Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, tells the story of the Bennet family, focusing mainly on the daughters, especially the two eldest, Jane and Elizabeth. The Bennets are not a wealthy family, but they manage. Mrs. Bennet wants all of her daughters to be married and is willing to do basically anything to do so. When Mr. Bingley moves in close by, Mrs. Bennet is determined to get him to marry one of her daughters, seeing as he is a very wealthy man. At a party, he takes an interest with Jane and continues to court her throughout the novel. At this same party, Mr. Darcy is introduced. He refuses to dance with Elizabeth and is therefore seen as a rude and proud man that is not well liked. These are the four main characters which most of the plot revolves around. As the plot progresses, the relationship between Jane and Bingley has its ups and downs, and it is entertaining to see it develope. Through many events, the true caring and courteous nature of Darcy is seen to the reader and to Elizabeth, and she knows that he is not the rude man that she first thought him to be. They fall in love, but Darcy's family, especially his mother, does not approve of the relationship at all and attempt to keep them from marrying. You can probably guess how the story ends, but in case you have not, I will not give it away.
Question:
Darcy is a very wealthy man and falls in love with Elizabeth, whos family does not have a lot of money. Is it socially acceptable today for a very wealthy person to marry someone of a much lower social standing? Why or why not?
11 comments:
Even though money is important today in our society, a monetary difference in partners is not as big of an issue as it was in the days of monarchies and royalty. It is accepted mostimes in cases of a wealthy man and a young woman, and usually no one pays attention to her wealth. Even the oppposite situation, in which the woman has more money is accepted by the outside world, but sometimes not teh families of the people involved. People who still hold on to traditional values sometimes lok down on this type of union.
Marrying someone from a lesser amount of money is much more acceptable today than it was many years ago. Today, it is simple to move classes (from poor to rich or even vice versa) but in olden times doing this was very difficult. If you were born a certain class there was a very good chance that you would be that class for the rest of your life.
I think today it's more acceptable just because it's simple to come into new money or to lose the money that you have.
I believe it is "socially acceptable" to marry someone of lower social standing more so now than it was back then but I do not know if it is actually "acceptable." I believe that people are more understanding when someone marries for love rather than money but I don't know if there is neccessarily an acceptable marriage type, I mean I think people marry whoever they want and society doesn't judge so much as an individuals family and friends, which technically is not the society frowning upon the marriage unless others that are not so involved judge the marriage.
While I do not think that it is completely socially acceptable, I feel as if marrying a person of a lower social class isn't as forbidden as it was in the earlier days. I think most parents and people of your class want you to marry someone who has the same ambition, drive and willpower as someone who is successful. I feel like most people who have this drive are able to receieve some success. However, I don't think anyone wants to marry someone who is extremely poor or financially disabled simply because they are lazy and unmotivated.
I do believe that it is socially acceptable to marry someone of a completely different social class. Back then, social status was a very important thing, but not so much of an issue today. These days, most people marry for love, and the social status of their partner may not even matter. Wealth and social class are not as important in the decision of who to marry at the current time.
I think today its acceptable to marry someone of a different class. Most people marry for love compared to back in the day when that was not always the case and people married for money. Back in the day people frowned upon going against the norm and not marrying in the same class.
Most of you are saying that marrying someone of a different social class is socially acceptable, but I am not sure that I agree with you. When a woman marrys a man of that has a much larger amount of money and social class, most people would critisize her and call her a "gold digger." Isn't this about the same thing as what people in Austen's time believed women that did this? So aren't the times still about the same? It may be more acceptable in public, but privately, people still look down on people that marry someone of a much higher class. Thoughts?
I think it is much more accepted today than it was a while ago. They social classes aren't as dominant and cared about as much today. When people are dating for looking for love today they are usually not concerned on what social calss they are and if they have a lot more money than them.
I think people view a marriage between people of different social classes acceptable when it's obvious that the one of lesser standing isn't marrying the other for money. In the case of 'gold diggers' when it's a 20 yr old marrying a 80 yr old multi-millionaire, it's usually safe to say she's marrying him for money and that's when marriages arn't considered 'acceptable.'
Marriage today is looked at very differently than it was then. Today, it is not really at all about social standing as much as it was then. Then, families essentially forced their children to marry another person with wealth, feeling as though that was an important part of the relationship. Today is completely opposite as marriage today works with love and compatability usually never discussing money
Ashley, I agree with you. Golddiggers are usually young women marrying men that are very wealthy, but also very old. On the other hand though, as much as people say they do not care about money, and it is all about love, money is one of the biggest reasons for fights in a marriage. When spouses continuously argue about money, it could lead to divorce, not because the couple did not love each other, but because one spouse either did not have enough money, or did not know how to properly save/spend his/her money. So, I think that money is not as important as it was back then, but it is still a big factor with all couples.
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