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This lesson covers three more themes that run through Pride and Prejudice: marriage, class and social mobility, and gender. These themes are closely interconnected — marriage is the mechanism by which class boundaries are navigated, and gender determines who has power within both marriage and society.
Marriage is the central subject of Pride and Prejudice. Austen presents multiple models of marriage to explore what makes a relationship successful — or disastrous.
| Marriage | Based on | Austen's verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth & Darcy | Love, mutual respect, moral growth | The ideal — a partnership of equals |
| Jane & Bingley | Affection and compatibility | Good but less intellectually matched |
| Charlotte & Mr Collins | Economic pragmatism | Rational but loveless — a compromise |
| Lydia & Wickham | Lust and recklessness | Disastrous — built on nothing substantial |
| Mr & Mrs Bennet | Initial physical attraction | A cautionary tale — attraction fades without respect |
The novel opens with one of the most ironic sentences in English literature:
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