In her Times column on Monday (£), Libby Purves valiantly attempted to fit together two things that were obviously on her mind. Discussing Pride and Prejudice, which is 200 years old this week, in relation to the modern permutations of marriage was sure to be a delicate operation.
Purves argued that the book’s appeal lies in both its wit and the intellectual and emotional foreplay between Elizabeth and Darcy. What might seem ‘subversive’ for modern sensibilities, Purves suggests, is the fluttering of Elizabeth’s heart when she sees the size of Darcy’s pile. Nowadays, she argues, marriage is about ‘love’, of course. It doesn’t matter about class, wealth or gender.
That seems naive. It is precisely Elizabeth Bennet’s feeling that ‘to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!’ which makes Pride and Prejudice relevant.
Austen satirises marriage by boiling it down to its essential purposes; first, as a socially acceptable vehicle for cohabitation, sex, ensuring genetic lineage and second, as a means to secure the futures of daughters and their offspring.
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