Jane Austen is often noted by critics for her strong satirical angle towards upper-middle class ways of life in the late eighteenth century. Pride and Prejudice is no exception to this. In this particular work, Austen attacks the society's condoning of marriage for money and social standing. Austen does this by magnifying the absurdness of heir attitude toward marriage and the customs they practice. As seen in the novel and in the Importance of Being Earnest, many of the characters in the novel marry for the wrong reasons, such as the sake of convenience, wealth, or the spouse's name. For example, the marriage between Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins shows that Charlotte Lucas, realizing that she will never have another opportunity to marry due to her unattractiveness, only marries because of the known fact that Mr. Collins would be able to provide for her the life she wants. Also, primarily coming to Longbourn to seek marriage, Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth Bennet, only to be refused. However, Mr. Collins immediately proposes to Charlotte Lucas, wasting no time. With the evidence shown, it is clear that Mr. Collins" marriage to Charlotte was purely out of convenience. Not only did the Collins's marriage satirize the society's immoral marriages, but also did the marriage between Lydia and Wickham show the inconsistencies of humans. Lydia's sole purpose of marrying is to show her four other sisters that she would be the first to marry. However, unlike Lydia, Wickham marries because Mr. Darcy would pay off his debts and in addition pay Wickham a yearly amount to stay with Lydia for the sake of Lydia's reputation, as well as her family's. .
