Romantic, Right?

An Analysis of Austen’s Establishment of the Marriage Plot in Pride and Prejudice

Accredited with the creation of the marriage plot, Jane Austen’s most prominent works focalized narrative attention to female protagonists of the gentry class. Her second novel, Pride and Prejudice, follows the five Bennet sisters and their respective courtships through the lens of an epigrammatic narrator — relying on antithetical statements to provide observations on women’s established dependence on marriage for socio-economic security with a sense of biting irony. Austen’s use of epigram, both as a narrative tool and as a stylistic element in her dialogue, coupled with her choice to center her plot on women’s domestic struggles in Pride and Prejudice, can be interpreted as a feminist reading. However, Austen’s comedic subversion of marriage conventions directly relies upon acceptance of the universal establishment of marriage as an institution. Essentially, Pride and Prejudice has feminist thematic aspects, but is not inherently a feminist text. Austen utilizes epigrammatic style and deliberate emphasis on the ordering of personal pronouns to assert that Georgian women are able to transfigure the patriarchal institution of marriage into a romantic ideal — creating the marriage plot. By presenting marriage as an ideal, Austen provides female characters with the agency to figuratively “plot” their own ideal future, resulting in autonomy over their personal happiness and subsequent social standing within the constraints of marriage.

It is critical to note that marriage, as an institution, existed well before the writings of Jane Austen. However, in re-focalizing marriage as a romantic endeavor for women in Pride and Prejudice, Austen presents marriage as a ladder that women can climb through the autonomy of choice in partnership. The use of epigram to first comment on standard marriage conventions coupled with pronoun placement that then transfers agency to women together subverts the power dynamics of marriage whilst still preserving the institution. Austen demonstrates the potential for female agency within marriage (hence, preserving it) through reframing marriage (a pragmatic economic partnership) as a romantic ideal (where women have choice in courtship).

Austen’s use of epigram embedded dialogue and through the voice of the narrator allows her to make quips regarding the conditions of Georgian women. When commenting on the marriage of Charlotte Lucas to the unfavorable, but well off, Mr. Collins, the narrator remarks,

Without thinking highly of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object: it was the only provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their present preservative from want. (Austen, 88)

Here, the epigram is used to highlight the contradiction between Miss Lucas’s lack of reverence for men or marriage and her continued desire/efforts to attain the “object” of marriage–portraying her as someone who will desperately settle for anybody. While the statement is meant to bite at the expense of both Mr. Collins and Miss Lucas, the antithesis of the epigram (the existence of a contradiction to begin with) starkly highlights how marriage is a “must,” or the “only option” for women to attain financial security. The disjunction between Miss Lucas’s ideals and behavior not only are a consequence of her lack of commitment to her beliefs, but also portray the institution of marriage as one that does not prioritize happiness — eliciting desperation. The phrase “uncertain of giving happiness” is tucked away as an appositive in the sentence between two modal verb phrases: “it was the only provision” and “must be their present.” The stylistic choice is indicative of how female emotion is an unessential, added, element to a societal obligation of marriage. Austen’s use of epigram comments on the failings of a loveless, forced marriage, but also reaffirms marriage. Through generalizing from the subject of Miss Lucas, “her,” to “well educated young women,” Austen then expands her observation from Miss Lucas’s behavior to the universal reality of the women around her. In doing so, Austen places emphasis on the constricting aspects of marriage and how the institution is an essentiality for women.

Austen’s comedic timing of the epigram relies on ‘a structure’ to satirize. It’s provoking, but not revolutionary. Still, Austen allows for feminism within this constraint. The pointed remark at Miss Lucas is directed as a judgment on her character; in fact, Austen is critical of Miss Lucas for choosing marriage solely on a financial basis, characterizing the situation (through the thoughts of Elizabeth) to be one of “strangeness,” disgracing herself,” and “a most humiliating picture!” (Austen, 90). While Austen’s plot and epigram rely on marriage, her quips indicate that abiding by transitional conventions of marriage — one without an ideal romance — is “distressing” (Austen, 90). By allowing the protagonist, Elizabeth, to utilize epigram in her speech alongside the narrator’s account, Austen further points to the failing of marriage as an institution and promotes marriage as a transformant, feminist-adjacent, ideal. Elizabeth is framed as the protagonist and presented as “strong,” rejecting two proposals, despite what marriage might offer her (Austen, 77, 96, 132). In giving Elizabeth the epigrammatic authority akin to the narrator and plotline of the most economically advantageous marriage, Austen seemingly rewards Elizabeth for her more feminist, romantic, convictions.

It is important to note, that like the device of epigram itself, the women in Austen’s novels do not critique, they comment. They bemoan at the entailment of their estate, but never directly question why a woman cannot be granted property (Austen, 94). The compliance of the plotline and the structure of the novel endorses marriage as a universal requirement; however, Austen’s commentary is enough to set up her invention of the marriage plot — an alternative, romantic, ideal, that transfigures perceptions regarding marriage to be a playing field of female agency. In a comedic, sisterly interaction between Jane and Elizabeth Bennet, Austen inserts the elements of female choice with Jane expressing:

He is what a young man ought to be… sensible, good humored, lively…with such perfectly good breeding! (Austen, 11)

And with Elizabeth responding:

He is also handsome…which a young man ought to be…I give you leave to like him. (Austen, 11)

In this interaction, Elizabeth begins her statement with the personal pronoun “I” and speaks of the object of the sentence, Mr. Bingley” as “him.” Her remark exhibits her autonomous sisterly influence over her sister’s relationship. In playing with the ordering of personal pronouns, Austen regularly makes Jane and Elizabeth the subjects of their own marriage narratives and presents men as objects (both metaphorically and in the literal sentence structure) for women to choose between. Jane listing qualities objectifies and reduces Mr. Bingley, (the “he”), to a set of criteria that could easily be used to describe cattle. Marriage: a social and economic proposition, is now a personal desire. Traits such as style, manner, character, accomplishment, and connections of a man suddenly matter to women in producing a fulfilling romance, not just attaining an adequate relationship.

By romanticizing marriage, Austen invents the marriage plot, a new perspective on marriage that transforms female agency within the constraints that initially require marriage — women are subjects deliberating on objects. Early in the first paragraph of the novel, Austen remarks, “He is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters” (Austen, 3). In this sentence, the personal pronoun “he” is the first word of the sentence, but “daughters” is the subject of the sentence. Typically, a simple sentence follows the order of subject-verb-object, but Austen inverts the order — introducing complexity. The initial statement can be simplified as: the daughters (subject) own (verb) their rightful property (object). Here, Austen plays with personal pronouns to exhibit how a marriage plot reverses patriarchal marriage standards of male-female ownership. While men might seemingly have the power, (coming first in the sentence), female autonomy in courtship complicates marriage, allowing for personal autonomy over their happiness and the social mobility that comes with marriage. Austen’s subtle modesty in pronoun placement reveals a complicated game of power dynamics — as women control a courtship game where they themselves are the more vulnerable actors.

Much in the way Austen plots her narrative, the women in her story work to figuratively “plot” their own relationships. A marriage plot provides agency to women as they can now work to attain their “ideal” relationship and future. In sentences (regarding marriage) with female subjects, Austen regularly repeats the verbs, “scheme(ing), ” “calculated,” “treasured up a hint,” and “influence(d)” throughout the entirety of the novel (Austen, 23, 96, 43, 52,100). Austen’s language reveals that in a romantic marriage, women have mastered power plays of dominance towards interactions with men. By placing women in this authorial position, Austen allows them to “write” their own marriage plots. In a passage regarding Elizabeth’s supposed engagement to Mr. Darcy, she exclaims,

I am only resolved to act in that manner which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected to me. (Austen, 245)

The repetition of the possessive pronoun “my ‘’ and the personal pronouns of “I” and “me” within a single sentence exhibits four counts of Elizabeth asserting agency in a marriage situation and two counts of directly contradicting the influence of other individuals. By focusing on her “happiness,” the ideal of a romantic marriage (Austen’s marriage plot) reformats Elizabeth’s perspective of a patriarchal institution into a desirable future she gets to have a say in. It is critical to note that Austen does not reinvent the wheel when it comes to marriage. Yet, in presenting a marriage plot that is female-centered whilst also commenting on the fallacies of marriage as an institution, (the aforementioned use of epigram), Austen presents the marriage plot: an outlook on marriage that adds to marriage rather than fundamentally changing it. Austen adds romance, courtship behavior, “scheming,” and places an emphasis on female autonomy in these practices. In doing so, her marriage plot in Pride and Prejudice presents the potential for demonstrating female agency within institutional constraint.

Examination of Austen’s use of pronoun placement and epigrammatic narrative style in conjunction reveals the methodology with which Austen enables female agency in marriage — establishing a romantic marriage plot. Through the marriage plot, Austen establishes that female agency over elements such as personal happiness and social standing are possible when expanding the definition of marriage past economy. While Austen’s plot is still complicit in perpetuating/reaffirming the conditions that require feminism, it then works to quip on those conditions and subvert them — producing a set of feminist ideals. By romanticizing marriage into an idealized courtship practice, Austen provides her female characters with the agency of choice in their relationships — affecting their personal happiness and social autonomy.

Works Cited

Austen, Jane, et al. Pride and Prejudice: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources, Criticism. W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.