Get Inspired, Be Empowered › Forums › Gender Justice › It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife › Reply To: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife
This phrase meaning “Everyone knows wealthy, unmarried guys desire to get married” in clear, current English, Think how this feeling is going to go down today. Name renowned male fame who tries to marry someone passionately. Sounds unlikely these days and probably wasn’t likely either in her time when you’d let me play my hand at interpreting Ms. Austen. Was this society (17170-1780s) a male dominant society in which this story took place? And have females been treated as males? The women of the trophy were infamous for marrying young wives to older men. The notion of a female trophy has become regarded as the perfect and perfect reputation for the husband.
The concern of 19th century England society is shown here. is expressed here, for the storyteller reveals that the reverse is true by claiming that a single man “must want a wife.” The woman generally has lesser options when it comes to marriage as compared to men. Austen’s Regency England’s social environment has been extremely stratified, with divides of class entrenched in familial ties and wealth. Austen is frequently critical of upper-class England’s beliefs and biases in her literature. Socially regimented concepts of proper conduct for each gender also contribute to Austen’s work. While social development for young men was in the military, church or law, it was the accumulation of wealth that was the main means for women’s self-improvement. Women could achieve this objective only through successful marriage, which in Austen’s writings explains the ubiquity of marriage in the way they write. Although Austen’s young women had more freedom than at the beginning of the eighteenth century to choose their husbands, practical concerns continue to limit choices.
But these old parameters cannot be used to guage society today. Where more people are choosing to live alone or have a live-in relationship, the notion that a man wants a wife is slowly changing. It is time that these old social norms be dismantled.