PRESENCE OF CULTURE MATERIALISM ELEMENTS IN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE BY JANE AUSTEN AND UNMARRIAGEABLE BY SONIAH KAMAL

Abstract

Since the dawn of civilization, female marital problems have been at the center of human life. These elements are present everywhere due to materialistic perspectives and beliefs. The 2019 novel Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal is a reimagining of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen set in the setting of Pakistani culture, where the fundamental problem of weddings is one of society and capitalism. Pakistan is a country dominated by the middle class, where people struggle to make ends meet while also needing a lot of money for activities that are largely cultural in nature. The Culture Materialism (CM) movement seeks to examine the fundamental problems in a culture where materialism is also on the rise. The essential components of the ideology of the public mind are also created by materialistic notions in the new literary technique known as critical textual analysis (CM). The current study is qualitative in character and will examine the fundamental marital concerns of the 19th century and the issues of the 21st century from the viewpoints of Harris and Dolimore's theory
of Cultural Materialism. The two novels Pride and Prejudice and Unmarriageable will be compared and contrasted in the research, as well as their texts' representations of culture and materialism. The study's findings indicate that marriage problems exist in both societies, even in modern-day Pakistan, although many of the concerns are distinct and have to do with materialism, such as dowries and jewelry. The survey also finds that whereas fathers are constantly mindful of the financial load and societal difficulties, mothers of girls are particularly interested in arranging their daughters' marriages. The female mothers of the girls enjoy the male members because they are a representation of capitalism, while the girls choose those who understand that life is best lived in harmony.