Women and Marriage: A Marxist reading of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

Abstract: Marriage is arguably one of the most important events and choices to be made in one’s life, especially for many of the female characters in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Whether characters are searching for a husband for themselves or is searching for someone else, marriage is the source of many conflicts. Social class plays an important part in the marital process in Regency England and remains a point of tension in the novel. Moreover, the women seemingly have different yet similar experiences with the marriage process. This essay will analyze Catherine de Bourgh, Caroline Bingley, Mrs Bennet, Jane Bennet, Elizabeth Bennet as well as Charlotte Lucas, with the focus of the essay being their views and experiences with marriage through a characterization study in order of their social class. The essay will be positioned within classic Marxism due to the importance of social classes in Marx as well as in Neo- Marxism. The main part of the analysis consists of whether a female character acts in agreement or disagreement with the ISAs (Ideological State Apparatuses) as presented by Louis Althusser. It will be evident that some will be in agreement while others are in disagreement. Because of this the essay will also show that regardless of the social classand relation to the ISAs a woman’s main purpose in life is to be a wife and mother, even if Austen hints at characters breaking free from this ideology to make way for a new way of thinking.