Discuss how Pride and Prejudice deals with love under the scope of marriage.

Pride and Prejudice treats the topic
of love, under the scope of marriage, by illustrating two sides of the spectrum of
courtship: Love for the sake of emotion, and love for the sake of
convenience.

Within these parameters, love is represented
almost as an emotional by-product that may hinder the networking and enriching
opportunities that a "good" (financially beneficial and arranged) marriage brings with
it. 

The novel presents marriage and courtship during a
time when women are limited to being another object within a household. Under these
circumstances, marriage serves as the only mean of social and financial freedom for
women.

When love and emotion come in between, these
feelings are often disregarded in favor of a common-sense marriage where both parties
are financially satisfied.

In Pride and
Prejudice we find that the couples who searched for true love, and sincerely
cared for each other, ended up "happily ever after". Elizabeth states from the beginning
that she will marry for love, and love alone. She encourages Jane to do the same. They
both are victorious in the end. Contrastingly, those who married for convenience or for
financial interest, such as Charlotte Lucas and Mrs. Hurst, were essentially unhappy
wives with boring lives and only the title of "Mrs." to show
for.

This being said, Pride and
Prejudice clearly sends out the message that marriage should be a choice made
out of love with the aim of solidifying the relationship of two people over time.
Contrastingly, marriage alone will only lead to a disastrous life of loneliness,
boredom, and dissatisfaction.