1a) "Honoria's essential virtue, in other words, is that her virtue makes her man 'great.' In and of herself, she is neither great nor extraordinary." (Gibert/Gubar, 816)
1b) "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." (Austen, 43)
2) Why is marriage such an important aspect of life at the time that Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is set?
3) It is common knowledge that marriage was an important societal concern during the early 1800s, the time in which Pride and Prejudice is written. It was important for a woman to find a husband of good societal standing and for a man to find a woman as a suitable wife. The question is why is this so important?
As the aforementioned quotes suggest, women were viewed as a sort of prize for men. Perhaps it was these 'trophy wives' that validated just how great a man was. Similar to owning a fine house full of expensive art for showing off, a good wife was viewed as something that showed great status for a husband during this time. Wives were just another aspect of an amassed fortune it seems. Similarly, women were not viewed as great in an of themselves. Instead a woman's greatness could only be seen if she married a great man. It was this symbiotic relationship, I believe that made marriage such an important societal concern during this time. Both men and women needed each other to prove how great they were on a personal level, which seems a little odd to me.
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