In the book Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, the text reveals a shift in society’s values through the interpretation of characters and gender-bias archetypes revealed in the past and connecting them to today. The different opinions in the articles show how others interpret the novel by comparing the past issues to the present stereotypes of society. Austen discusses the juxtaposition of following social norms or revolting against them.
Interpreting Dramatic Appeal: Literary Perspectives on Pride and Prejudice
Article 1 provides information about Pride and Prejudice’s dramatic stories that turn out to be taken too literally. Walker D.T. states that Pride and Prejudice became overdramatic in effect to appeal to literature enthusiasts. However, Jane Austen crafted her novel with intriguing dramatic appeal. Furthermore, he calls Pride and Prejudice an unintelligent novel. This statement is overriding but a supported opinion. In addition, he calls the novel not very realistic, presenting a thoughtful critique of Pride and Prejudice, deeming Pride and Prejudice exists as an over-dramatized novel.
Marital Dynamics and Social Norms in Austen’s World
Paalman, Susan. “‘In Want of a Wife’–or a Husband–in Pride and Prejudice.” St. John’s Review, vol. 57, no. 1, Sept. 2015, EBSCOHost
Article 2 mentions the specific aspects needed for characters to marry in the novel. The author of the article, Susan Paulman, discusses the opening sentence of the novel, which explains that every man desires a wife. Throughout the novel, the sentence serves important significance as the novel focuses on some of the Bennet daughters finding a husband in good fortune.
The weaknesses and strengths of the characters prove to be helpful in their marriages. Upon Lizzie’s rejection, Charlotte Lucas becomes engaged to Mr. Collins. When looking for a wife, Mr. Collins only wants to please her. This article acts as an amazing source for learning more about how marriages were in the time of Pride and Prejudice. This article explains in more detail the marriages in Pride and Prejudice.
Unveiling Social Hierarchies: Class in Austen’s Society
This article provides different aspects of the societal norms in Pride and Prejudice. Ashfaq Samina and Nasir Jamal explain the details of all the families in the novel. The Bennet family comes across as very wealthy. However, their five daughters make it difficult to save money. According to the authors, the Lucas family exhibits selfishness and cowardice repeatedly throughout the book.
In a similar vein, Lady Catherine’s invitation to Mr. Collins and other acquaintances serves as a lesson in the book to demonstrate the social class that Mr. Collins and his friends belong to, which turns out to be an affluent one. However, throughout the book, people from the same social class have divergent opinions about how people from other social classes should behave. When Mr. Bennet comes off as not caring if his daughter marries a wealthy person like Mrs. Bennet, this seems evident. This essay claims that Pride and Prejudice does a fantastic job of portraying various social classes.
Subtle Sarcasm and Social Mores: Unpacking Literary Commentary
The underlying significance of a dialogue between Mrs. Hurst and Lizzie is discussed in Article 4. Lizzie’s description as an ‘excellent walker’ by Mrs. Hurst is explained by Olivia Murphy in more detail. Since there isn’t a carriage nearby, Lizzie must go a considerable distance to get where she needs to be. Long-distance walks were discouraged during the romantic era, so Mrs. Hurst makes a fairly snide remark to Lizzie. Even so, at first glance, Mrs. Hurst’s comment to Lizzie does not appear to be impolite. However, it becomes evident she is being sarcastic when one considers the romantic era and social mores of the time. This source functions well as an illustration of reading more deeply. This article also deeply explains a sarcastic comment in the novel.
Evolution of Literary Adaptations: Pride and Prejudice in Contemporary Context
The distinctions between the romantic era, which serves as the setting for Pride and Prejudice, and the present are discussed in Article 5. Andrew Davies is first introduced in the essay. He discovered the data that was used in this piece; he is widely known for adapting older publications. He even managed to work for the BBC. The authors of this article also go on to describe how literary adaptations function. Older literature frequently employs adaptations, which are modest changes made to fit current ideological trends to make the material easier to understand. They also discussed the 1990s and the shift in ideological trends that occurred during that decade. This article outlines the efforts made to simplify Pride and Prejudice.
References:
Walker, D. T. (2020). Pride, Prejudice, and Skeptical Intimacy. Eighteenth Century: Theory & Interpretation, 61(4), 433–452. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Paalman, Susan. (2015). “‘In Want of a Wife’–or a Husband–in Pride and Prejudice.” St. John’s Review, 57(1). Retrieved from EBSCOHost.
Ashfaq, Samina, & Nasir Jamal Khattak. (2014). Dilemma of Class Classification in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Putaj Humanities & Social Sciences, 21. Retrieved from EBSCOHost.
Murphy, Olivia. (2013). Jane Austen’s ‘Excellent Walker’: Pride, Prejudice, and Pedestrianism. Eighteenth Century Fiction, 26(1), 121–142. Retrieved from EBSCOHost.
Trandafoiu, Ruxandra, & Carol Poole. (2018). The Past and ‘The Way We Live Now’: Andrew Davies’ Screen Adaptations of Pride & Prejudice and War Ix Peace. Midwest Quarterly, 60(1), 87–110. Retrieved from EBSCOHost.
Unveiling Societal Norms and Femininity in Pride and Prejudice:
Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austen and published in the year 1813, is set in the countryside of England. This romantic novel follows the development of the protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, who learns the importance of avoiding hasty judgments and the differences between superficial and reality. Additionally, the theme of femininity and women’s reputations within English society is prominent. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice shatters the stigma of social rankings and restrictions placed on women.
In 18th-century England, both femininity and Women’s reputations were of the utmost importance. It was expected of women to adhere to certain expectations and rules set by society, especially in the public eye. This is exemplified by Elizabeth’s sister Lydia, who runs away and lives with Wickham, a gold-digging foot soldier until Lydia’s family gets involved and forces the two to be married. Reputation within the novel is an important theme; when one character’s reputation is flawed, it threatens that of many others.
Upon Lydia crushing her own reputation, she puts the reputations of all of her family members on the line as well. Mrs. Bennet’s fowl reputation with the upper-class members reflects prominently on Jane and Elizabeth. This is also exemplified when Elizabeth appears at the Netherfield estate with mud spattered on her clothing from the walkover; the shock of her appearance is evident in Caroline Bingley’s comments. Christopher Brook’s critical article on rank and class in reference to Jane Austen’s literary masterpieces addresses how carefully observed economic phenomenons and societal rankings were by Austen before writing.
Her observations on social rank are always accurate and satirical. She creates characters from the utmost pretentious snobs, who view the system with all too much respect, to mindless oafs who don’t give an ounce of thought or respect to the system. Robert Uphaus, in his critical article, employs Mr. Collins as an example of Jane Austen’s views of reading in relation to the female sex. Mr. Collins, in the novel, cultivates conventional wisdom upon self-righteously declaring that he never reads novels. When Mr. Collins is invited to read aloud in the family library, it is written: a book was produced; but on beholding it, he started back, and, begging pardon, protested that he never read novels.’
Dichotomy of Characters: Pride and Prejudice as a Mirror of Flaws:
After significant time and banter, it was decided that he read Fordyce’s Sermons. Austen’s novel begins with, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” This sentence is wrought with irony that will develop throughout the novel. The characteristics of the title, Pride and Prejudice, introduce the reader to the flaws of the main characters, Elizabeth and Darcy. It is Darcy’s flaw of Prejudice and Elizabeth’s flaw of pride that cause the chain of events, preventing the couple from either noticing or acknowledging their shared love.
Crafting Complexity: Austen’s Literary Techniques in Pride and Prejudice:
Austen uses irony to contrast the significant differences between what is expected by the reader versus the reality of what actually transpires. The irony is the most prevalent and powerful literary device employed by Austen throughout the romantic novel. Austen’s irony resonates in a multitude of different ways within each character. The novel is filled with both dramatic and situational irony. Dramatic irony is mainly present in the first few chapters, whereas situational irony is largely distributed throughout the novel.
Dramatic irony is primarily exemplified when Caroline Bingley, Elizabeth, Darcy, Jane, and Charles Bingley are all together in the Bingley household. During Elizabeth’s absence from this scene, Darcy’s commentary displays to the reader that despite Elizabeth’s feelings toward Darcy, he is at least slightly intrigued by her. Caroline mentions how unkempt Elizabeth looks upon her arrival as though she had walked there, which she had, specifically how this would likely make Darcy think less of her “fine eyes.”
Darcy’s reply incited the dramatic irony: “They were brightened by the exercise.” His comment displays his fondness towards Elizabeth; it is not until later chapters that Elizabeth is made known of this fondness. Situational irony is exemplified during Elizabeth’s stay at her friend’s house; she is visited by Darcy. Before his visit, she is conversing with her friend about her hate for Darcy, which she believes is reciprocated until this visit.
Instead of the expected rude comments from Darcy, he states, “You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” He proceeds to ask for her hand in marriage. The reader is instantly taken by surprise due to the fact that we were made to believe his pride had caused him to loathe her. Her writing style is a diverse combination of both neoclassicism and romanticism. Within Austen’s style of writing lies her witty dialogue, which distinguishes her from other artists of her time, as well as intricate individuality within every character. Austen had a talent as well as the pattern of diving below the surface of basic events and turning them into emotionally complex entertainment.
Austen’s diction can most accurately be described as formal diction. Formal diction is characterized by complex words with a lofty tone, usually proper and elaborate language. Elizabeth is highly as well as thoroughly educated by her own doing, primarily through reading. Therefore, her vocabulary is of a significantly higher level than that of her sisters, Kitty and Mary, who are primarily observed using neutral diction often wrought with colloquialisms.
The novel is told from a limited omniscient perspective, through Elizabeth, but not in the first person. Pride and Prejudice is narrated in 3rd person, primarily with Elizabeth. There is no seemingly obvious reason to distrust the narrator. Historically, before the modernist movement, it was assumed narrators were always reliable. Austen employs the technique of wordplay to emphasize the importance of transpiring events. This is exemplified by Darcy during a conversation with Charles; Darcy states, “At such an assembly as this, it would be insupportable.
Your sisters are engaged, and there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with.” Austen utilizes the word insupportable; this word has a double meaning; it can mean either not in favor of the previous or unadvised. Secondly, this can be found during a discussion between Elizabeth and Charlotte pertaining to the relationship between Jane and Charles. In this conversation, Charlotte brings to light that Charles does not feel the way about Jane as Elizabeth is claiming.
The following quote illustrates this: “Eliza, remember that he does not know Janes’s disposition as do you.”. The word disposition is used specifically because it can either be applied to her character or the situation. This wordplay employed by Austen is evident throughout her novel Pride & Prejudice, as well as in her other works, almost as a trademark while serving to allow double meaning that can be determined by the audience as well as emphasizing interest. Jane Austen utilizes the love story between Jane and Charles as a ploy to capture the attention of her audience, as well as the complex relationship of love and hate between Darcy and Elizabeth.
Structural Evolution: Themes and Narratives in Pride and Prejudice:
The themes of Pride and Prejudice are developed through the novel’s structure. The structure is simple: the two people introduced in the first few pages are the two who should be together, which the reader can concretely feel and see, and end up together in the last pages. The journey to this is filled with complications that bring a multitude of the character’s qualities to the surface. The title itself is a key factor in the structure of this novel’s analysis.
Pride and Prejudice is an analysis of characters who are so seemingly simple yet so complex. By using Freytag’s structure pyramid, one can see that the structure of this novel begins with the inciting action of Charles Bingley renting an estate nearby. The rising action is centralized around the conflict of Darcy being seemingly unimpressed with Elizabeth Bennet, which is overheard by Elizabeth herself. This incites the many complications to come.
The climax begins when Darcy proposes his love for Elizabeth and asks for her hand in marriage, which Elizabeth finally accepts after a visit from Lady deBourgh. The falling action takes place with Elizabeth confronting Mr. and Mrs. Bennet with the news of the engagement. Neither of the two was fond of Darcy, as they believed Elizabeth was fond of him as well. At this time, it is brought to the attention of Mr. Bennet that it is due to Mr. Darcy that Lydia was to be married to Mr. Wickham at such a small price. The resolution was the wedding of Elizabeth Bennet, soon to be Mrs. Darcy, to Mr. Darcy. The epilogue that followed described the contentment and joy-filled relationships of other couples. Austen Pride and Prejudice is a satirical literary masterpiece pertaining to societal rankings and the conditions as well as expectations of women during this time period, the 18th century.
References:
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. 1813.
Brook, Christopher. “Rank and Class in Jane Austen’s Literary Masterpieces.”
Uphaus, Robert. “Mr. Collins and Jane Austen’s Views on Reading in Relation to the Female Sex.”
In today’s society, we take it for granted that we will someday be in a relationship or marry someone whom we love and have much in common with. Love and similar interests were not always the primary considerations for marriage, particularly in the case of English high society during the late 18th century when social class was considered a far more compelling trait when deciding whom to marry. In the Longbourn countryside of Hertfordshire, England the fictional Bennet family and its five unmarried daughters navigate their society’s expectations surrounding marriage.
In the satirical novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, the author tells this story using irony, exaggeration, and ridicule throughout the story to criticize society’s expectation that marriage is an apparatus of social elevation rather than an expression of love and commonality.
By using Charlotte Lucas, the author criticizes the traditional matrimony system. “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man is possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”. – Narrator, Chapter 1. Jane Austen uses irony in this line conceals an implicit criticism to illustrates that during the late 1700s the Regency society has a habit of expecting young people marry with someone who had a higher rank or fortune and Inheritance from someone in their family. On the other hand, this marriage expectation is only part of the traditional culture. Mary Bennet provides a simple definition of pride and vanity, so that readers can have a better understanding of the central ideas of the novel. “Pride is a very common failing, I believe. By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed; that human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self- complacency on the score of some quality or other, real or imaginary. Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.” – Mary Bennet, Chapter 5. Her speech indicates that these attributes are “very common”. Therefore, she hinted that it is best to recognize this behavioral tendency of a person. However, at the beginning of Pride and Prejudice, both Elizabeth and Darcy believed that they transcended pride and vanity. They believe that they can avoid these cultural norms, but ultimately they are forced to accept that they do exist in the context of a greater society. They are responsible for others and should consider how their family and friends view them to some extent.
Pride and marriage is not the only society expectations. By using Charlotte Lucas’s marriage, the author emphasizes the theme of the story “true love verses class and reputation” After Charlotte Lucas decided to marry Mr.Collin, she tells Elizabeth not everyone have luxury for true love. “I see what you are feeling,’ replied Charlotte. ‘You must be surprised, very much surprised—so lately as Mr. Collins was wishing to marry you. But when you have had time to think it over, I hope you will be satisfied with what I have done. I am not romantic, you know; I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins’s character, connection, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state.’ Charlotte is simply indicates that she is going to marry Mr. Collins for his money. The Lucass are not wealthy and can’t handle any substantial money in Charlotte’s marriage. Therefore, for her, marrying someone with enough money to support their family is crucial. But not everyone in this story is willing to sacrifice marriage to wealth.
After Charlotte told Elizabeth the marriage between her and Mr.Collion. She Elizabeth respond with her belives on marrage. “Elizabeth quietly answered ‘Undoubtedly;’ and after an awkward pause, they returned to the rest of the family. Charlotte did not stay much longer, and Elizabeth was then left to reflect on what she had heard. It was a long time before she became at all reconciled to the idea of so unsuitable a match. The strangeness of Mr. Collins’ making two offers of marriage within three days was nothing in comparison of his being now accepted. She had always felt that Charlotte’s opinion of matrimony was not exactly like her own, but she had not supposed it to be possible that, when called into action, she would have sacrificed every better feeling to worldly advantage. Charlotte the wife of Mr. Collins was a most humiliating picture! And the pang of a friend disgracing herself and sunk in her esteem, was added the distressing conviction that it was impossible for that friend to be tolerably happy in the lot she had chosen.” Chapter 22. The quote shows Elizabeth’s perspective on marriage. which she believes that people should marry for true love and respect, not for material comfort. Elizabeth fulfilled her wishes in her marriage with Darcy. But in addition to love, she also receive the material comfort that Darcy brings.
Pride and Prejudice (1813) by Jane Austen is set in 19th-century England which was a period of transition in Western Europe. Austen’s novels are domestic fiction as they largely show the daily life of her characters during the Regency period. The Bennets, around whom the novel revolves, belong to an educated upper-middle-class family, much like the author’s own background.
The opening line of the novel introduces the theme as marriage
The opening line of the novel, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” introduces marriage as the theme of the novel. While Mr. Bennet has an income from landed aristocracy sufficient for a comfortable living, he still has five daughters who would need dowry for their marriage – money that he does not have. Herein too lies the crux of Mrs. Bennet’s desire to marry off her daughters to wealthy suitors.
Jane Austen’s background and Marriage in Austen’s world
Marriage, in Austen’s world, is considered to be the only future for young women. They are prepared for it from a young age, and are encouraged to be ‘accomplished’ – learning to draw, play the piano, gain fluency in many languages, etc – to make them a more attractive catch for marriage. If a woman passed her youth without marrying, much like Austen herself who never got married, she was considered a spinster by society and a burden on her family. This is worse if the woman does not inherit any wealth to sustain herself, Charlotte Lucas’s acceptance of Mr. Collins’s hand being a perfect example of this.
Pride and Prejudice remains a widely-read novel even though it has been hundreds of years since its publication. Many directors have adapted the novel on screen to showcase this story of love, marriage, family, and the society that people resonate with even today. (A quote here will substantiate the point about other directors’ being interested in this novel.)
Section 1
Point 1.1- Introduction of both adaptations- Pride and Prejudice (2005) and The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (2013-14) in the nature of “realism”
Before Pride and Prejudice (2005), directed by Joe Wright was released, the novel had not been adapted into a film for nearly 65 years. The director himself confessed in an interview with Eric Abeel that he had never read Austen before: ‘I’d never read any Austen and then I went and read the book. And I was stunned by it really — it seemed to me the first piece of British realism. It felt so accurately observed, so carefully drawn. And very, very true as well. And actually to discover this thing that spoke so directly to human experience.’
Realism is an aesthetic mode which broke with the classical demands of art to show life as it should be in order to show life ‘as it is.’ The work of realist art tends to eschew the elevated subject matter of tragedy in favour of the quotidian; the average, the commonplace, the middle classes and their daily struggles with the mean verities of everyday existence–these are the typical subject matters of realism. (Realism and the Realist Novel, http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0254.html.)
Wright shows this realism in his movie by painting an authentic picture of Loungborn. The town is shown as a working farm with chickens and cattle and the Bennets live in a messy upper middle-class home with pigs running in and out. Ursinus College film studies professor Carole Dole explained that, ‘The agricultural realities of 1790s England are equally evident in the enclosed yard with barn and hay where Lizzie twirls barefoot over the mud on a rope swing’. Besides the scenery, As for the cinematography, he said, ‘We tried to stay faithful to the narrative beats of the story, but also the atmosphere and tone of the book. That’s why there are so many closeups. Jane Austen observes people very carefully and closely: so that was the cinematic equivalent of her prose. I like closeups very much indeed. I think studying the human face on that kind of scale is one of the enduring pleasures of film. Also the constant movement of the camera felt like an equivalent to the sense of energy and excitement about her talent that comes across to me when reading the book.’ Wright also embedded realism by casting actors that were close to the age of Austen’s characters.
Joe Wright’s adaptation takes us back to the 19th century and portrays the society as it was back then. It is a realistic portrayal in terms of historical and social depiction. However, there is another adaptation of the novel that is realistic in terms of portraying society in current times. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (2012-2013), created by Hank Green and Bernie Su, is a web series adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that brings the novel to the 21st century. The story is told through video blogs, popularly known as vlogs. The series starts with Lizzie Bennet, a 24 year old grad student, sitting in her room in front of a camera and recording a video blog. The majority of the series consists of her narrating the events in her life as well as her family’s, starting from when a medical student Bing Lee, equivalent to the novel’s rich bachelor Bingley, moves into the neighbourhood. While Lizzie is the narrator of the series, other characters in the series pop in and out of frame and at times, two characters act out certain events that previously happened. The vlog-style series clearly shows that most of it is Lizzie’s perspective, a contrast to the novel that is in third-person and includes a narration that is not biased to just one character. The show depicts virtual realism. The reality has changed to that of a digital era.
The series shows how the pressure of society on young people to get married is still prevalent but not as much, and there is an equal focus on career. However, staying single in their youth and ending up alone is still not acceptable by society. The essence of the novel’s story has been kept in the series, while changes have been made to make them relevant to current times. Bing Lee is a medical student, which makes him a valuable prospect for Bennet sisters. Here, intellectual property is valued instead of ownership of land that is present in the novel. Darcy, in the series is the CEO of his own company, Pemberley Digital. Being a businessman makes him an eligible bachelor in the society as well. Having a skill that is marketable in the series is the equivalent of inheriting a large sum of money in the novel.
Point 1.2- The institution of marriage still remains central to the story. All marriages remain central and realistic.
Austen’s Pride and Prejudice shows different forms and reasons for marriage in the 19th century. Lydia Bennet marries Wickham out of her infatuation with him and he marries her for money, as he only agrees to marry her even after eloping if he gets a sum of money. Charlotte Lucas’ marriage to Mr. Collins is one of convenience. He needs a mistress for his home and she needs stability and financial security. Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley have a budding love and romance that leads to marriage. Lizzie and Darcy starts differently but becomes a conventional marriage by the end. Though for different reasons, all the marriages are realistic. While both the adaptations discussed here are set in different eras from each other, the institution of marriage still remains central to the society depicted in them.
Point 1.3- Economic aspect
“The opening line of the novel sets the marriage motif of the novel. Pride and Prejudice satirises marriage that has become rather an economic than social activity. Though criticising inequality of women and their ‚duty‘ to marry unwanted men to be financially secured, Austen understood the disadvantages of staying single very well.”
The Bennets live off landed aristocracy. They have no money for dowry, which is why Mrs. Bennet is eager for her daughters to be married to rich suitors. The Bennets are the poorest of the high class. This is shown in the movie by the servants in their household. All the sisters dance voraciously at the Netherfield Ball, signifying that they it was taught to them. They did have a comfortable life, the lack laid in their future. The class difference in Loungborn is shown with the comparison of the Bennet sisters to Charlotte Lucas whose family is not as well-off. People other than the Bennets working for a living isn’t discussed by Austen. It is not a shock to the viewers of the movie when Elizabeth rejects Mr. Collins in movie. This is because he is shown as a rude, foolish character, in the movie without a mind of his own, trying to find a wife for himself at the suggestion of Lady Catherine de Bourg. However, the novel clearly shows the financial implications of Elizabeth rejecting his offer, especially since he’s the one to inherit their land. The economic aspect of forming marriages is more apparent in the novel than the adaptations. Financial and domestic security was one of the main reasons for marriage of women in the Regency period.
Section 2
Point 2.1- Similar portrayal of Mrs. Bennet in all three texts.
The portrayal of Mrs. Bennet in the book and the series remains true to the novel. Her franticness and the significance of the scene (when Bingley arrives) is shown in the movie by keeping the dialogue quite similar- ‘My dear Mr. Bennet, have you heard? Netherfield Park is let at last.’
The novel begins when Mrs. Bennet excitedly tells her husband about the arrival of a man named Mr. Bingley in the neighborhood. Her franticness and the significance of the scene is shown in the movie by keeping the dialogue quite similar- ‘My dear Mr. Bennet, have you heard? Netherfield Park is let at last.’ The excitement of the Bennet girls, especially the younger ones, at the prospect of courting a rich eligible bachelor is shown more clearly in the movie, as they are listening at the door and giggling when their parents are talking. In The Lizzie Bennet Diaries since it is an adaptation set in the 21st century, the mother of the Bennet sisters is worried that none of her daughters are dating anyone instead of worried about them being married, as is appropriate for modern times. However, similar to the novel, Mrs. Bennet wants rich and successful men for her daughters. She is overjoyed when Bing Lee (Mr. Bingley), a medical student moves into the neighbourhood. Even though the sisters are quite young, Lizzie being 22, and Jane only a few years older, and Lydia still in college, Mrs. Bennet wants to see them settled and financially secured.
Mrs. Bennet understands they do not have money for dowry. It is more clear in the book that Mr. Collins is to inherit their property. This fact is mentioned in the movie but has been eluded, making the relationships the central focus.
Point 2.2- Mr and Mrs. Bennet’s relationship: Mrs.Bennet’s financial situation
To understand Mrs. Bennet, it is important to take a look at her marriage. Mr. Bennet has a very contrasting personality to his wife. While Mrs. Bennet is loud, nosy and blunt, Mr. Bennet stays in his own world. He prefers to stay in his study and read. He is not as adamant as his wife for his daughters to be married. There is only a small display of affection between the two in the movie, and none at all in the novel. Lizzie, in The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is right to say, “How these two ever got together in the first place, I will never know.” In the novel, since Mrs. Bennet has no inheritance of her own, it can be concluded that she married Mr. Bennet out of financial security rather than for love. She has a strong grasp of their economic reality, which is why she the nature of a man is second to his financial status in her eyes, explaining her desire for her daughters to be married to the rich newcomers in town.
There is also a difference between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in their mindsets regarding marriage. Mrs. Bennet wants to see her daughters married and settled in a home at any cost. In the movie, she purposely sends jane on horseback to dine at Netherfield at Caroline Bingley’s invitation, knowing that it might rain heavily and Jane in her drenched clothes would have to stay the night, thus increasing the chances of Mr. Bingley falling in love with her. Mr. Bennet knows that the mother’s convoluted actions might be too much and at hearing that Jane has fallen sick, he sarcastically comments, “Well, if Jane does die, it will be a comfort to know it was in pursuit of Mr. Bingley”. It is outrageous to her that Lizzie declined a perfectly acceptable marriage offer, deeming her as selfish and not thinking of her sisters and her family. On the contrary, Mr Bennet cannot imagine his daughter married to Mr. Collins, a self-absorbed man having nothing in common with Lizzie. He says so to Lizzie, “Well, Lizzie, from this day onwards, 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.”
Point 2.3- Mrs. Bennet understands social conventions
Three of Mrs. Bennet’s daughters are engaged or married by the end of the novel. Mrs. Bennet understands social conventions very well. However, she doesn’t care about social norms and etiquette because of her obsession to marry off her daughters. In The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, when Jane is back from dinner at Bing Lee’s house, Lizzie says about Mrs. Bennet, “Part of her is disappointed in Jane for not eloping. And part of her feels the need to intervene in order to fast track this predestined marriage. So it’s safe to say she’s up to something…I know that she wants what’s best for us. Problem is, she never asks us what’s best for us.” Mrs. Bennet is out of her wits when she hears that Lydia has run away with George Wickham. Mr. Wickam plays the family to his advantage. He woos Lydia and then asks for 100 pounds a year from Mr. Bennet to order to marry Lydia. The Bennet family, of course, cannot refuse him as Lydia being married is a matter of the family’s honor after her elopement. In the movie, Mrs. Bennet has an instant change of heart regarding Lydia’s situation when she hears that one of her daughters is to be married. She knows that once married, Wickham won’t leave Lydia as she’s good enough for him. When Lizzie asks her if that is all she thinks about, Mrs. Bennet clearly states her feelings, “When you have five daughters, Lizzie, tell me what else will occupy your thoughts.” She cannot wait to tell Mrs. Lucas, towards whom she felt jealousy since her daughter Charlotte accepted Mr. Collins’ proposal and is now happily married, but her own daughter Elizabeth didn’t and still has no prospects of marriage.
Section 3
Point 3.1- Elizabeth’s portrayal in both adaptations: Through the visuals in the movie and in The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, slanting towards a more independent modern woman.
“Wright’s view of Elizabeth is a matter that needs to be examined further. He created a strong, impertinent and fearless woman who does not respect the rules of Regency society. In fact, she is rather a prototype of a modern woman who is quite bitter and sure of her position. In the film there are many remarks that did not correspond to the book and confirm this thesis, for example […] Men are either eaten up with arrogance or stupidity. If they are amiable, they are so easily led they have no minds of their own whatsoever. [P&P, 2005]”
Elizabeth’s defies social norms by refusing to marry Mr. Collins’, a supposedly perfect bachelor because she doesn’t want to marry only for financial security and societal status. In the movie, she conveys her feelings on marriage privately to her sister Jane, “You know perfectly well I do not believe marriage should be driven by a lot of money…Only the deepest love will persuade me into matrimony, which is why I will end up an old maid.” In The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, the dialogue gives the same meaning, “Only the deepest love should lead to marriage. Seriously, remember that.”
Mr. Collins found it difficult to understand why she would refuse his proposal seeing that he was economically well-off and she wasn’t. He pitched her refusal to ‘merely a natural delicacy’ and thought that she was trying to ‘increase my love by suspense…according to the usual practice of elegant females’. He even says that such an offer is unlikely to be made to Elizabeth in the future, a sentiment echoed by her mother later. However, Elizabeth remains adamant in her refusal saying that Mr. Collins cannot make her happy and she is certain that she cannot make him happy.
Point 3.2- Elizabeth and Darcy
“I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.”
A large portion of the movie is told through Elizabeth’s (Keira Knightley) perspective, which is similar to the novel. However the movie also shows scenes from the perspective of Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfayden) which is not there in the book. In this manner, the movie shows the conflicting emotions of Darcy and how his feelings for Elizabeth develop. The dialogue varies between being the exact same as the book and altered in some scenes to help the modern audience connect better.
Their relationship is one of hate to love, unlike that of Jane and Bingley who developed a relationship quite quickly. It is questionable whether visiting Pemberley, Darcy’s residence and seeing its grandeur had anything to do with the change of heart that she has regarding Darcy. Quote from the novel – “at that moment she felt that to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!” The lavishness of Pemberley is shown more clearly in the movie than the novel or the series. Did she fall for the man or money?
Point 3.3- Comparing Elizabeth to Jane, Lydia and Charlotte
Elizabeth’s character varies a lot from Charlotte’s. In the novel, Charlotte is a few years older than Elizabeth. Her being unmarried is a matter of worry to her family since her financial situation is not sustainable, much like the Bennet sisters. She is viewed as a spinster-in-making by society. When Mr. Collins makes the same marriage proposal to Charlotte that he did to Elizabeth, she accepts. “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance,” she says in the novel. For her, it is necessary to marry for financial security and having her own home rather than love. Charlotte’s sentiments at having accepted Mr. Collin’s proposal are shown in the movie with apt, hard-hitting dialogue, “There was no earthly reason why I shouldn’t be as happy with him as any other…Not all of us can afford to be romantic. I’ve been offered a comfortable home and protection. There’s a lot to be thankful for…I’m 27 years old. I’ve no money and no prospects. I’m already a burden to my parents. And I’m frightened. So don’t judge me Lizzie” Her contentment is later shown when Lizzie visits her. Running a home was a major part of a married woman’s life in those times.
This essay focuses on the importance of letters in “Pride and Prejudice,” the most well-known novel by Jane Austen. The analysis aims to demonstrate their role, function, and significance as the literary technique used to reveal the main characters’ personalities.
Jane Austen, the seventh daughter of a priest, wrote the novel Pride and Prejudice in 1893. Although her education level was low, she taught her own how to write numerous literary pieces. Her first novel was Sense and Sensibility that she released in 1811 (Copeland and Juliet 1). The second novel called Pride and Prejudice was set during rough times of England, but the author chose to dwell on a fantasy about a blissful England where women sit and gossip.
Use of Letters in “Pride and Prejudice”
Austin uses letters as one of the main literary devices in the novel. The characters constantly correspond with each other. The list of letters in Pride and Prejudice includes numerous messages by Elizabeth Bennett, Mr. Collins, Jane, Lydia, and – last but not least – the thrilling Mr.Darcy’s letter to Elizabeth. Mr. Collins repeatedly wrote to Mr. Bennett to reveal the personalities of people in society to the reader (Devine 10). Furthermore, the letters of Darcy and Elizabeth act as windows through which the writer can peep into her characters, thus exposing their flaws or strengths. The letters in “Pride and Prejudice also lay bare gaps in the education and social standing of her different personalities, and they confront such traits.
The topic, therefore, shows the critical significance of Austen’s letters as used by her characters Elizabeth and Darcy. The author intends to depict class, age, and personality of her characters as perceived by other characters. The text also presents a new voice in which readers can listen to feelings of the characters; therefore, revealing their internal self. This aims at understanding the use of letters from a different perspective as opposed to only friendly letters (Devine 14).
The essay aims at discussing several issues on letters in Pride and Prejudice (Copeland and Juliet 192). First, we must comprehend why the author chose the literary technique of using letters to enhance the communication of the characters. Therefore, the essay aims to look at the significance of responses of the characters involved. Also, the symbolism employed by the author is necessary for the reader to puzzle out the hidden lesson behind the letters.
The use of letters in several chapters enables other characters to learn about their counterparts. Austen, Jane (1893) says, “When they were gone, Elizabeth…chose… the examination of all… letters Jane had written to her…” (p.294). Here, Elizabeth is enraged that Mr. Darcy is still mistreating her sister.
She learns this by reading all Jane’s letters that depict a lot of unhappiness. Austen, Jane (1893) continues to reveal the exposure of Jane’s troubles as Elizabeth scrutinizes her letters. Jane is permitting her to know that she is not well where she is residing. The writer wants the reader to feel the misery and pain of Elizabeth and her sister (Austen 294).
The significance of the responses of characters is necessary for exposing the personalities of the characters. Austen, Jane (1893) writes, “The day passed much as the day before… (and) Mr. Darcy was writing, and Miss Bingley…watching the progress of his letter…” (p.72). The author illustrates an element of humor in Mr. Darcy as the woman sits by to admire him.
Austen, Jane (1893) proceeds to write about how Elizabeth approaches (Austen 72). Darcy writing and flatters him how his wife will be impressed by getting that letter. Here, Austen reveals how some characters take to ridiculing their colleagues, therefore, exposing the follies of people with similar traits as her characters.
The lessons we can grasp from the author’s letters include the gift to perceive the feelings, anxieties, and hopes of others in life. Austen, Jane (1893) writes, “Miss Bingley’s letter arrived, and…the… the first sentence conveyed the assurance… of being settled in London…” (p.208).
The author displays an aspect of joy that people feel when they attain fantastic news, such as excellent results in exams. Austen, Jane (1893) depicts the hopelessness of Jane when she reads a letter from her gone friends. Readers experience the desperation of the woman losing her close friends. Thus, letters in the book manage to represent humanity in different situations of life (Austen 208).
In summary, Jane Austen, in her book Pride and Prejudice, specifies the roles of letters by examination of issues of class, age, and decorous behavior among the letter writers (Devine 10). The reader observes aspects of love, hatred, and humor in characters such as Elizabeth when she reacts to her sister’s letters. We also see the author ridiculing Darcy on how his wife will love the message he is writing. This displays the premium of letter writing in Austen’s society and, therefore, an enlightened society.
Besides, the letters in Pride and Prejudice offer readers a chance to analyze the society on issues of class and education. The writer wants her readers to take the responsibility of observing the flaws of the characters through the words in their letters and reforming where possible (Copeland and Juliet 192). The letters also act as a voice of the characters’ expectations and joys. Lastly, the use of letters in the book is a unique literary style that provides readers with reflections.
Conclusion
The importance of letters in “Pride and Prejudice” includes the burning necessity to reveal the different phases of the characters. This involves their joys and sadness when they receive and read their letters (Devine 10). In many of the letters, including Mr.Darcy’s letter to Elizabeth, Austen portrays a societal difference between the characters, as well as the difference in their education and recognition in the society.
They are the same people who write, receive, and read their letters audibly to friends. The author intends to draw the reader to a world of class, age, and education differences so that the reader can reflect and learn lessons (Copeland and Juliet 232). In conclusion, Austen wants us to see letter writing as another form of literary technique that can be effective in communicating intimate feelings.
Pride and Prejudice is arguably the most successful of Jane Austen’s works. After trying out different forms of writing for years, Austen identified her style through Pride and Prejudice (Worsley 100). This novel centers its story around two people in a turbulent relationship that requires them to overcome their immense pride and prejudice to accept their love for each other and marry. The two characters, Elizabeth and Darcy, were different in the background but very similar in characteristics (Awan 676). Austen is considered by some experts one of the first feminist writers in history, which allows one to explore her characters from such a perspective. Elizabeth Bennet is the character whom Austen uses to highlight the importance of treating women as equal members of society and demonstrates that females must be recognized and respected.
Elizabeth Bennet
Elizabeth is the second born in the Bennet family and has four sisters and no brothers. In the family, she has a reputation as the most intelligent girl, despite the fact that she did not receive a formal education (Austen 168). Austen presents Elizabeth as a person who possesses intellectual curiosity and considerable intelligence to challenge a stereotype about women not being interested in studying common during the period of the writing. Additionally, with a character such as Elizabeth, Austen demonstrates that women must not adhere to the norms established in society which require them to act in a way limiting their abilities and interests. The intelligence of Elizabeth provides her with the sense of independence and desire to avoid simply serving men, the role which was standard for women of the age.
Elizabeth’s independence and self-esteem are visible in several interactions of her with Mr. Darcy. For instance, at some point, Mr. Darcy asks her to dance with him, but she refuses to do so, saying, “I do not want to dance a reel at all” (Austen 79). Such behavior was against the social norms of the period because women were expected to be modest and agree to all proposals of men, especially those who were wealthy and noble. Nevertheless, Elizabeth is not afraid of challenging the status quo and follows her needs and desires instead of adopting socially-acceptable conduct (Chandio et al., 301). The independence and self-respect exhibited by Elizabeth enable one to consider her a feminist character since she recognizes that women have their rights.
Another instance of Elizabeth challenging the established social order and patriarchal view of the world is her refusal to agree with Mr. Darcy on his views about women. Mr. Darcy insists that in order to become accomplished, women need to be well-read, as well as excellent in many other fields, from drawing to music (Austen 70). Elizabeth criticizes Mr. Darcy’s perspective saying that he has excessively high standards, which shows her disregard towards patriarchal conceptions about ideal women.
Finally, one of the main examples of Elizabeth’s feminist nature in the book is her refusal to marry Mr. Darcy during his first proposal. Elizabeth comes from a relatively poor family, and she needs to find a husband who will provide for her. Mr. Darcy is a nobleman who also has considerable wealth. Nevertheless, Elizabeth refuses to accept his proposal because Mr. Darcy previously allowed himself to speak negatively about Elizabeth’s family. Moreover, Elizabeth does not wish to marry a man simply due to his wealth and status. Once again, Elizabeth proves her commitment to feminist ideas since she values her freedom and independence the most in life.
Caroline Bingley
Caroline Bingley is another woman in Austen’s book who, nevertheless, constitutes the complete opposite of Elizabeth. Essentially, Caroline plays a role of a traditional woman who abides by all of the social rules and norms established for women. Caroline wants to marry Mr. Darcy exactly because of his wealth and status and, therefore, tries to appease him in every way. For instance, Caroline, despite being formally educated, does not like reading, yet when Mr. Darcy mentions his idea that women must be well-read, Caroline instantly tells him how she enjoys reading (Austen 82). Thus, the reader understands, by analyzing the actions of Caroline, that she conducts herself in a subservient manner and ignores her true needs and interests.
Caroline is not a feminist, and her behavior lets readers see the difference between independent women such as Elizabeth and those who prefer to be socially accepted. Caroline cannot afford the privilege of speaking her mind, while Elizabeth does it naturally without any regret. Elizabeth and Caroline have different priorities in their lives, while Elizabeth prefers to be independent and respected, Caroline simply desires to marry an affluent member of society and gain financial security.
Mr. Darcy
Mr. Darcy is an example of a male character who represents a patriarchal figure to whom females in the story react in different ways. Mr. Darcy comes from a wealthy family, and he is the master of the most considerable Pemberley estate, and his family is an affluent and well-established one. Mr. Darcy is Elizabeth’s ideal match since he is educated, intelligent and forthright. However, just like Elizabeth, he also tends to pass judgment too harshly. His wealthy background and birthright made him a proud man who was arrogant and self-aware of his social status. The first proposal scene demonstrates Mr. Darcy’s sense of self-importance and reflects his patriarchal worldview (Puspita and Pratama 68). Mr. Darcy lets himself openly disrespect Elizabeth’s family because he believes that she will still not be able to respond to it because marrying such a nobleman is what she dreams about. Yet, as mentioned above, Elizbeth’s independence and feminism prevent her from tolerating the negative words of Mr. Darcy about her family.
At the same time, Mr. Darcy is a character who is able to evolve over the span of the story, and eventually, he recognizes his mistakes. Mr. Darcy realizes that in order to be with Elizabeth, he will need to respect her and value her independence. By transforming Mr. Darcy into a man who is able to treat a woman as his equal, Austen shows that feminism can change society for the better. The purpose of Elizabeth and Darcy, as used by the author, was to bring the theme of family influence, social status, love, and society’s reputation at large.
Conclusion
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen highlights the topic of feminism and shows how women, by embracing independence, can make men respect them and their interests. Elizbeth is the main character of the story, and she constitutes the main feminist in the book. Elizabeth prioritizes her independence and self-respect over the prospect of marrying an affluent husband with high social status. Caroline is a character who is the opposite of Elizabeth, a woman who neglects her self-respect in a desire to find an affluent husband. Austen shows that women must not be afraid to embrace feminist ideas of self-reliance and rights.
Works Cited
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. 2nd ed., Broadview Press, 2020.
Chandio, Rashid, et al. “Pride and Prejudice & A Doll’s House: A Comparative Feminist Discourse.” Language in India, vol. 19, no. 8, 2019, pp. 293–304.
Puspita, Meice, and Putra Pratama. “The Value of Feminism in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and The Implications for Language Teaching.” English Empower: Journal of Linguistics and Literature, vol. 4, no. 2, 2019, pp. 65–74.
Society transforms over time, and consequently, ideas and behavior norms change. Fiction written in a certain period can give an insight into the values and views of its time. For example, Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice helps to understand the Regency era. Influential factors in the book’s plot are the issues of marriage necessity for young women and the obstacles that money and social status can provide. Although the ideas of status, money, and marriage still retain significant influence, they were previously more defining for a person’s life.
Money, status, and marriage were closely related and influential during the Regency era. The society was divided into three classes – upper, middle, and low (Georgian Era Society). The wealthiest people represented the upper class of the population. The eldest sons inherited the family’s wealth, and the youngest could choose a profession in medicine, clergy, or military affairs. Women were under the care of the men of their families, and the search for a husband was the main path to higher status and wealth. For this reason, Mrs. Bennet is concerned about her daughters’ marriages (Austen 2). Women only had to marry and take care of the house and children.
Thanks to the industrial revolution, the middle class only appeared then and was busy with jobs requiring qualifications. The lower class was the poorest and did the work for the upper class’s needs. It is worth noting that the upper class was divided, as presented in Austen’s books – there were royalty, nobility, and commoners (Rank and Class). Status and money determined the position of individuals in society and their possibilities. They significantly impacted an individual’s reputation and demonstrated power and privilege (Hashemipour 52). Therefore, the wealthy Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy in Austen’s book are influential and popular as suitors. Such a strong division of society and the importance attached to status lead to classism. This concept means the perception of a person’s value depending on the socio-economic situation (Classism). It leads to problems such as discrimination, inequality, and social exclusion and supports the gap between rich and poor.
The modern world is different from the Regency era – marriage is not a critical path for women, and there is no strict division into classes. However, a gap between rich and poor continues to exist, and the socio-economic situation still determines the individual’s possibilities. For example, low-income families cannot afford quality nutrition or health care, which becomes a barrier to finding a job and developing a career (Classism). Although the appointments today reflect people’s talents more than position, their pay and importance still give them higher status.
Thus, the study of fiction gives an opportunity to learn more about society and the time it was written. Austen’s Pride and Prejudice provides insight into the meaning of status, money, and marriage, which significantly defined a person’s life path in the Regency era. Although in the modern world, these ideas have changed, the socio-economic position continues to play an influential role in people’s lives.
Hashemipour, Saman. “Two Lovers in an Austenian Novel of Manners: The Impact of Social Status in Pride and Prejudice.” International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Publications, vol. 1, no. 9, 2019, pp. 51-55.
Marriage and social arrangements have been a topic of discussion in many literary works. Jane Austen, in particular, uses humor to describe the strong focus on marriage as a necessity for a woman during the 19th century. In Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” Mrs. Bennet is portrayed comically, she is focused on setting up marriage arrangements for her daughter, does not have good manners, and lacks good judgment. Despite this, she is a good mother and a good wife. Mrs. Bennet cares for her daughters and husband, despite the ways she chooses to show her thoughtfulness that is often improper or inconsiderate, which makes her a good wife and mother.
The context of the era during which “Pride and Prejudice” is staged explains Mrs. Bennet’s behavior. During the 19th century, women had fewer rights and, without a husband would have difficulty supporting themselves. Austen even describes the legal policies of that time, according to which Mrs. Bennet’s daughters could not inherit their father’s house (60). Hence, although Longbourn belonged to Mr. Bennet, who had five daughters and a wife, none of them would be able to own the property after his death.
This put all women at risk of eviction and having no place to reside in the future. Instead, only a male representative of a household could be an heir, for example, Mr. Collins. Considering this, there is a clear motivation behind Mrs. Bennet’s actions—she wanted to ensure that her daughters would have a place to live after their fathers’ death. Therefore, the social and legal context of the 19th century provides some insight into Mrs. Bennet’s actions.
Mrs. Bennet’s behavior shows her concern for her daughter’s future. Considering the dependence of females on their husbands or fathers during the 19th century, the daughters would need a husband to support them. Women at that time were often engaged in housework, while men could have a job and earn money. Considering this social arrangement and diminished women’s rights, there were few job opportunities for females, which Mrs. Bennet was aware of and therefore focused on marriage as an opportunity to have a secure life. According to Austen, “the business of her life was to get her daughters married” (50). Thus, similarly to the inheritance concerns, Mrs. Bennet’s behavior is also connected to the rights of women and their ability to provide for themselves during the 19th century.
Despite the social standard, Mrs. Bennet did not have to be concerned with her daughters’ marriage. Instead, she could focus on her personal social life and entertainment. She could have dedicated efforts towards other things that Austen describes as outdated or comical, such as going to shops to choose hats or attending balls or other public gatherings. These things are of particular interest to the other two characters, Mrs. Bennet’s daughters Kitty and Lydia. However, Mrs. Bennet consistently dedicates efforts to taking her daughters to social events and encourages them to meet men who can potentially become the latter’s husbands. Therefore, despite having no obligation to worry about her daughters’ marriage, Mrs. Bennet shows her care and motherly love by helping them find husbands.
Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Bennet often quarrel and have disagreements, but Mrs. Bennet shows care for her husband. She is a good wife because although Mr. Bennet perceives her as unintelligent. Mr. Bennet owns the land and is well-educated, which shows a social class difference between these two characters (Austen 233). Although one can assume that Mrs. Bennet agreed to marry Mr. Bennet due to economic gain, she fulfills her obligations and takes care of the family and the household, making her a good wife.
Some readers may perceive Mrs. Bennet as a bad mother and a bad wife because she lacks regard for her husband’s and daughters’ wishes. Moreover, she even disregarded Jane’s health to arrange the latter’s meeting with Mr. Bingley. In the novel, Jane is sent to visit Mr. Bingley’s estate, and Mr. Bingley described this situation in the following manner: “if she should die, it would be a comfort to know that it was all in pursuit of Mr. Bingley” (76). Hence, Mrs. Bennet’s focus on arranging a marriage for her daughters in some cases disregarded their health and wellbeing, which leads a reader to think that she was not a good mother
Mrs. Bennet, however, is a character representing typical women of her era. In chapter 1, Austen describes her in the following manner: “she was a woman of the mean undertaking, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented she fancied herself nervous” (35). Hence, Austen describes Mrs. Bennet to show that stereotypical behavior is not good and subjects women to the need to follow outdated social standards. However, this does not mean that Mrs. Bennet is a bad person or a mother since she merely represents a common woman.
As for Mrs. Bennet’s qualities as a wife, she often uses nagging to persuade her husband. Elizabeth describes the marriage of her parents by saying that she “could not have formed a very pleasing opinion of conjugal felicity or domestic comfort” (53). Hence, Austen shows that there are problems in the relationship between Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Bennet, which can force the reader to question the former’s qualities as a wife. However, Mr. Bennet, who was initially mesmerized by the beauty of his wife, fails to support and appreciate her. Mrs. Bennet, however, takes care of the household and their children, fulfilling her obligations as a wife. Therefore, although the marriage between the Bennets is not ideal, Mrs. Bennet continues to respect and help her husband.
Mrs. Bennet’s role as a mother is to ensure that her daughters have a good life. This reasoning explains why she insists on Jane and Elizabeth getting married and praises Lydia’s marriage despite her husband being a liar. Considering the social standards of the 19th century, a wedding would allow her daughters to have security. However, as a wife, her role differs because her husband shows little respect to his spouse. He often criticizes her or uses sarcasm, for example, after hearing a letter from Jane about her disease (Austen 130). Hence, her primary role as a wife is childbearing and caring for the household since the relationship between Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet is strained.
In summary, a character from “Pride and Prejudice,” Mrs. Bennet, is a good wife and mother. Despite her intense focus on arranging marriages for her daughters, one can understand Mrs. Bennet’s behavior and appreciate her care for her daughters. She is a good mother because she is worried about her daughters’ future and wants to ensure that they are not evicted after their father’s death. She is also a good wife since, despite the disagreements and lack of respect from Mr. Bennet, she continues to care for the household and her family.
Work Cited
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Modern Library, 1995.
No work of art achieves permanence unless its creator imbues it with a unique individual style that solidifies its value across cultures and across time. Truly, art would not exist without style. According to Susan Sontag, the earliest experiences of humankind reflected art as “incantatory, magical. Art was an agent of ritual” (65).
This view was followed by the preliminary theory of art as an imitation of reality understood by the ancient Greeks (Greenberg 2; Sontag 65). In any work of art multiple disclosures of truth take place.
These contextual revelations can be endless; revelations of the society, not to mention the revelations of the artist himself. It could therefore be argued that the objects seen and felt by the artist constitute the mirrored image of her distinctive society.
On the other hand, Alexander Pope argued that socialization itself murders authorial style (Miller 76). In Pope’s opinion, everyone is born with some taste that gets lost through education. Pope argued that nature played a crucial role in the judgment of style (Miller 76). From Pope’s assertion, the reader may deduce that in every art, there is a peculiar goodness that is peculiar to the artist.
It is therefore irrelevant to argue the subjective value of one piece of art over another (Galperin 50). Great art reflects its truth vis à vis “the relationship between aesthetic experience as met by the specific – not the generalized – individual, and the social and historical contexts in which that experience takes place” (Greenberg 1).
Jane Austen’s novels clearly reflect these dual realities. Her work remains a stylized time capsule that reveals the complexities of the social world that existed in the United Kingdom during the Regency period. The continued popularity of the author’s works speaks to the individuality and appeal of her writing style to generations of readers and scholars since that era.
Jane Austen’s stylistic choices typically present male characters as one of two types: shrewdly reluctant romantics, or fools easily duped by Jane Austen’s wily female protagonists that have become so beloved over the years, including Emma Woodhouse, the heroine of Emma. The inner workings of Jane Austen’s characters typically provide somewhat awkward and unnerving insights into polite society (Harding 167).
Many literary scholars view Jane Austen’s works as “country house novels” (Le Faye 11). Some have labeled them as “comedies of conduct” according to Le Faye, comedies of manners that embrace the affairs and social conspiracies of upper class people living in a stylish and civilized culture (11).
These comedies of conduct typically present a violation of social traditions and etiquette; while Jane Austen’s keen social observations remain veiled by the sparkle and wit of her dialogue (Le Faye 45). As a rule, Jane Austen’s fiction has come to represent “one of the most sophisticated analyses we have of the elusive character or quality of sociable human interaction” (Russell 176).
However, a number of literary scholars regard Jane Austen as a darker, more socially engaged writer. Her novels involve the author advancing 19th century social theory via the use of a style that reveals the theory of mind within each character (Ferguson 118).
Many of Jane Austen’s works feature characters that adopt one self publicly and another privately; thus, the conflict between these selves becomes the meat of the novel (Ferguson 118). This paper endeavors to critically analyze the stylistic devices Jane Austen employs in her work to recreate the social psychology of the 19th century British upper classes for the reader.
The paper favors the devices of irony and free indirect discourse as the main stylistic choices Jane Austen applies to give the reader insight and access to the interior, psychological landscape of her characters.
Background
Jane Austen was born in Hampshire, England in 1775, the seventh child of eight children. Jane Austen’s early introduction to classical works arrived through the influence of her father, George Austen, a member of the English landed gentry who also worked as a preacher and educator (Galperin 49; Le Faye 10).
Though the family was not wealthy, they were land owners, and as such Jane Austen’s childhood was a happy one with full access to intellectual stimulation and learning (Le Faye 10). After the death of George Austen in 1805, Jane, together with her mother and sister Cassandra moved to Chawton village, where she received a marriage proposal from a wealthy brother of her close friend (Tinkcom 134).
Jane Austen initially accepted this proposal but turned it down the following day; scholars argue the rejection of the proposal occurred because Jane Austen fully understood the role of marriage in the mobility of a woman in those days, together with all the vulnerabilities of single women who relied on wealthy relatives for accommodation (Tinkcom 57).
Marriage at that time remained the sole form of social leverage available to women of the upper classes (Galperin 50; Le Faye 11). This event appears to be a seminal one in the life of the author, as the social theme of marriage plays out very much in several of Jane Austen’s novels, including Emma, and Sense and Sensibility, as does the theme of social class positioning, a phenomenon of great interest to the author.
Jane Austen’s works can be identified with the eighteenth century novel traditions. According to Duckworth, Austen read broadly in many genres including works which were regarded as mediocre; however, the major feature of her reading activities was noting native genres traversed by women writers at the time (48).
The publishing environment for women during the 19th century was perilous (Ferguson 2). The social environment dictated that propriety be maintained above all else, and at the time literature was deemed too vulgar for women to engage in (Ferguson 2; Lascelles 88). In this sense therefore, Jane Austen remains one of literature’s first female mavericks.
Irony
When critically examined, the works of Jane Austen show the effect of the literary state of affairs of the 18th century period. The works at this time embraced the notion of and social environment and man’s perspective relative to individual circumstances. In essence, an individual’s needs were sublimated to the needs appropriate to his or her social role.
Satire and humor are characteristics embraced in literature during this period; however, the use of irony became the ultimate tool for authors to critique their society discreetly. In Jane Austen’s novels, the romantic and passionate nature of her characters is evident, though implied (Ferguson 76). Jane Austen’s works demonstrate the role of passion and its place in society.
Though these novels appeared in the middle of the Romantic period, they also involve an intellectual and cerebral quality that minimizes the absolute praise of the youthful passions expressed in other works written during this period. To this end, Jane Austen combines passion and reason through the use of irony.
Jane Austen has embraced the use of irony in many of her most famous pieces. Though scholars typically identify Jane Austen as a romantic author, her style largely renders a biting and acidic account of romance.
The author applies contrast to the plain meaning of a character’s account of a situation or event, in order to create a witty twist and reduce the magnitude of the original statement and highlight its ironic disjunction. In her juvenile literary works, Jane Austen depended on satire, irony and parody fixed on absurdity to color the romantic view.
In her mature literary works, she employed irony to forestall social pretense and to highlight discrepancies between familial duties and character, as well as character foibles. A classic example of this occurs in Mansfield Park. The author writes:
To the education of her daughters Lady Bertram paid not the smallest attention. She had not time for such cares. She was a woman who spent her days in sitting nicely dressed on a sofa, doing some long piece of needlework, of little use and no beauty, thinking more of her pug than her children, but very indulgent to the latter, when it did not put herself to inconvenience (Austen 16).
Jane Austen’s use of irony is “exemplified in romanticism’s earliest forms and carried into the nineteenth century, where absence, division, and fragmentation are completed by their readers’ own mistaken ideas” (Greenham 163). In the above example, the reader’s reaction to the neglect demonstrated by Lady Bertram toward her offspring fuels the irony of the story.
As such, Jane Austen’s style employs irony to criticize not only the marriage institution but the parental ideal of care and concern for the welfare of children, placed in the hands of indolent, spoilt, utterly self-absorbed individuals.
As Greenham notes, romantic authors in the vein of Jane Austen’s style “use our expectations to deceive us because their texts are completed only by the expectations of the reader, a use of expectation that reveals, through negation, the reader’s false ideas and ideals” (163). Jane Austen’s genteel use of language and style barely conceals her contempt for the social conventions that would allow such individuals to prosper.
Similarly, in Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen draws the reader’s attention to irony in the opening line. The author writes “it is a realism that is widely recognized, that a single man in charge of a good fortune should be in need of a wife” (6).
At first glance this statement appears simple and predictable; however, the plot of the statement contradicts it. As it says, it is a woman without a fortune who is in need of a husband. Also, in Pride and Prejudice, the major structural motif creates irony in the story which stimulates a reader’s judgment and attention, besides engaging a reader’s feelings.
Jane Austen’s paradoxical and ironic character sketches also underscore the reciprocal impact of personality and society in Emma. Like many of Jane Austen’s novels, Emma presents an explanation of how one learns to see oneself, others, and personalized relationships more clearly as events unfold.
But to prevent this occurrence Jane Austen has employed an unparalleled blend of styles to present her thesis. Emma comes out as Jane Austen’s masterwork as she manages to capitalize on irony and the use of free indirect discourse effectively.
Greenham notes that the character of Emma Woodhouse is “femininity ironized” (165). The romantic novels of Jane Austen typically contain these strong heroines, deeply restricted by the class and gender roles of their time, whose actions and inner thoughts do not align – herein lies Greenham’s point. Jane Austen’s style use irony to bedevil social veneer.
The reader understands this in the opening line of the novel: “Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her” (Austen 1). Jane Austen uses the word “seemed” to pique the reader’s suspicion (Austen 1).
As Greenham explains, this word is “always a sign of ambiguity” (165). Once the word “seemed” registers in the mind of the reader, everything that Jane Austen describes about the heroine becomes open to interpretation. As Greenham notes, the word leads the reader to assume “some kind of deflationary irony, which might in turn lead the reader to conclude that Emma is none of these things to the extent that she appears.
The tension, then, would be between appearance and reality” (165). The social psychology of the characters in the world of Jane Austen’s novels remains ultimately ambiguous and uncertain; nothing can be assumed to be true, often since the actions and the words of the characters create an ironic distance.
Further use of irony becomes apparent when the reader witnesses Emma’s thoughts at the first meeting with Harriet Smith. She immediately sees in Harriet some kind of project that she might embark on, the belief that she could make an upper class woman out of Harriet’s kind request could be a reflection of Emma’s impolite disposition towards others.
It could also be construed as a confession that she is meddlesome and self-centered, as Emma’s actions indicate that she is the only person entitled to effect such improvement on another human being. However, the ironic truth becomes apparent later, through Jane Austen’s skilful use of irony, when the reader concludes that it is actually Emma who desperately needs improvement.
Emma is presented as one person with a contrary judgment; however, since the character only keeps such convictions between herself and the reader, she enhances the various ironic twists that Jane Austen has employed in the novel.
Brownstein argues that the use of irony in Jane Austen’s novels speak to the actual physical and psychological experience of women at that time in history. Language itself was a chess match, and the social conventions so complex and rigorous that one wrong word could topple the most socially graced female.
As Brownstein notes, among the female protagonists such as Emma Woodhouse, “choosing language, commenting on the stereotypes and formulas of novelists, and the language available for use in social life, is always Austen’s subject” (Brownstein 59).
An example of this occurs following Mr. Knightley’s proposal of marriage in Emma. The response that Emma Woodhouse gives is the model of propriety, and illustrates the author’s use of irony to highlight the restrictive and psychologically complex social environment of upper class women of marriageable age: “What did she say? Just what she ought, of course.
A lady always does. She said enough to show there need not be despair – and to invite him to say more himself” (Austen 386). In Brownstein’s analysis, Jane Austen used irony not only to write as a lady but to illustrate life as a lady. As Brownstein explains, “Writing as A Lady, Austen savors the discrepancy between being a stable sign in her culture as well as a user and analyst of its signs” (Brownstein 59)
Austen and Knowledge of Intention
Authorial intention comes out as an issue of great interest in Jane Austen’s work. Though this may be a difficult thing to find in the absence of the author, literary analysis involves the interpretive spectrum around the determination of authorial intention.
In this line of thought, many critics have viewed a literary work of thought which fades the author from the message that is being communicated; as such, many critics have not managed to find subtle ways of determining authorial intent.
The simplicity that Jane Austen exhibits in her work provides a clear template for authorial intention. There is usually a paradigm between what we learn from the novel and what we know about the real author’s world. While reading Austen’s work, one construes several images of the author (Le Faye 135).
But, different people, depending on their inclinations and other factors, form their own images that fit those inclinations, hampered by the distance of time and the complete transformation that has occurred in the social relationships between heterosexual men and women since Jane Austen’s time.
Looking at Jane Austen’s works, several images of the author appear, and several different perspectives arise among private readers as to who Jane Austen really was, and what she really stood for as an artist and as a social critic.
Jane Austen has staged parodist sensations that imbue her later novels with a gothic quality – an example is her novel Northanger Abbey. Issues within the novel border on gender and power.
For example, Catherine experiences several challenges in her life through the novel such that by the time she arrives at Abbey, she has really faced an array of issues. From this Austen manages to present a sustained fear and anxiety throughout her work (Wilde 156). In Northanger Abbey, there seems to be a greater connection between surprise and emotion.
Jane Austen has also employed dialogue as a means of endearing the reader to the outward reality. She has effectively used this at the proposal scene in the novel Emma. For instance, some of the lengthy dialogues usually act as preludes to something about to happen (Wiltshire 132). A case in point is the quarrel that ensues after Harriet refuses Robert Martin (Austen 113).
Emma’s behind the scenes manipulation shines herein; to hide her machinations, she maintains a calm disposition. This demonstrates Jane Austen’s multidimensional approach towards style.
Jane Austen has also presented Emma Woodhouse in such a way that her appearance does not coincide with the revelation. Such an ironic nature of presentation is a distinctive mechanism through which Jane Austen exhibits her authorial intention and unique style.
Free Indirect Speech
Jane Austen has meticulously utilized the practice of free indirect discourse. Free indirect speech was a literary device created by Henry Fielding in the 18th century and used liberally by many novelists at that time.
Todd indicates that the free indirect speech allows the speech and the thoughts of the characters to socialize with the voice of the narrator (33). As a device, the use of free indirect discourse facilitates access to the interior psychology of the character without interrupting the social convention in place in the world of the novel.
This device allows authors to write about things that would never be spoken about – in essence – to delve into the private mind of the character. In a Jane Austen novel, much of the action remains implied, an element of authorial style that mimics the social confines of its characters – essentially – no one says what they really mean, because to do so would be social suicide.
Without free indirect discourse, much of the actions of the characters within Jane Austen’s novels would be indecipherable for the reader.
As Neumann explains, “so much of an Jane Austen novel is apparently shown or dramatized rather than told or narrated, [thus] it becomes of particular interest not just to trace how Jane Austen reports the speech and thought of her characters but also to consider when and how judgments on the characters’ consciousnesses are implied as well as stated” (364).
The stylistic device of free indirect discourse illustrates one example of how Jane Austen authenticates the consciousnesses of her characters. This device renders the interior workings of the characters’ minds visible to only the reader and themselves.
As Neumann explains, free indirect discourse in a Jane Austen novel employs “sentences which combine a character’s reported voice with the narrator’s reporting voice, sentences in which the narrator can both render, and comment on, the utterance reported” (364). The net effect of this device brings the quality of mind to life for the reader; as such, the action becomes interior and subtle, implied and muted.
In one of her works, Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen extensively uses this approach. For example, Mrs. John Dashwood “did not endorse intends of her husband… to take three thousand pounds from the plight of their precious little boy… she begged him to think again on the subject….. how would he have answered to him to deny his child…..” (20).
The extract draws a straightforward story in the “voice” of the narrator. In this example, Jane Austen proves the inner feelings of the character and fixes the imagination the reader is entering the characters mind.
In the novel Emma, Jane Austen applies the stylistic device of free indirect discourse masterfully to develop the relationship between Emma and Mr. Knightley. As Bray notes, the use of free indirect discourse ensures that “everything is presented through Emma’s dramatized consciousness, and the essential effects depend on that” (10).
In Emma, one of the clearest and most effective examples of free indirect discourse occurs when Emma and Harriet Smith discuss Mr. Knightley. Emma asks:
Have you any idea of Mr. Knightley’s returning your affection?
Yes, replied Harriet modestly, but not fearfully – I must say that I have.
Emma’s eyes were instantly withdrawn; and she sat silently meditating, in a fixed attitude, for a few minutes. A few minutes were sufficient for making her acquainted with her own heart. A mind like her’s, once opening to suspicion, made rapid progress.
She touched – she admitted – she acknowledged the whole truth. Why was it so much worse that Harriet should be in love with Mr. Knightley, than with Frank Churchill? Why was the evil so dreadfully increased by Harriet’s having some hope of a return? It darted through her, with the speed of an arrow, that Mr. Knightley must marry no one but herself! (Austen 335)
In this passage, Jane Austen uses the free indirect discourse to plumb the depths of her main character’s denial. In this one passage, the author peels away multiple layers of truth slowly and steadily, to reveal the romantic yearnings that Emma holds very close to her core, the element of her affection that she has revealed to no one thus far, not even herself.
In this regard, the power of this stylistic device is threefold – it reveals character intention, explains character action, and functions as a bond between reader and character. The stylistic use of free indirect discourse places the reader in the role of confidante. As Bray explains, in this example, “here Harriet’s supposedly reciprocated feelings for Knightley force Emma to acknowledge the truth of her own heart.
A few minutes of reflection are enough for revelation to be reached. Notice that the trajectory by which Emma arrives at the truth, from touching, to admitting, to acknowledging, is first described indirectly, from the vantage-point of an external narrator, and then presented more directly, as the narrative enters into her mind” (18).
Herein lies the value of free indirect discourse as a means of drawing out the interior social psychology not only of the character, but of the larger social world that Jane Austen’s characters inhabit, in all its rigidity and artifice.
Bray notes that it is “Emma who asks herself, Why was it so much worse that Harriet should be in love with Mr. Knightley, than with Frank Churchill? and Why was the evil so dreadfully increased by Harriet’s having some hope of a return?” (18). Through free indirect discourse, the reader learns the truth at the same time as the character.
The device allows the character’s consciousness to become a character independent to the social character witnessed in the novel, which in turn reflects the schism that occurs in the selves of the characters between their social personas and their actual selves.
As Bray notes, Emma’s “consciousness could be said to be dramatized here if by this is understood the narrative’s attempt to re-enact, rather than describe externally, the character’s actual thought-processes. From Why was it so much worse onwards the reader is granted intimate access to Emma’s thoughts and anxieties, leading up to her final moment of anagnorisis” (18).
In regard then, the style device of free indirect discourse functions as a means of granting access to the deep action of the story, as motivated by the deep and largely unconscious desires of the characters. This phenomenon explains why several scholars view Jane Austen as one of the foremost romantic novelists writing from a social psychology perspective.
Beauty
A number of the characters in Jane Austen’s novels remain susceptible to feminine beauty, and the author’s stylistic choices to use this weakness for beautiful women as a distraction, particularly among the male characters in her novels, often begets surprisingly comedic results.
In her essay An Argument about Beauty, Susan Sontag notes that “beauty, it seems, is immutable, at least when incarnated – fixed – in the form of art, because it is in art that beauty as an idea, an eternal idea, is best embodied. Beauty…is deep, not superficial; hidden, sometimes, rather than obvious; consoling, not troubling; indestructible, as in art, rather than ephemeral, as in nature.
Beauty, the stipulatively uplifting kind, perdures” (Sontag 208). A perfect example of this power occurs in the novel Emma.
Through the character of Mr. Knightley, Jane Austen give voice to all of the less than stellar qualities of her heroine – her peevishness, her inability to cease meddling in other people’s romantic affairs, her liberal enjoyment of manipulation of family and friends, and her lazy and indolent nature – not to mention the fact that her family, especially her father, spoiled her.
“I, [Mr. Knightley] soon added, who have had no such charm thrown over my senses, must still see, hear, and remember.
Emma is spoiled by being the cleverest of her family. At ten years old, she had the misfortune of being able to answer questions which puzzled her sister at seventeen…And ever since she was twelve, Emma has been mistress of the house and of you all. In her mother she lost the only person able to cope with her” (Austen 48).
Yet, Mr. Knightley remains struck by Emma’s pulchritude, a weakness that Mrs. Weston appears perfectly willing to exploit, as evidenced in the following example:
Oh! You would rather talk of her person than her mind, would you? Very well; I shall not attempt to deny Emma’s being pretty.
Pretty! Say beautiful rather. Can you imagine anything nearer perfect beauty than Emma altogether – face and figure?
I do not know what I could imagine, but I confess that I have seldom seen a face or figure more pleasing to me than hers (Austen 49)
The beauty of the heroines in Jane Austen’s works functions as a distraction, the problematic element of sexual desire thrown into the mix. Physical beauty at that time in history remained one of a woman’s most potent tools of power, and Jane Austen’s protagonists typically wield it as a means to avoid any deep form of dialogue or authentic emotional intimacy.
Conclusion
A master of style, Jane Austen’s work reveals the complex social machinations at the heart of the romantic dealings between men and women in the United Kingdom during the 18th century Regency Period. The author’s effective use of the stylistic devices of irony and free indirect discourse draw the reader into the deep stratum of each character’s psychology to reveal the personal motivations behind the action of the novels.
Jane Austen developed a style that could essentially tell the story that could not be told in the rigid social environment that her characters dwelled in. As such, Jane Austen’s style reveals the individual’s desires in conflict and opposition to the social conventions that restricted their use of language, particularly in the realm of romance.
Works Cited
Austen, Jane. Emma. Ed. Alistair M. Duckworth. New York: Bedford St. Martin’s Press, 2002.
Austen, Jane. Mansfield Park. New York: W.W. Norton, 1998. Print.
Bray, Joe. “The Source of Dramatized Consciousness: Richardson, Austen, and Stylistic Influence.” Style 35.1 (2001): 18-36. Web.
Brownstein, Rachel M. “Jane Austen: Irony and Authority.” Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Russel Whitaker. Vol. 150. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Print.
Duckworth, Alistair M. The Improvement of the Estate: A Study of Jane Austen’s Novels. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1971. Print.
Galperin, William. The Historical Austen. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003. Print.
Greenberg, Clement. Art and Culture: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1966. Print.
Greenham, David. “The Concept of Irony: Jane Austen’s Emma and Philip Roth’s Sabbath’s Theater.” Philip Roth Studies 1.2 (2005): 163-175. Web.
Harding, D. W. “Regulated Hatred: An Aspect of the Work of Jane Austen”. Jane Austen: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Ian Watt. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1963. Print.
Lascelles, Mary. Jane Austen and Her Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966. Print.
Le Faye, Deirdre. “Chronology of Jane Austen’s Life”. The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen. Eds. Edward Copeland and Juliet McMaster. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Print.
Miller, D. A. Jane Austen, or The Secret of Style. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2003. Print.
Neumann, Anne Waldron. “Characterization and Comment in Pride and Prejudice: Free Indirect Discourse and Double-voiced Verbs of Speaking, Thinking, and Feeling.” Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Russel Whitaker. Vol. 150. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Print.
Russell, Gillian. “Sociability.” The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen. Eds. Edward Copeland and Juliet McMaster. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Print.
The novel Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austen, presents one of the finest examples of literature on relationships between men and women. In addition to undermining the historical gender stereotypes, the novel portrays the importance of women’s social status in the Victorian era and their dependence on their husbands’ or parents’ financial situation. However, it is also important to consider that the novel’s plot presents one of the most interesting and unusual love stories.
There are several reasons why people should consider reading Pride and Prejudice or becoming familiar with the story. Firstly, the author’s ability to involve many different characters in a single plot creates a realistic experience of Victorian society for the reader. While Elizabeth Bennet is acknowledged as one of the most prominent female protagonists in English literature, she also represents an example of empowering female characters, which is valuable in modern realities (Javaid 270). Thus, through the character of Elizabeth Bennet, the novel explores how women with different interests and beliefs were treated in society.
Furthermore, considering the outstanding elements of the novel, Austen’s portrayal of the characters is dynamic and multidimensional. Both Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy’s characters unfold differently depending on their environment. Moreover, the main characters eventually discard their initial opinions about each other, creating the story’s unusual approach to the romance genre. Thus, even though the novel fits the romance genre, its complicated nature with increased influence from society makes it appealing to all readers.
In conclusion, this essay explored the different reasons people should try reading Pride and Prejudice. Firstly, the novel combines unusual characters with dynamic social environments, creating a realistic experience for the reader. Next, the novel challenges gender stereotypes, which are relevant in modern society. Lastly, while many people mistakenly perceive the novel as a romance genre, a wide range of topics in the novel make it more advanced than average romance literature.
Work Cited
Javaid, S. T. (2018). A comparative study of Elizabeth Bennet and Catherine Earnshaw as an ideal female protagonist. International Journal of English and Education, 7(1), 270-280.