ABSTRACT
Jane Austen (1775 – 1817) was one of the greatest nineteenth century British women writers. Through her short life, she created six novels, including Sense and Sensibility (1811); Pride and Prejudice (1813); Mansfield Park (1814); Emma (1815); Northanger Abbey (1818) and Persuasion (1818). Austen’s novels mainly depict the love and marriages of gentlemen and ladies of the bourgeoisie. At first, this thesis takes Austen’s Emma as an example to mainly analyze the four marriages in the novel and the utilitarianism marriage, equal marriage and romanticism marriage revealed by the four marriages. This thesis will still analyze deeply the social and economic causes of such views of marriage. This thesis will also analyze Austen’s attitude to these views of marriage of that patriarchy society. Then, combine the characteristics of contemporary marriages which have become freer and the people’s attitude to the money and love in choosing a mate and marriage life which has changed; compare the similarities and differences between the two different societies so as to give the readers more thinking and revelation about marriage.
Key words：Emma; love; bourgeoisie; utilitarianism marriage; patriarchy; contemporary marriage
Contents
1．Introduction 1
2. The View of Marriages Revealed in Emma 3
2.1 Equalism Marriage 4
2.2 Utilitarianism Marriage 5
2.3 Romanticism Marriage 5
3. The Causes of Different Views of Marriage 7
3.1 The Influence of Bourgeoisie 7
3.2 The Influence of Patriarchy 7
3.3 The Influence of Romanticism 8
3.4 Austen’s Attitude to the Essence of Marriage 9
4. Comparison with the Contemporary Marriages 11
4.1 Features of Contemporary Marriages 11
4.2The Similarities and Differences of Marriages between the Two Different Societies 12
4.3 The Enlightenment on Contemporary Marriages 12
5．Conclusion 14
Acknowledgements 15
References 16
