Summary
EssayS on volume one
Explore the presentation of marriage in volume 1 of the novel
The ideas of marriage that Jane Austen displays throughout volume 1 of Persuasion are often very unromantic as in the 1800s marriages were based upon status and wealth. Perhaps Austen chose different types of marriages in the novel to show how different people responded to this way of living and therefore could show character development through this. The reader is introduced to a number of marriages that are very significant to the whole premise of Persuasion. Marriage is a strong theme explaining the importance of class during this era and also drives the story as the hoped marriage between Anne and Frederick Wentworth is forbidden as she is of a superior class to him. Thus, marriage in this novel, serves as a social ruler that measures and compares the characters involved.
As the theme is developed, Austen presents several different ideas of what marriage could be like and the first couple presented to the reader is that of Sir Walter Elliot and his former wife, Lady Elliot. We see how she was the peacemaker of the household as “She had humoured, or softened, or concealed his failings, and promoted his real respectability for seventeen years; and though not the very happiest being in the world herself, had found enough in her duties, her friends, and her children.” (ch.1) Austen shows that Lady Elliot is what made Sir Elliot seem perfect as she spent the majority of her life concealing “his failings”. Lady Elliot is the person that holds their marriage together and when she dies, Sir Elliot falls apart because she was the one that used to be in control - to an extent. This passage suggests the amount of labour that goes into creating a successful marriage when your husband is hard to keep under control. It also shows how much men in this era relied on their wives, even though it seemed that they should stay in the background. The reader also sees Lady Elliot as not being particularly pleased in her home “not the very happiest being in the world herself” and it makes the reader question; what does it take for a woman to be content in marriage during this era?
However, even though Lady Elliot was unhappy, her daughter Elizabeth seems quite content on the idea of marriage and buys into the social rule that it is the goal of a woman’s existence to have a suitable husband. She views the Baronetage to “always to be presented with the date of her own birth and see no marriage follow” and when she saw it on the nearby table “she closed it, with averted eyes, and pushed it away.” (ch.1) Despite the fact that Elizabeth seems contented enough in her life - she, like most other young women, is convinced that one must get married in order to be exultant. This is shown by the fact that she “pushed it away”. It presents the desires of all women her age in Austen’s time and seeks to show the importance of marriage to gain “happiness”. This is even rare to find in this novel when actually married – therefore contributing to the irony of the novel. The famous family book is a symbol of social status and reminds her of how high ranking the Elliot family is. With Elizabeth wanting to block this reminder; it tells the reader that her high rank in society is preventing her from finding a man to marry or even love her. Love, in this instance, is a cruel truth as Elizabeth is too much in love with her pride and status, to find anyone above it to marry.
Love is defined in many ways throughout this novel as love may depict affection or forbearance towards a significant other. However, tolerance bears loyalty in the case of Anne’s husband; Charles Musgrove, in an enduring sentiment to Mary's self-pity displays of devotion. Charles Musgrove dedicates himself to his wife, Mary and although he complains of her "occasional lowness…” and “unreasonableness" (ch.6), he stays by her side through marriage. And even though Charles criticises Mary for her "interference" (ch.6) when managing the children, he continues to love and honour Mary as his wife. He admits to Anne that he wishes Mary would "not...always fancy herself ill"; however, despite their occasional disagreements, the two "pass for a happy couple" (ch.6). Charles endures his wife's personality to also counteract his own low self-esteem. Charles realises that Mary is his last hope for a committed relationship after Anne's marriage refusal, and he does not want to risk losing her too. The love and devotion that he harbours for Mary shows an understanding of the high moral character and values that he possess. It’s obvious here that abidance directly enhances the level of devotion one feels towards another person. Austen is clearly using this marriage to show the weaker and stronger characters and how they cope with one another, therefore enhancing characterisation.
Marriage and class interact in complicated ways as the reader discovers the impact marriage has on Mrs Musgrove and Mrs Hater’s life as “They had each had money, but their marriages had made a material difference in their degree of consequence.” (ch.9) this knowledge gives the reader a further insight to that of class and status of this time and produces more of a background of setting for the readers. It also introduces the idea that women marry into their husband's class status, but a man doesn't change class because of his wife, so showing the role of women in Austen’s time. The contrast in the two characters allows the reader to clearly see the difference of why who you marry is so important and also how essential it is for women to marry into the correct class in order to keep their status.
The idea of separate spheres was a nineteenth-century policy and the domains of life here are public and domestic. Traditionally, the male would be in charge of the public sphere (finances, legal matters) whilst the female would be in charge of the private sphere (running the house, ordering the servants). This policy is evidently the main idea of marriage but Austen extends this rule by displaying exceptions and also uses marriage, and the ideas of it, to persuade the reader how to feel towards a certain character.
This novel questions the idea of separate spheres by introducing the Crofts; presented as an example of a happy, ideal marriage, Admiral and Mrs. Croft share the spheres of their life. Mrs. Croft joins her husband on his ships at sea, and Admiral Croft is happy to help his wife in the chores around the home. They have such a strong partnership that they even share the task of driving a carriage “But by coolly giving the reins a better direction herself they happily passed the danger” (ch.10) which is unheard of in this age. Austen, in this novel, challenges the prevailing notion of separate spheres. This doesn't sound all that different from the description of Lady Elliot's marriage to Sir Walter at the beginning of the book, but Mrs. Croft seems much more content than Lady Elliot and is the only marriage in the novel that seems to “work”.
Marriage and the naval profession are two means by which individuals may improve their social class. Austen is not completely a revolutionary as she defends the values and traditions of respect for the social structure. Yet she is subtly subversive in her support of greater social mobility; the Navy's role in gradually increasing class flexibility is stated to be one of its "domestic virtues." Austen, although respecting the norm of the 1800s, shows further thought upon the ideas of marrying below yourself and this brings back the example of Wentworth and Anne and how the reader is left hoping (at the end of volume one) that they will resolve the conflicts and Anne will not listen to Lady Russell’s advice.
Austen’s condemning tone towards marriages based on class and wealth could be Austen recognising that marriage is not the only important thing in life. Austen would have had time to contemplate this, being so close to the end of her own life and realising that her life was complete without marrying. Therefore, there are various types of marriages to prove that life is better if you are not forced into a marriage because of your families of status and class. Through the theme of marriage, Austen definitely projects a clear idea of what marriage meant to people in the 1800s and how one cannot marry below oneself, even if this means avoiding happiness or marrying the person you love. The idea of marriage, for an upper-class citizen, is simply just to continue the family name and the wealth that lies behind it. Nevertheless, Austen enjoyed showing the ways of which characters dealt with these ideals. This heightened characterisation, and the sometimes equalised separate spheres of society, showed the reader more of a background to the book; helping the reader to understand more of this era. Marriage is presented to argue the points of wealth and class, and how these factors can be what lead to an unromantic couple, thus when shown a couple that eliminated these factors; their happiness is greatly highlighted. The reader is persuaded to want to break the social ruler so that the characters can marry who they desire and be as pleased as the Crofts are in their marriage.
The ideas of marriage that Jane Austen displays throughout volume 1 of Persuasion are often very unromantic as in the 1800s marriages were based upon status and wealth. Perhaps Austen chose different types of marriages in the novel to show how different people responded to this way of living and therefore could show character development through this. The reader is introduced to a number of marriages that are very significant to the whole premise of Persuasion. Marriage is a strong theme explaining the importance of class during this era and also drives the story as the hoped marriage between Anne and Frederick Wentworth is forbidden as she is of a superior class to him. Thus, marriage in this novel, serves as a social ruler that measures and compares the characters involved.
As the theme is developed, Austen presents several different ideas of what marriage could be like and the first couple presented to the reader is that of Sir Walter Elliot and his former wife, Lady Elliot. We see how she was the peacemaker of the household as “She had humoured, or softened, or concealed his failings, and promoted his real respectability for seventeen years; and though not the very happiest being in the world herself, had found enough in her duties, her friends, and her children.” (ch.1) Austen shows that Lady Elliot is what made Sir Elliot seem perfect as she spent the majority of her life concealing “his failings”. Lady Elliot is the person that holds their marriage together and when she dies, Sir Elliot falls apart because she was the one that used to be in control - to an extent. This passage suggests the amount of labour that goes into creating a successful marriage when your husband is hard to keep under control. It also shows how much men in this era relied on their wives, even though it seemed that they should stay in the background. The reader also sees Lady Elliot as not being particularly pleased in her home “not the very happiest being in the world herself” and it makes the reader question; what does it take for a woman to be content in marriage during this era?
However, even though Lady Elliot was unhappy, her daughter Elizabeth seems quite content on the idea of marriage and buys into the social rule that it is the goal of a woman’s existence to have a suitable husband. She views the Baronetage to “always to be presented with the date of her own birth and see no marriage follow” and when she saw it on the nearby table “she closed it, with averted eyes, and pushed it away.” (ch.1) Despite the fact that Elizabeth seems contented enough in her life - she, like most other young women, is convinced that one must get married in order to be exultant. This is shown by the fact that she “pushed it away”. It presents the desires of all women her age in Austen’s time and seeks to show the importance of marriage to gain “happiness”. This is even rare to find in this novel when actually married – therefore contributing to the irony of the novel. The famous family book is a symbol of social status and reminds her of how high ranking the Elliot family is. With Elizabeth wanting to block this reminder; it tells the reader that her high rank in society is preventing her from finding a man to marry or even love her. Love, in this instance, is a cruel truth as Elizabeth is too much in love with her pride and status, to find anyone above it to marry.
Love is defined in many ways throughout this novel as love may depict affection or forbearance towards a significant other. However, tolerance bears loyalty in the case of Anne’s husband; Charles Musgrove, in an enduring sentiment to Mary's self-pity displays of devotion. Charles Musgrove dedicates himself to his wife, Mary and although he complains of her "occasional lowness…” and “unreasonableness" (ch.6), he stays by her side through marriage. And even though Charles criticises Mary for her "interference" (ch.6) when managing the children, he continues to love and honour Mary as his wife. He admits to Anne that he wishes Mary would "not...always fancy herself ill"; however, despite their occasional disagreements, the two "pass for a happy couple" (ch.6). Charles endures his wife's personality to also counteract his own low self-esteem. Charles realises that Mary is his last hope for a committed relationship after Anne's marriage refusal, and he does not want to risk losing her too. The love and devotion that he harbours for Mary shows an understanding of the high moral character and values that he possess. It’s obvious here that abidance directly enhances the level of devotion one feels towards another person. Austen is clearly using this marriage to show the weaker and stronger characters and how they cope with one another, therefore enhancing characterisation.
Marriage and class interact in complicated ways as the reader discovers the impact marriage has on Mrs Musgrove and Mrs Hater’s life as “They had each had money, but their marriages had made a material difference in their degree of consequence.” (ch.9) this knowledge gives the reader a further insight to that of class and status of this time and produces more of a background of setting for the readers. It also introduces the idea that women marry into their husband's class status, but a man doesn't change class because of his wife, so showing the role of women in Austen’s time. The contrast in the two characters allows the reader to clearly see the difference of why who you marry is so important and also how essential it is for women to marry into the correct class in order to keep their status.
The idea of separate spheres was a nineteenth-century policy and the domains of life here are public and domestic. Traditionally, the male would be in charge of the public sphere (finances, legal matters) whilst the female would be in charge of the private sphere (running the house, ordering the servants). This policy is evidently the main idea of marriage but Austen extends this rule by displaying exceptions and also uses marriage, and the ideas of it, to persuade the reader how to feel towards a certain character.
This novel questions the idea of separate spheres by introducing the Crofts; presented as an example of a happy, ideal marriage, Admiral and Mrs. Croft share the spheres of their life. Mrs. Croft joins her husband on his ships at sea, and Admiral Croft is happy to help his wife in the chores around the home. They have such a strong partnership that they even share the task of driving a carriage “But by coolly giving the reins a better direction herself they happily passed the danger” (ch.10) which is unheard of in this age. Austen, in this novel, challenges the prevailing notion of separate spheres. This doesn't sound all that different from the description of Lady Elliot's marriage to Sir Walter at the beginning of the book, but Mrs. Croft seems much more content than Lady Elliot and is the only marriage in the novel that seems to “work”.
Marriage and the naval profession are two means by which individuals may improve their social class. Austen is not completely a revolutionary as she defends the values and traditions of respect for the social structure. Yet she is subtly subversive in her support of greater social mobility; the Navy's role in gradually increasing class flexibility is stated to be one of its "domestic virtues." Austen, although respecting the norm of the 1800s, shows further thought upon the ideas of marrying below yourself and this brings back the example of Wentworth and Anne and how the reader is left hoping (at the end of volume one) that they will resolve the conflicts and Anne will not listen to Lady Russell’s advice.
Austen’s condemning tone towards marriages based on class and wealth could be Austen recognising that marriage is not the only important thing in life. Austen would have had time to contemplate this, being so close to the end of her own life and realising that her life was complete without marrying. Therefore, there are various types of marriages to prove that life is better if you are not forced into a marriage because of your families of status and class. Through the theme of marriage, Austen definitely projects a clear idea of what marriage meant to people in the 1800s and how one cannot marry below oneself, even if this means avoiding happiness or marrying the person you love. The idea of marriage, for an upper-class citizen, is simply just to continue the family name and the wealth that lies behind it. Nevertheless, Austen enjoyed showing the ways of which characters dealt with these ideals. This heightened characterisation, and the sometimes equalised separate spheres of society, showed the reader more of a background to the book; helping the reader to understand more of this era. Marriage is presented to argue the points of wealth and class, and how these factors can be what lead to an unromantic couple, thus when shown a couple that eliminated these factors; their happiness is greatly highlighted. The reader is persuaded to want to break the social ruler so that the characters can marry who they desire and be as pleased as the Crofts are in their marriage.