--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An unhappy alternative is before you…" description: "\"An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if y..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/971/jane-austen-39_alternatives_an-unhappy-alternative-is-before-you-eli_2957309.jpg" --- # An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this… ![“An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.” quote by Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/971/jane-austen-39_alternatives_an-unhappy-alternative-is-before-you-eli_2957309.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/971/jane-austen-39_alternatives_an-unhappy-alternative-is-before-you-eli_2957309.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/971/jane-austen-39_alternatives_an-unhappy-alternative-is-before-you-eli_2957309.jpg) > “An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.” [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A character faces a painful choice: remain loyal to family or pursue a marriage that would sever those ties. **In simple terms:** Choosing love may mean becoming estranged from a parent. Key Takeaway Weigh personal happiness against familial obligations. Themes love family duty individual autonomy social expectations Mood conflicted melancholic hopeful Type literary dramatic When to use this quote - courtship decisions - family estrangement - career moves - cultural expectations Key Concepts marriage parent‑child relationships social class personal sacrifice Questions to Reflect On - What values guide you when love conflicts with family? - Can duty and desire be reconciled? A Different Perspective Choosing love may cause lasting familial rifts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Mr collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mr-collins/) [Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Stranger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stranger/) [Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy/) ## Related quotes > [“An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/an-unhappy-alternative-is-before-you-elizabeth-from-this-day-you-must/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. - Your mother will never see you again if you do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/from-this-day-you-must-be-a-stranger-to-one-of-your-parents-your/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-grahame-smith/your-mother-will-never-see-you-again-if-you-do-not-marry-mr-collins/) [Seth Grahame-Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-grahame-smith/) > [ “Words were insufficient for the elevation of his \[Mr Collins'\] feelings; and he was obliged to walk about the room, while Elizabeth tried to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/words-were-insufficient-for-the-elevation-of-his-mr-collins-feelings/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“When Mr. Collins could be forgotten, there was really an air of great comfort throughout, and by Charlotte’s evident enjoyment of it, Elizabeth supposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/when-mr-collins-could-be-forgotten-there-was-really-an-air-of-great/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [If you were to give me forty such men, I never could be so happy as you. Till I have your disposition, your goodness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/if-you-were-to-give-me-forty-such-men-i-never-could-be-so-happy-as/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [It does not appear to me that my hand is unworthy your acceptance, or that the establishment I can offer would be any other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-does-not-appear-to-me-that-my-hand-is-unworthy-your-acceptance-or/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Mr. Collins is a conceited, pompous, narrow-minded, silly man; you know he is, as well as I do; and you must feel, as well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/mr-collins-is-a-conceited-pompous-narrow-minded-silly-man-you-know-he/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“...and, perhaps, if I have very good luck, I may meet with another Mr. Collins in time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/and-perhaps-if-i-have-very-good-luck-i-may-meet-with-another-mr/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [I suppose a child's first obligation is to become a stranger to his parents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-kelman/i-suppose-a-child-s-first-obligation-is-to-become-a-stranger-to-his/) [Judith Kelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-kelman/) > [The young man who wants to marry happily should pick out a good mother and marry one of her daughters - any one will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-ogden-armour/the-young-man-who-wants-to-marry-happily-should-pick-out-a-good/) [J. Ogden Armour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-ogden-armour/) > [If I could meet my mother and marry her, I would. I would be with my mother now, if she weren't my mother, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shia-labeouf/if-i-could-meet-my-mother-and-marry-her-i-would-i-would-be-with-my/) [Shia LaBeouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shia-labeouf/) > [Our ability to fall in love requires enough comfort with our masculinity to join it with someone's femininity and feel enhanced. .. . If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-pittman/our-ability-to-fall-in-love-requires-enough-comfort-with-our/) [Frank Pittman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-pittman/) > [“After they had skated around the pond several times, my father asked my mother to marry him. I expect he did it awkwardly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/after-they-had-skated-around-the-pond-several-times-my-father-asked/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Boys, don't try to find a woman as wonderful as your mother to marry because if you do, you'll stay single your whole lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-perkins/boys-don-t-try-to-find-a-woman-as-wonderful-as-your-mother-to-marry/) Anthony Perkins ## More by Jane Austen > [Let us have the luxury of silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/let-us-have-the-luxury-of-silence/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“How earnestly did she then wish that her former opinions had been more reasonable, more moderate!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/how-earnestly-did-she-then-wish-that-her-former-opinions-had-been/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“it is very well worth-while to be tormented for two or three years of one's life, for the sake of being able to read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-is-very-well-worth-while-to-be-tormented-for-two-or-three-years-of/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [ “Everybody is taken in at some period or another. \[...\] In marriage especially. \[...\] There is not one in a hundred of either sex,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/everybody-is-taken-in-at-some-period-or-another-in-marriage/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [She knew that what Marianne and her mother conjectured one moment, they believed the next: that with them, to wish was to hope, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/she-knew-that-what-marianne-and-her-mother-conjectured-one-moment/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“…for I look upon the Frasers to be about as unhappy as most other married people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/for-i-look-upon-the-frasers-to-be-about-as-unhappy-as-most-other/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“It raises my spleen more than any thing, to have the pretence of being asked, of being given a choice, and at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-raises-my-spleen-more-than-any-thing-to-have-the-pretence-of-being/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [her spirits wanted the solitude and silence which only numbers could give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/her-spirits-wanted-the-solitude-and-silence-which-only-numbers-could/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“But in such cases as these a good memory is unpardonable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/but-in-such-cases-as-these-a-good-memory-is-unpardonable/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“...the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/the-pleasantness-of-an-employment-does-not-always-evince-its-propriety/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Such squeamish youths as cannot bear to be connected with a little absurdity are not worth a regret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/such-squeamish-youths-as-cannot-bear-to-be-connected-with-a-little/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“I must tell you what you will not ask, though I may wish it unsaid the next moment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/i-must-tell-you-what-you-will-not-ask-though-i-may-wish-it-unsaid-the/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Lady Catherine seemed quite astonished at not receiving a direct answer; and Elizabeth suspected herself to be the first creature who had ever dared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/lady-catherine-seemed-quite-astonished-at-not-receiving-a-direct/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“He had suffered, and he had learnt to think, two advantages that he had never known before…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/he-had-suffered-and-he-had-learnt-to-think-two-advantages-that-he-had/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Eliot's character; vanity of person and of situation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/vanity-was-the-beginning-and-the-end-of-sir-walter-eliot-s-character/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) [Explore all 2,013 Jane Austen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## More Alternatives quotes > [I am very sad that some designers are still using real fur when the fake alternatives are so effective and so easily obtainable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twiggy/i-am-very-sad-that-some-designers-are-still-using-real-fur-when-the/) [Twiggy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twiggy/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [I strongly reject any conceptual scheme that places our options on a line, and holds that the only alternative to a pair of extreme…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/i-strongly-reject-any-conceptual-scheme-that-places-our-options-on-a/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Conventional agriculture has never succeeded in feeding the world, and it's never produced anything good to eat. For the future, we need to look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-barber/conventional-agriculture-has-never-succeeded-in-feeding-the-world-and/) [Dan Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-barber/) > [ \[When asked how it felt to be a female prime minister:\] I don't know: I've never experienced the alternative. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/when-asked-how-it-felt-to-be-a-female-prime-minister-i-don-t-know-i/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [If one could have a wish, or an alternative life, I would've liked to have been John Lennon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-oldman/if-one-could-have-a-wish-or-an-alternative-life-i-would-ve-liked-to/) [Gary Oldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-oldman/) > [THE REAL PURPOSE OF HOLOCAUST REVISIONISM IS TO MAKE NATIONAL SOCIALISM AN ACCEPTABLE POLITICAL ALTERNATIVE AGAIN.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-covington/the-real-purpose-of-holocaust-revisionism-is-to-make-national/) Harold Covington > [Men since the beginning of time have sought peace...military alliances, balances of power, leagues of nations, all in turn have failed, leaving the only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-macarthur/men-since-the-beginning-of-time-have-sought-peace-military-alliances/) [Douglas MacArthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-macarthur/) > [Buddhist words such as compassion and emptiness don't mean much until we start cultivating our innate ability simply to be there with pain with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/buddhist-words-such-as-compassion-and-emptiness-don-t-mean-much-until/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [The mission of Christian humility in social life is not merely to edify, but to keep minds open to many alternatives. The rigidity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-mission-of-christian-humility-in-social-life-is-not-merely-to/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Maximise the alternative forms in which a user might receive a service, and the alternative sources of supply.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-chipp/maximise-the-alternative-forms-in-which-a-user-might-receive-a/) Don Chipp > [In the last few years, the very idea of telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is dredged up only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-musto/in-the-last-few-years-the-very-idea-of-telling-the-truth-the-whole/) [Michael Musto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-musto/) > [Altermodern is an in-progress redefinition of modernity in the era of globalisation, stressing the experience of wandering in time, space and mediums. The term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-bourriaud/altermodern-is-an-in-progress-redefinition-of-modernity-in-the-era-of/) Nicolas Bourriaud > [If the system exhibits a structure which can be represented by a mathematical equivalent, called a mathematical model, and if the objective can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-dantzig/if-the-system-exhibits-a-structure-which-can-be-represented-by-a/) [George Dantzig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-dantzig/) > [We must commit ourselves to an 'all of the above' energy approach, with a major focus on increasing domestic production and expanding alternatives fuels,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-roskam/we-must-commit-ourselves-to-an-all-of-the-above-energy-approach-with/) [Peter Roskam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-roskam/) Browse all 1,463 Alternatives quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jane Austen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/an-unhappy-alternative-is-before-you-elizabeth-from-this-day-you-must-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Alternatives" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/an-unhappy-alternative-is-before-you-elizabeth-from-this-day-you-must-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/971/jane-austen-39_alternatives_an-unhappy-alternative-is-before-you-eli_2957309.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/971/jane-austen-39_alternatives_an-unhappy-alternative-is-before-you-eli_2957309.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/971/jane-austen-39_alternatives_an-unhappy-alternative-is-before-you-eli_2957309.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your…” — Jane Austen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jane Austen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "An unhappy alternative is before you,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/an-unhappy-alternative-is-before-you-elizabeth-from-this-day-you-must-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/an-unhappy-alternative-is-before-you-elizabeth-from-this-day-you-must-2/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```