It was not often associated with the emotion of love, but as something of equal benefit, or convenience. This was primarily the Augustan ideology of marriage.
The ideal marriage amongst the English gentry in the 18th century was based on "strong physical attraction, mutual esteem, and steadfast companionship. Upon esteem rested the other two. Without it attraction became lust, and companionship could never develop." This ideal was not always attained.2 But one as observe the change of focus from benefit to esteem. The change in the ideology during the aftermath of French Revolution and the start of Enlightenment reflects here. In Pride and Prejudice, we see a clash between the Augustan and the Victorian thinking processes. The ideas about 'love and marriage' thus differ sonically in both the eras. This novel is an interesting observation as it contains instances to other of the time periods. The book starts with a terrific line, undeniably quoted a few hundred thousand times: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife" (Chapter I).
This clearly tells us that the theme of the book is marriage. The first few entertaining chapters reveal the antics of Mr. & Mrs. Bennet. We are introduced to the countryside of England set probably in 1790s' (the book may have been set during 1810's at its time of publication, but many critiques argue otherwise)3 Mrs. Bennet, a rudimentary and base woman, living a robust life with five daughters, has only one concern- the marriage of her daughters. Mr. Bennet is quite different. He possesses a quirky sense of humour and likes riling his wife up. He is obviously not satisfied with his marriage and remains in his library for most of the time. He is a very liberating father (as far as liberating fathers went at that time) and satire is his preferred way of confronting with the reality.