How is Pride and Prejudice a social criticism of the 18th Century's views on marriage?

';Pride and Prejudice is a novel about women who feel they have to marry to be happy. Taking Charlotte Lucas as an example, do you think the author is making a social criticism of her era鈥檚 view of marriage?';How is Pride and Prejudice a social criticism of the 18th Century's views on marriage?
Definitely. Lizzie does not want to be a part of marriage as a social institution to which she is bound. Jane Austen never married and remained an independent woman with a writing career. Charlotte Lucas marries in order to marry and not become an old maid. Austen is making a social criticism that marriage for the sake of marriage is not going to create happiness (Charlotte Lucas), but instead marriage for love, if at all, will enable true happiness in order that a woman maintains independence of her intellect and ideals.How is Pride and Prejudice a social criticism of the 18th Century's views on marriage?
i dont think that it was a social criticism as much as she was just trying to convey the irony of a situation- she certainly was not suggesting that the practice of marriage be changed, or she would not have had her lead character get married in the end. also charolette lucas did not have to marry to be happy- he had to marry to be secure, and the security is what made her happy. same with elizabeth and her family- their mother did not care about their happiness in marraige as much as the security involved in it, and her younger sisters, interested in the status derived from being married, not in marriage itsself and this is the irony jane austen was attempting to point out- that the only independance these girls would ever know was in their dependance on their husbands rather than their crazy mother, and that was the greatest happiness these girls would experience in their lives.
It's criticism on how woman were treated. A woman was nothing unless she was married, merely a burden on her parents (i.e. Charlotte). Elizabeth fights back saying that she won't sacrifice her happiness in life for security.