第7單元　簡?奧斯汀

1Do you agree with the statement “it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife”? What is the relationship between money and marriage?

Key: Yes, I agree. It is reasonable that when a man is mature enough he wants to get married and raise a family. That is a necessary part of his success and accomplishment. More importantly, he has to earn enough money to support his family. So, when he possesses such kind of fortune, he wants to achieve this purpose.

Money is not the only criteria of a happy marriage, but a happy marriage cannot achieve without enough money. Without money, we also can get married with our lovers, and we can earn money by working hard together. As time goes on, if we can get enough money to support our families, we will feel satisfied and live happily. However, if we cannot earn a good fortune, but live a poor life, we will encounter many practical problems, and our pride and confidence will be ruined, thus it is difficult to be happy. Money does have something to do with marriage, but is not crucial. What really matters in marriage is love and affection between the couple.

2What do you think of Mrs. Bennet? How can you characterize her?

Key: I think Mrs. Bennet is very typical of middle-aged woman. She is worried about her daughters’ marriage, and is eager to marry them off. She is somewhat a gossip; she is easy to get nervous; she likes to make a fuss about everything.

3What makes Elizabeth feel so grateful to Darcy? How does Darcy respond to her?

Key: Elizabeth’s sister Lydia has always been frivolous. Later in the novel, she elopes with Wickham, who is poor and hypocritical, and lives with him out of wedlock. This behavior is not recognized at that time and destroys the Bennets’ reputation. Although Lydia has the plan to marry Wickham, who as a playboy, considers everything as a game. Elizabeth is so worried with her sister, so she decides to leave her hometown to find her sister. Fortunately, Darcy gives a helping hand. He finds them and tries his best to convince Lydia to come back. Faced with Wickham’s greedy, he doesn’t flinch. He pays the debts for Wickham and gives Lydia a large amount of money. In order to help them, he also buys an office post for Wickham. Besides, Darcy is also very gentle; he does not expose Wickham so as to protect the whole family’s reputation. He does everything for Elizabeth, and he doesn’t want her to be harmed. Darcy is very proud at the beginning, which makes Elizabeth hate him so much, but after he has done so many things, Elizabeth’s prejudice is eliminated and she feels so grateful to Darcy.

Darcy feels sorry at the beginning. He is also surprised and excited. At first, he doesn’t want Elizabeth to know everything. However, he is delighted that Elizabeth is not as indifferent to him as before. He has never wanted to get her gratitude, but this time he feels hopeful. He tells Elizabeth that all his done was for her only, because it’s only her in his heart. He shows his affections to her again which makes Elizabeth so embarrassed. Darcy also apologizes for his pride in the past time. Now, they have cleared up the misunderstanding. It’s a turning point of their emotional journey.