The Portrayal of Marriage: into the Novels Pride and Prejudice and The Country Wife - Research Paper Example

of the of the Concerned English 15 August Portrayal of Marriage in Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice and William Wycherley’s The Country Wife Introduction Changing marital norms and values and rising divorce rates, certainly justify and enquiry into the portrayal of marriage, in the works of literature. However, any concerned scholar may get astonished by the fact that good marriages tend to be rarer in literature as compared to real life. Even if one comes across a good marriage in any work of literature, it mostly unravels beyond the end of the novel, thereby remaining unobserved by the reader. Still, there are quite a few works of literature in which the plot involves marriage as one of the salient themes. Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice and William Wycherly’s The Country Wife are two such works. These two works extend an insight into the economic, social, emotional and sexual aspects of marriage in their times. Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice Many 18th century works of literature dealt with issues pertaining to the institution of marriage, delved on what amounted to a proper behavior in a marriage, what criteria ought to be meditated upon while selecting a marriage partner, what an individual could expect from a marriage and what entailed the salient duties and responsibilities of each partner. The primary reason for this trend was that the 18th century Britain was very open to serious meditations and reconsiderations as to what constituted a good marriage and how a marriage needs to be lived (Teachman 53). Yet, the traditional notions of marriage interpreting it as a joining of two families by virtue of a legal and social bond struck between two individuals continued to hold sway (Teachman 53). On the one side the society stressed on the need to perceive marriage as a legal contract, while on the other side the contemporary social and political climate in Jane Austin’s England also extended importance to individual’s emotions and aspirations (Teachman 80). Thus, it goes without saying that the portrayal of marriage in Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice presents a conflict between these two seemingly contradictory views about marriage. In that context, the conventional theme of a suitable and ideal husband for a gentlewoman prominently emerges in Austin’s concept of marriage as elucidated in Pride and Prejudice. The character of Darcy is the closest possible model of the conventional female aspirations of a proper husband. At the same time, Elizabeth Bennet’s prejudices towards Darcy mark the rise of individual voice and caution in the women of those times. Remarkably, Jane Austin has managed to contrive a wonderful work of literature in which the central characters somehow manage to strike a balance between the needs and constraints of social economics and emotional imperatives (Austen & Kinsley 8). The basis of social relationships in Pride and Prejudice, and above all the relationship of marriage is primarily economic, and Jane Austin has certainly unraveled it with an ironic smile. Mrs. Bennet represents the traditional school of thought, and her one ambition in life is to see her daughters well married to eligible young men, and their eligibility is judged only by one standard that is their social and monetary status. Yet, at the same time, Mrs. Bennet’s obsession with money is used by the writer to present her as a ridiculous character. Elizabeth, though presented as a discerning and sensible woman, is not entirely free from this materialistic bias. At the sight of beautiful and grand Pemberley Park, a sudden impulse to posses it passes through her, and she regrets her rejection of Darcy’s proposal. Ironically enough, she accepts Darcy only after her visit to Pemberley Hall. Austin’s idea of marriage is an attempt on the part of a sensitive and smart 18th century woman to somehow aspire for the best of two worlds, the world of individual liking and preference and the larger socio-economic world where the rules of inheritance and primogeniture kept the purse strings in the hands of the men. It goes without saying that the portrayal of marriage in Pride and Prejudice also grapples with distinct moral and ethical overtones (Haggerty 59). The various characters in the novel are also presented as trying to reframe their individual desires and aspirations from marriage and their ambition and social climbing tendencies in the context of appropriate and current moral and ethical principles (Haggerty 59). William Wycherley’s The Country Wife The Country Wife by William Wycherley is a 1676 Restoration Comedy. The portrayal of love and marriage in Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice not only explore these institutions in the context of their socially ethical, economic and emotional dimensions, but also tends to hesitate from venturing into morally forbidden, yet pragmatically imminent aspects of the institution of marriage. However, The Country Wife, being a Restoration Comedy tends to differ from Pride and Prejudice in the sense that it dares to venture into the morally lax and somewhat amorous aspects of the institution of marriage in those times. As love, cuckoldry and sexual intrigue constituted the salient features of Restoration comedies, so the portrayal of marriage in The Country Wife is more open, bold and tends to explore the seamy side of marriages that seem to have gone wrong. In that aspect, Pride and Prejudice to a great extent avoids going deep into the sexual aspects of marriage. On the surface, The Country Wife presents marriage as an instrument to clinch financial and social gains and tends to trivialize the notions of love to carnal quests and amorous pleasures. However, this very act of presenting the institution of marriage as something pecuniary motivated and carnally debased forces the reader to ask many questions. Such trivializing of marriage nudges one to think as to the more sincere, committed and lasting aspects of marriage. So Wycherley bolsters and resuscitates the institution of marriage by discernibly degrading it to the extent of absurdity and being something comic (Knapp 454). The play relies for its comic stimulation on wit and explores the institution of marriage by placing the characters in discrete social situations, which bring out their deep seated notions and perceptions pertaining to marriage. In that context the portrayal of marriage in The Country Wife is blatantly mercenary in its objectives and intentions. Marriage in The Country Wife is delineated by a union of convenience between Sir Jasper Fidget and Lady Fidget, which endows them with all the essential imperatives like social status and financial security, except love. Hence, Wycherley, by the absence of love in the comedy tacitly highlights the need for love and trust in a good marriage. Sir Jasper appears to totally ignore the tender needs and requirements of marriage, placing business before love and understanding. Whereas, in Pride and Prejudice, though marriage was defined and interpreted in the context of social status and financial concerns, the characters somehow managed to retain a manner of morality and emotional aptness. In contrast, in The Country Wife, the very restraints that tend to govern the partners in a marriage seem ridiculous by their abject practicality and worldliness. The sole objective of Sir Jasper is to maintain a semblance of marriage while holding on to an idea of manhood, which is not vulnerable to being cuckolded (Vance 81). If that involves hiring a person to amuse one’s wife, it is understandable and allowable. The marriage stands successful so long as it sexually remains inviolate, not bothering about the need for emotional bonding and love. In such a scenario the relationship of marriage between the two central characters seem akin to a socially sanctioned prostitution. Actually, Sir Jasper and Lady Jasper by agreeing to enter into such matrimony have already committed a grave act of immorality. Wycherley’s attitude towards the sexual needs of Lady Jasper is more understanding, human and tolerant. One must acknowledge that in The Country Wife Wycherley dares forth to explore the sexual aspects of marriage, to which there is very scarce reference in Pride and Prejudice. However, this in no way means that the treatment by Wycherley of the subject of marriage is devoid of requisite moral and ethical constraints. Despite his understanding and tolerance, Wycherley seldom hesitates in ridiculing Lady Jasper’s hypocrisy. In contrast when the relationship between Alithea and Harcourt matures in the domain of honesty and sincere love, Wycherley presents love and marriage as being compatible and achievable. In other words, Wycherley is serious about marriage in a very non-serious way. Conclusion Both the works under consideration that are Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice and William Wycherley’s The Country Wife tend to solicit some kind of reconciliation between the world of mind and the world of heart. Whereas Jane Austin condones the monetary imperatives that need to go with marriage, while allowing the characters to retain a measure of sensitivity and emotional sensibility, the characters of Wycherley totally get carried away with the more practical baggage of marriage, to forsake emotional and sexual basics. References Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980. Haggerty, Andrew. Pride and Prejudice and Emma. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2008. Knapp, Peggy A. “The Pliant Discourse of Wycherley’s The Country Wife”. Studies in English Literature 40.3 (2002): 451-460. Teachman, Debra. Understanding Pride and Prejudice. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997. Vance, John A. William Wycherley and the Comedy of Fear. Newark, DE: University of Delaware Press, 2000. Read More