriage for they make marriage into a chip to exchange for what they really like， which they may feel very happy.

The second marriage is generally known as “l(fā)ove at first sight”. Typical examples are found in the marriages of the skeptical Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet who has a beautiful face but an empty head and of their youngest daughter Lydia to the handsome， charming but morally weak and penniless Wickham. From my perspective， it is quite romantic if two people can fall in love with each other at first sight. Nevertheless， in the novel the terrible aftermath of such marriage is only too obvious in the marriages of the two generations of the Bennets and it is hard to judge whether their love is true or not. Maybe， it is destiny that let them meet but， it is more reasons like economic conditions or personal merits that decide whether they can have a happy marriage. That is to say， in such kind of marriage， happiness requires more than true love. True love is spiritual but happy marriage in the real world is material， demanding money and many other things to earn a living.

Lastly comes the third marriage. This is to be found in the marriage of Darcy and Elizabeth and that of Mr. Bingley and Jane， although the satisfaction of both the personal and economic conditions like this this is really a bit too idealistic. And in this last kind， the author seems to give her particular preference to the former couple. A large part of the space is given to the description pf the ironical and unsmooth course of development of the relation between Elizabeth and Darcy. To match Darcys large wealth， high position， good education， refined manners， intelligence， sense of responsibility and capacity to love， I am so happy that we have Elizabeth who is not only beautiful， kind， lovely and pleasant， but also very intelligent， witty， rational and capable of learning. She is a woman worthy of love and admiration. Some people think this kind of marriage is perfect， but I would like to describe it as rational. They love each other and after considering personal merits and economic conditions， they get married. However， it is hard to say what will happen if Darcy is poor. Actually， true love occupies a large portion of their happy marriage， but， other elements should not be underestimated.

After analyzing the three kinds of marriage in this novel， the conclusion can be made that true love is not a requisite in happy marriage and in the meantime， true love may not lead to happy marriage.

So， what should we do？ What we all know is that the first loveless marriage is strongly denounced by our society. And what we all want may be the combination of the second and third kind- fall in love at first sight and live a happy life ever after. In order to own our true love and have a happy marriage， firstly， we are supposed to improve ourselves from every possible aspect to become a better person. And then， be rational. Everyone is eager to find true love and everyone longs for happy marriage. But when faces with the decision of getting married， we should have careful considerations because after marriage， two people have to live together and have to share the responsibility of a family in which obviously， only love is insufficient. Last but not least， the whole society should devote to create a more equal environment for both women and men and for different kinds of marriage. Married or not， women have the right to be highly recognized by their abilities， achievements and so on. And as husbands， men are supposed to show their respect and responsibility， also. Besides heterosexual marriage， homosexual love and marriage have attracted more and more attention. What they need are care， concern and support， not censure， contempt or insult.

Thanks to Jane Austens illustration of different love and marriage in Pride and Prejudice. I hope we can all fulfill our dream- having true love and happy marriage forever.