Dialogue between Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Bennet

1. The Bennetshave a bigproblem:theyhave toorganize the marriage of their five daughters toensure a
comfortable future forthem
“ It is a truth universallyacknowledged,thatasingle maninpossessionof agoodfortune,mustbe in want
of a wife”.
JANEAUSTEN
In the dialogue betweenthe Bennets,we canfind some importanttopics.
-The utilitaristicwaytosee the marriage
- the misunderstanding betweencharactersandinparticularbetweenMrandMrs Bennet, because she
has a differentwaytosee some thingsthanhim, theyare veryformal witheachother
- the concern aboutthe future of theirdaughters.
Mrs Bennet speakswithherhusband aboutthe arrival of a new neighbour,hisname isMr.Bingley.He is
a youngman of large fortune fromthe northof England.MissBennetwantshishusbandtogo to the
Bingley’shome andgive himthe welcome,butMr.Bennet told herto go by herself. Atthe endof the
dialogue Jane AustenspeaksaboutMr andMiss Bennet. “He wasso odd anda mixture of quickparts:
humour;reserve andcaprice,insteadher mindwaslessdifficulttodevelop.She wasawomanof mean
understandinganduncertaintemper.The businessof herlife wastogetherdaughtersmarriedandits
solace wasvisitingandnews”. There isastrong ironyagainstthiswomanwhois narrow mindedand has
a verydownearth mindset.Herhusband‘sanswerstoher suggestionsenphasizestheirdifferent
personalityandher oddpersonaity.
THE ROLE OF MONEY AND STATUS IN DETERMINING WHO TO MARRY
In modernWesternsociety,peoplewhomarrytoimprove theirsocial statusorfor moneyare considered
shallow.However,marryingforstatusormoneywas very normal in the upperclassesuntil the last
hundredandfiftyyears.Marriageswere unionsof familiesinwhichwealthwasconsolidatedandcombined
or in whichpeople withsocialstatusbutlittle moneywere able tosecure the financial backingof people
withmoneybutlittle social status.The conceptof arrangedmarriageshasbeenprevalentthroughmuchof
the worldand indifferentcultures.
In the Englandof the late 18th and early19th centuries,social statuswasbasedonbirthandconnectionto
the aristocracy or the royal family.
MARRIAGE SHOULD BE FOR LOVE;NOT WEALTH OR SOCIALSTATUS
One of the mainthemesisthe role of social statusand wealthinthe matrimonial decisionsof youngpeople
inthe Englandof the early19th century.Darcy had a particularproblemwithreconcilinghimself to
marryinga womanof a lowersocial statuswhowasnot wealthy.Inthis,ElizabethwasDarcy'sopposite.
Elisabeth knew thatwealthandsocial positionmeantverylittle toherinthe choice of a life partner.The
lessonof thistheme isone thatDarcy learnsthroughthe course of the story.The plotundercutsthistheme
because Elizabethendsup bymarrying Darcy, thus joininghis wealthyandsociallyprestigiousfamily.