a) Insistence upon and defense of “the experienced commonplace”.
b) Attack upon romanticism and romantic writers.
It is broadly defined as “the faithful representation of reality”. Although strictly speaking, realism is a technique, it also denotes a particular kind of subject matter, especially the representation of middle-class life. This application is properly applied to the marriages in Pride and Prejudice.
Jane Austen has been recognized as a novelist through her six novels, among which Pride and Prejudice is the most famous one, which deals with the life of common people and marriages in the countryside. Pride and Prejudice portrays life in the genteel rural society of the day, and tells of the initial misunderstandings and later mutual enlightenment between Elizabeth Bennet (whose liveliness and quick wit have often attracted readers) and the haughty Darcy. Then they gradually dispel their prejudice and finally get married. This novel strongly reflects the point that sensibility and rationality play important roles in marriage, a viewpoint obviously reflected on the marriage of Mr. Collins and Charlotte. In this novel, Mr. Collins is a clergyman with a large amount of property while Charlotte is a 27 years old lady with little property. Though Charlotte and Collins are not as bright as Elizabeth and Darcy, they have their own personal charm and their marriage is a real reflect of the social trend in which property and social status are the decisive factors in marriage. As Jane Austen is a realistic writer, the marriage of Charlotte and Mr. Collins is a good justification to Austen's rationality.
2.2. Women’s position in Austen's time
To know what Austen writes Pride and Prejudice for, we should have a clear mind of the social background. There are many social straits in Austen’s time and people in each class have different destinies. In Austen's days, there were no centrally organized systems of state-supported education. There were local charity or church -run day schools, but these were not attended by children of the "genteel" social levels that Austen writes about.⑶ Instead, “genteel” children might be educated at home by their parents, or by live-in governesses or tutors; or by going off to a private boarding school or to live with a tutor. Some local "grammar” schools did exist but did not admit girls. Of course, women were not allowed to attend the institutionalized rungs on the educational ladder. A great deal of time was devoted to "genteel” boys’ education, but few women studied.
Since women did not usually have careers and were not “citizens” in the sense of being directly involved in politics, there was little generally perceived need for such higher education for them, and most writers on the subject of "female education" preferred that women receive a practical land religious training for politics-nothing but books of piety and cookery”. All this prove that, since there was no requirement for academic education for women, and very little opportunity for women to use such knowledge, learning for women is only for "improvement of her mind" therefore, it depended very strongly on what kind of instruction each woman’s parents offered her in childhood, and on the individual indications of the woman herself (as in the Bennet family). Jane Austen presents that women enjoy a low social status in society and they have no way to get education. Therefore, marriage is a good way out for women. In Pride and Prejudice Charlotte got what she wanted through her marriage, which is quite rational and natural.
Property is a very important factor in Jane Austen's time. Only young women with beautiful appearance and good family background can they have lots of opportunities to get a satisfactory marriage. This point is strongly reflected on Elizabeth and Charlotte. As for Elizabeth, she is beautiful and witty, though does not have large property, she has more chance to hold men's heart. But as far as Charlotte’s concerned, she is already 27 and is not good-looking. What is worse, she does not own large property, and then the only way out for her is to marry a suitable man to secure her rest life and gain stability. Mr. Collins is a clergyman and he is the heir to Mr. Bennet’s property. Therefore, considering Mr. Collins's social status and his property, anyone who marries him is sure to secure her living and can live a luxurious life materially. Therefore, when Mr. Collins proposed to Charlotte, Charlotte accepted without hesitation. Through the marriage Charlotte gets what she wants and her choice is certainly a sensible one.
According to Ye Gaolian, a famous professor in Zhenjiang Normal University, Jane Austen writes Pride and Prejudice to fight against social injustice to women. She wants to set a model woman--independent and unconventional, brave enough to get what she wants (Ye Gaolian, 1998). I think Charlotte is the very person who is independent and sensible to grasp every chance to get happiness. Therefore, her image in this novel is very significant.转贴于 酷文网-论文下载中心 http://www.coolwen.net
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