First Name:
Lauren
Last Name:
Eichinger
Major Department:
Accounting
Thesis Director:
Jill Ehnenn
Date of Thesis:
May 2010
This honors thesis analyzes Jane Austen’s popular novel Pride and Prejudice in order to demonstrate how different aspects of business affected decisions about matrimony in Austen’s day. First, I examine economics in the sense of social class and ask how economic social hierarchies play a role in the marriage decision. Finance, which goes hand in hand with social economics, is also explored, along with how the characters’ personal financial situations influence the choice of a husband or wife. The third section examines the role of management and considers how Mrs. Bennet’s management led or did not lead to the marriages of three of her daughters. The thesis ends with a marketing section which delves into how the Bennet daughters market themselves as well as how influential conduct books of the time play a role in the way women in the novel act towards men.