Jane Austen expresses significant views on marriage in "Pride and Prejudice", but does so in very subtle and delicate ways. She is very critical of society's expectations of women in relation to the issues surrounding love and marriage. Austen's own views on marriage are portrayed through the relationships her characters form, especially those associated with Elizabeth Bennet. In contrast to Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", we are presented with very similar issues surrounding love and marriage in Jane Campion's "The Piano" through the main character of Ada McGrath. Some of these similar issues that we are presented with include marriage arrangements, men 'owning' women and how marriage is sometimes a form of imprisonment.

A conspicuous theme of "The Piano" is how women are sometimes seen as being and object or possession to a man once they are wed. Alistair Stewart honestly believed that it was his right to dominate...