Husband or Bank Account

Destini Preisler

Mrs. Corsun

English Period 4/5

September 16, 2014

                                                Husband or Bank Account

        From the first line of Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austin grabs our attention with a line referring to marriage. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,” (Austin 1). This first sentence really caught my eye and made me think of the saying, “It doesn’t matter how much money you have, without having someone you love to share it with; you will find no true joy in life.” I thought that this book was going to be about a young rich man finding true love, but boy was I way off. I quickly realized that marriage was not based on true love back in the nineteenth century. It was all about status and husbands were no better than a bank account and a pair of expensive shoes to flaunt for an hour before changing into something more comfortable.

        I know that sounds odd, but it is true. In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austin portrays the men as a prize that all women try to get. Yet even after winning their very own “bank accounts” to expand and exploit, they only show off their “expensive shoes” (their husbands) whenever there are social gatherings in order to flaunt who has more money than the other “bank accounts.” As Mr. and Mrs. Bennet show, there are no real connections between the married figures. The only connections they have are their children, and even on this matter, they disagree quite often. When Mrs. Bennet heard of the arrival of Mr. Bingley, a rich bachelor, she quickly talked to her husband about one of their daughters marrying. Yet even on the subject of their own flesh and blood, these two could not agree. When Mr. Bennet said that he wanted a good word put it for his youngest daughter, his wife replied, “I desire you will do no such thing. Lizzy is not a bit better than the others; and I am sure she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good humored as Lydia. But you are always giving her the preference,” (Austin 6). This proves that Mr. and Mrs. Bennet did not marry because they had an awesome connection or shared the same interests. In fact, Mrs. Bennet admits to not being able to connect to her husband at all and her husband only being tolerable of her. This really shows marriage in the nineteenth century because engagement in this day and age is so different from those of olden times.

        In modern day books like Twilight, the main characters marry for the right reason in my opinion. In Twilight, Bella Swan did not marry Edward Cullen because he was rich or a vampire, but because she had truly fallen deep in love with him from the moment she first saw him all the way through the struggles Edward and her faced throughout the book, and finally to the walk down the aisle as Mrs. Cullen. She married without any regrets and I am willing to bet money that if Edward Cullen did not have money or a “status,” (as in rich vampire in this book) Bella would have still married him because no matter how much money someone has, no one is truly happy unless they have someone to special to share their good fortune with. Even in Romeo and Juliet, the main characters killed themselves rather than spending a moment apart since they were so in love. It is obvious that in the nineteenth century, the only “deep” thing about love shown in this book, was how “deep” on the social class ladder someone was and how “deep” their pockets were to fill with cash. All characters were like this except Elizabeth Bennet.

        Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy were a bit different than the rest of the characters. First of all, Elizabeth had never meant to fell in love with Elizabeth and most were surprised when stubborn, stuck up Mr. Darcy fell for the “average” Elizabeth. Elizabeth did not marry Mr. Darcy for his money, in fact she refused him. Even though Mr. Darcy was portrayed as a jerk throughout the beginning of the book, I think Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth’s relationship was the realest relationship out of everyone’s in the book. Mr. Darcy and Lizzy actually talked to each other and argued with each other, (fought like a married couple, no pun intended) and invested time in each other. Elizabeth did not look at Mr. Darcy for his wealth, but rather the opposite, seeing him as an arrogant, stuck up man. Yet she was still able to look past all of his flaws and still fall in love with him and that is true love and a real reason to marry. The way that Mr. Darcy and Liz conversed held intelligent thought, yet had a hint of flirting in it, which only shows that they actually liked each other and not each other’s statuses. After Elizabeth had said that she cannot use her fingers as well as other women because she does not practice as much, ‘“Darcy smiled and said, ‘You are perfectly right. You have employed your time much better. No one admitted to the privilege of hearing you can think anything wanting. We neither of us perform to strangers,"’ (Austen 174). It’s sad, but unfortunately this is some of the realest conversations that occurred throughout the whole book, when it comes couples.