In modern times tremendous pressure is put on a man to not only propose marriage to a woman but to do it in a romantic and grand way so that their selected woman will tell stories about it forever. In the two passages written by Charles Dickens and Jane Austen it is an entirely different matter. That passages that were written in the nineteenth century are very contrasting in the way the proposals are presented. Passage one, a letter written by a clergyman asking for a woman’s hand in marriage, has no sign of any loving emotion within the words. The clergyman made it seem as if he had to convince himself that getting married is what he wants to do, as though he cannot make up his mind. “it a right thing for every clergyman…to set the example of matrimony…” That does not sound like a man who wants to be married. That sounds like a man who is trying to make he look good to his parish. The clergyman also makes it sounds like he wants a woman to do his bookwork, or to make an income. Mrs. Jenkinson was the one to mention, “ Let her be an active, useful sort of person…but able to make a small income.” And Mr. Collins, the clergyman, would then have a working wife who he did not marry for love, but for his church and her for her to work.
Most modern day women would turn Mr. Collins’s offer down in a heartbeat. In the nineteenth century though it was customary for women of a lower class or that came from no money to marry a man of higher standards even if no love was involved. Women wanted to be taken care of during this time because they did not have the option to have an income. It just was not practical. The intended cause is the clergyman’s hope that his proposal will be accepted, but probable cause is that without romance it will not be. A little romance makes for a more predictable yes. The man in passage two uses romance to win over his intended proposal.
