Marriage and courtship customs and ideas have changed throughout time. In the early nineteenth century, people got married at a younger age because it was consider proper. Now many people do not feel that they need to get married in order to live with the person with whom they are in a relationship. Even if they do get married, getting divorced after a while is easier in our current culture. Most things might have changed, but the main ideas behind marriage remain always the same. This is expressed in the novel,"Pride and Prejudice," by Jane Austen.
             Courtship or dating can have many definitions. It can mean different things to different people. Usually dating leads to marriage, but of course that's not always the case. In the old times, people usually met at balls, the church or recitals (Mooman 1). It was rare for a man and women from the same village to marry (Carlson 2). This was probably because they had seen each other grow up, and knew each other's defects. It was very crucial to pick the right person to date. A simple dance can make two people fall in love with each other. Almost always the person you dated was the person you were going to end up living with for the rest of your life with. However, these days many people date more often and more people. Dating is not as important as it was back then. During the 1800's, in England, you needed to be married for you to be seen as an independent adult. Courtship was extremely important because preparation for adulthood was preparation for marriage (Carlson 1).
             After you had found the right person to date, the issue was now going on a date. Back then, most dates had to be closely chaperoned. The couple could either meet privately or publicly. They also had supervised visits, but not always. They could meet at their homes, where it wasn't a private meeting because of the family members, but courting couples also met in parks, fields, and gardens for a more private date (Carl...