Beginning of Essay
19th century England had some serious social problems left over from the heyday of Royalty and Nobility. One of the most significant of these was the tendency to marry for money. In this basic equation, a person sought a spouse based on the dowry receivable an ....

Middle of Essay
.... love for the combination of a wealthy person with an attractive person. The first line of Pride and Prejudice, “It is a universally acknowledged fact that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife”, sets the tone for the rest of the novel. We interpret it to mean that a wealthy man either actively pursues a wife based on his knowledge that no one would turn down a wealthy suitor, or attractive women use their beauty to their advantage to attract a rich husband. Confident in his knowledge of his own wealth and magnificence, Darcy's less than romantic first proposal to Elizabeth is a good example of the first of these ....