Jane Austen’s View of Marriage in Emma

令狐丽娇

Emma was first published in three volumes in the year 1815. Jane Austen teased readers with the idea of a “heroine whom no one but myself will much like” when she began writing Emma.Emma is the fifth， longest and last of Jane Austen’s books during her lifetime， and it was seen as a comedy with romantic color. It emphasizes on the 19th century social state of marriage， at the same time， tells us some kinds of social classes.

In the late 18th century， the whole Europe advocated “freedom， equality and universal love”， and people began to seek for free expression of emotion. But in fact， bourgeois still measured people’s value through money， the relationship between people was kept through money. Under this background， Austen’s works naturally reveal the desire and pursuit for the true love. Marriage is the common theme in Jane Austen’s six novels. British women at that time had a low social status so they needed to depend on men to make a living. So the only way to raise their status was to marry a powerful and wealthy man.

Jane Austen’s viewpoint on marriage is sensible， cautious， conventional and honest. There are two reasons. The first one is the influence of the age. At that time， women didn’t have any status， so they needed to rely on men to make a living. The characteristics of the era made Jane Austen realize that only marriage based on wealth can make women live better. The second one is the influence of herself. Her comfortable and close life and personality that is easy to satisfy didn’t make her to produce a desire to live. So in novels only these wealthy and sensible heroines can be appreciated by her， and the mates are all harmonious with them outside and inside the world， and their viewpoint on marriage is just what Jane Austen advocates. She emphasizes that marriage has to be based on love， and at the same time she doesn’t exclude the function of economy and social status in marriage.

Emma is actually atrue portrayal of Jane Austen， and it demonstrates the author’s inner thoughts perfectly. Love and marriage are both the basic questions about existence and society at any time. Austen’s works ceaselessly promote marriage that is based on love， but she never depicts real love situation and rarely goes to the heart of the hero or heroine. Austen puts roles’ future and destiny in the novel in the real social life， the knowledge of people is restricted by law and institution and has its own limits. She successfully creates the art procession of society and personal life experience at that time， which makes her works gain a certain amount of social and cultural significance. Through the depiction of several single females’ life of love and marriage， Austen makes an emphasis on the effect of life environment and marriage system on their marriage concept and destiny， and also reveals the social status and destiny of British women. In Austen’s opinion， marriage includesnot only equal status and wealth， but also the interaction of hearts and equivalence of personality and ideas.In the novel， she criticizes peoples’ opinions on marriage that consider wealth and social status as the only factors in marriage， while ignoring love.

Works Cited

Annette Rubinstein. Great Tradition in English Literature from Shakespeare to Austen. New York： Monthly Review Press， 1967

Austen， Jane. Emma. New York： Norton， 2012

Bloom， H. Ed. Jane Austen’s Emma. London： Chelsea House Published， 1986

[1]高婷婷.從《爱玛》看简·奥斯汀的爱情婚姻观[J]. 安徽文学， 2017（9）：52-53.

[2]江珊、朱宇丹.《爱玛》中展现的19世纪英国女性的超前婚姻意识分析[J].英语广场， 2018（86）：6-8.

[3]李帆.从《爱玛》解析简·奥斯汀的婚恋观. 陕西广播电视大学学报， 2017 （19）： 74-76.

[4]李丽阳. 从简·奥斯汀个人情感经历浅析《爱玛》所体现的婚恋观[J].文学评论， 2017：87-89.