This paper aims to make an analysis of the marriage of Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins, two characters in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Their marriage is often criticized as an exchange of property and happiness and their marriage has no happiness. It is analyzed from the two persons’ perspective characters, the social factors and the marriage influence on them. Through this analysis, the paper proves that Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins’s marriage is very rational and sensible and should not be criticized.

Key words: Charlotte Lucas, Mr. Collins, marriage, sensibility, rationality

摘要
这篇文章重在对简.奥斯丁《傲慢与偏见》中的两个人物夏洛蒂.卢卡斯小姐和柯林斯先生的婚姻进行分析。一直以来，他们的婚姻被认为是金钱与幸福的交易，没有幸福可言而受到了广大读者的指责。作者将从他们各自的性格特征，当时的社会因素和这对婚姻的社会影响方面来具体分析，用以证明夏洛蒂.卢卡斯小姐和柯林斯先生的婚姻是非常理性的，是合情合理的。
关键词：夏洛蒂.卢卡斯, 柯林斯, 婚姻, 感性, 理性

I

The Rationality in the Marriage of Mr. Collins and Charlotte Lucas

Ⅰ.Introduction
Seen from the evolution history of English literature, Jane Austen brings us a fresh wind different from previous novel styles, such as, sentimentalism and gothic novels. In western countries, Jane Austen is never a romantic writer but a realistic and sensible woman writer in the eyes of many rational critics such as Fielding, Reginald Faller and Charlotte Bronte. The most popular of Jane Austen's novels is Pride and Prejudice, which is a good justification to it. This novel deals with the five Bennet sisters and their search for suitable husbands. The vivid description of seven different types of marriages reveal Jane Austen's viewpoint on marriage that only when marriage is based on true love can it be a happy one. Elizabeth and Darcy's marriage is a model and perfect one. However, the marriage of Mr. Collins and Charlotte is often criticized (e.g.: Zhao Linya , 2003; Jie Jingdong, 2000) as an exchange of property and happiness and their marriage has no happiness.⑴ But should it be criticized as Zhao Linya says?

People thoroughly agree that true love and proper financial basis can bring us happiness in marriage. But have you deliberately contemplated the social background and the real situation Mr. Collins and Charlotte are in before you criticize their marriage? There is still a literary injustice in the critic of Mr. Collins and Charlotte's marriage.
This paper will try to change injustice to Mr. Collins and Charlotte. The paper aims to point out that Charlotte’s marriage is quite rational. Marriage has no such romantic factors when it comes to reality and everyone cannot go against the social trend. Charlotte’s choice conforms to the social trend so that the marriage of Mr. Collins and Charlotte is more significant and typical than that of Elizabeth and Darcy’s. Charlotte is a representative of a woman who bravely fights against social injustice. Her marriage is more sensible than that of Elizabeth’s,and will be easily accepted by women in Austen’s time.
At the beginning of the paper, there will be a brief introduction about the realistic writer Jane Austen and her Pride and Prejudice. In the second part, the paper gives a detailed analysis of Charlotte’s personalities. Charlotte is sincere, generous and she possesses a spirit of persistence and independence. She is a good girl with lots of personal qualities. The same is true with Mr. Collins. He is a humorous, talkative and practical person. On one hand, Charlotte and Collins have their own personal charm and should be respected and their marriage is quite natural .In the third part, the paper analyzes from social factors. On the other hand, money, property and social status play very important roles in society, especially in marriage. Considering Charlotte and Collins’s social background, their marriage is really a normal one. What’s more, Charlotte’s marriage conforms to the contemporary social trend---materialism and realism, it has great social significance.

In a word, through a detailed analysis of Mr. Collins and Charlotte’s marriage from their personal characters, social factors and social significance of their marriage, the writer proves that Charlotte’s marriage is quite rational and sensible.

Ⅱ.Jane Austen and her Pride and Prejudice

2.1. Austen's literary concern

Jane Austen (1775-1817) is one of the great and best loved novelists in English literature and one of the most important pioneers in the English realistic novel. She brought the English novels. She was among the first English women to break the male monopoly of novel writing. Her brilliantly witty, elegantly structured satirical novels vividly described the life of the common people in the countryside. Her main literary concern is about human beings in their social relationships. Her novels reveal in a subtle yet determined manner the beauty of women (not only physical beauty), and their longing for freedom in marriage life. Her unique sensitivity to human emotions, her careful observation of the hypocrisy of the middle-class Englishmen, and their male Chauvinistic attitude towards women, made her one of the finest novelists of the age.⑵ Though Austen is not a conscientious feminist novelist, her novels, such as Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion, express female dignity and a longing for equality with men. In other words, Jane Austen is a realistic women writer. She presented the real country life by her realistic description. And what is realism? According to William Dean Howells (2000) “Realism is nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material. Here are some principles of realism:转贴于酷文网-论文下载中心 http://www.coolwen.net

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