Jane Austen expresses significant views on marriage, but does so in very subtle and delicate ways. We, the readers, are frequently required to re-evaluate our own views on the role of marriage in the lives of the women in Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. Austen's own views on marriage are portrayed through the relationships her characters form, especially those associated with Elizabeth Bennet. She is very critical of society's expectations of women in relation to the issues surrounding love and marriage.

Mrs. Bennet is a strong believer that all genteel women are required to be married, after all "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Mrs. Bennet supports her "self-willed and careless" youngest daughter, Lydia, on her frivolous behavior of flinging herself relentlessly at any man that could be a potential husband...