Pride+and+Prejudice+TO

Pride and Prejudice  by Jane Austin

__** Table of Contents **__ ~About the Author ~Summary ~Litereay Information ~Literary Analysis ~Criticism ~Sources ~If you liked this book...

About the Author: Jane Austen was born in Hampshire, England on December 16, 1775. She had seven siblings, six brothers and one sister, Cassandra. She lived in Steventon, Hampshire with her father, Reverend George Austen and her siblings until she was 26. She started reading at an early age and wrote her first story at age twelve. Her first novels //Elinor and Marianne// (1796) and //First Impressions// (1797) were not published. //Northanger Abbey// was accepted for publishing in 1803 but was withheld by the publisher. Jane and her family moved to Bath in 1801 and, in 1802, she was briefly engaged. She started her novel, The Watsons, two years later, which she never finished. When her father died in 1805 she lived with her mother and sister in Southampton before moving with them to Chawton in Hampshire. Jane lived there the rest of her life. After she revised //Elinor and Marianne// and changed its name to //Sense and Sensibiliy//, it was published in 1811. Two years later //Pride and Prejudice// was published, which was a reworking of //First Impressions//. She also published //Mansfield Park// in 1814 and //Emma// in 1816. Jane Austen died on July 18, 1817 after becoming ill in 1815. It was thought to have been Addison's disease. A year after her death, her last work, //Persuasion,// and the earlier novel, //Northanger Abbey// was published.



Summary:

//Pride and Prejudice// starts off by introducing a charming family of five girls, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. Their mother, Mrs. Bennet, is on a mission to get her daughters married, so when Mr. Bingly, a rich bachelor, comes to town, she is eager to introduce her daughters to him. At the ball, Mr. Bingly takes a liking to Jane, but his friend Mr. Darcy is too arrogant to dance with any of the girls because they are not pretty enough. Over the next few weeks, Jane and Mr. Bingly's relationship blooms. During a visit to Netherfield, Mr. Bingley's residence, Jane becomes ill, so Elizabeth comes to stay with her. Elizabeth then gets acquainted with Mr. Darcy, Miss Bingly and Mrs. Hurst (Mr. Bingley's sisters). While there Mr. Darcy seems to be interested in her, but she soon leaves once Jane gets better. When the girls get home, their cousin, Mr. Collins, comes to visit. He is an employee of the acclaimed Lady Catherine de Bourgh, the rich aunt of Mr. Darcy. Mr. Collins has a plan to marry Elizabeth, but when asked, she denies. He then marries their neighbor, Miss Lucas. After that scandal, Elizabeth meets a handsome mad named Mr. Wickham, who charms her, and informs her that Mr. Darcy is a arrogant man who cheated himself out of money. Not long after, Mr. Bingley has to go on business to London, but he doesn't come back after his friends go with him. The sisters think that Miss Bingley tricked him into staying because she thought that Jane wasn't good enough for her brother. In devastation, Jane goes to stay with her aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. During this time, Elizabeth goes to visit her friend Charlotte Collins, who was just married to Mr. Collins. During her time there Mr. Darcy comes to stay with his cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam. Elizabeth gets to dine with Lady Catherine de Bourgh very often, and finds her to be an arrogant, and unpleasant lady. Once again, Elizabeth finds Mr. Darcy often visiting her and chatting and a day before he leaves to go home to Pemberley he proposes to Elizabeth. She says no, thinking that he cheated Mr. Wickham out of money and knowing that he broke up Mr. Bingly and her sister. The next day he gives Jane a letter explaining that Mr. Wickham had tried to elope with his sister in order to get money. Mr. Darcy admitted, in his letter, that he had broken up Mr. Bingly and Jane because he feared that the relationship was not serious. Elizabeth was shocked by this news, but knew that it was true. Once all the girls were back home, the two youngest are distraught when they find that the militia is leaving town (the girls are man-crazy). Lydia convinces her father to let her live with a colonel in Brighton, where Mr. Wickham's regiment is stationed. Elizabeth is once again traveling, this time with her relatives, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. They travel north, near Mr. Darcy's residence and end up taking a tour of his delightful grounds. Before going, Elizabeth made sure he would not be there, but he had come unexpectedly. He treated Elizabeth and her kin very kindly, and invited Elizabeth to meet his sister at a different time. While there Elizabeth meets Mr. Bingley and finds him very curious about Jane. But, troubling times come when Elizabeth receives a letter from Jane telling her that Lydia had run away with Mr. Wickham, but when they can't be found, assumptions are made that they are living together out of wedlock, which would be a disgrace to the family. On returning home Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Bennet (the girls' father) go to London in hopes of finding the couple, but soon Mr. Bennet returns home with no information. Just when all hopes seem lost... you must read the story to find out what happens with Lydia and Mr. Wickham, as well as Jane's undecided feelings for Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley's feelings for Jane!

Literary Information: The genre of //Pride and Prejudice// is romantic comedy. On the romance side, the situation between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth is very romantic as well as Mr. Bingley and Jane. As for the comedy, my favorite jokes were the ones made by Mr. Bennet to his wife, but some other examples of comedy include Miss Bingley yearning for Mr. Darcy's affections when Elizabeth was around, as well as Mr. Collins thinking that Elizabeth was being a "young lady" when she refuses his proposal of marriage.

The narrator is third-person omniscient, this is to show all sides of the relationships and what is going on outside of one characters mind. It would have been impossible to know that Mr. Bingley had not visited Jane when she was in London if the narrator had not been omniscient. One would also have to agree that the lingering looks given by Mr. Darcy at Elizabeth that she didn't notice would have been missed greatly had the narrator not been third person.

The style of //Pride and Prejudice// is formal, which at first may seem scary, but after a few chapters it becomes normal to read. This text is defiantly formal now, but I guess that it might not have been when Jane Austen wrote it, as she wrote it in the 1800s. The way I could tell it was formal was by the syntax. For example, the novel starts off with "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." People now would not use this syntax in modern writing. We don't say "must be in want of," we say "must want" and we normally wouldn't say a person is "in possession of a good fortune," but we might say "has a lot of money." The way Austen chooses to structure her sentences says a lot about her formal style.

Moving on, the tone of this novel is comic! I found many parts of //Pride and Prejudice// really funny. Austen uses Mr. Bennet's conflicting personality and opinions with Mrs. Bennet as a way to make jokes as well as diction of certain words in the text to create a comic tone. An example of the diction is shown at the end of Chapter 45 when Miss Bingley reminds Darcy how he used to not like Elizabeth, but he then reveals that he thinks she is "one of the handsomest women of my acquaintance." The narrator then tells "Miss Bingley was left to all the satisfaction of having forced him to say what gave no one any pain but herself." The use of satisfaction in that sentence really shows the comic side of this story. Satisfaction usually has a connotation of happiness and winning, but Austen flipped it around so that it was the opposite.

I found the mood in this story to be lighthearted and fun! With all the comedy and the courting of men, the only serious things going on are the marriage refusals, which, at some points, are even funny. All the joking, flirting and boasting really makes this story lighthearted. An example of the lighthearted boasting is when Lady Catherine de Bourge asks Colonel Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth what they are talking about and they reply music, she then says "Of music!... There are few people in England, I suppose, who have more true enjoyment of music than myself, or a better natural taste." This comic statement really adds to the lighthearted tone.

Some of the possible themes are 1. Love is not controlled by society (shown by the forces keeping Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth apart like class and "pride and prejudice" on both sides.) 2. Marriage is not always based on love (shown by Charlotte marring Mr. Collins for his money and connections.) 3. Reputation controls marriage (shown by the judgy Darcys and Bingleys as well as the incident with Lydia and Mr. Wickham.) 4. Love and happiness can overcome class (shown by the high class Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley marrying the lower class Elizabeth and Jane.)

The Motifs in //Pride and Prejudice// are 1. The most obvious, courtship. (The many courting pairs in this story show that it is one of the reoccurring structures in //Pride and Prejudice// is courting. The pairs include Elizabeth- Mr. Collins, Elizabeth- Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth- Mr. Wickham, Jane- Mr. Bingley, Lydia- Mr. Wickham, and Mr. Collins- Charlotte Lucas.) 2. Travel is the second motif in //Pride and Prejudice//. (Elizabeth's first trip to visit Charlotte brings her to Mr. Darcy's first proposal, then the second one to Pemberley brings her to the beginning of her love for Mr. Darcy, then the last Bennet trip to London to find Lydia has Mr. Darcy tracking Lydia down and fixing the Bennet problem for Elizabeth!)

There are not very many symbols that I could find in this novel, but the one I did find was Pemberley. I thought that its classy and dignified, yet enjoyable and fun atmosphere symbolized Mr. Darcy in Elizabeth's eyes.

Literary Analysis: One aspect of //Pride and Prejudice// that I really want to reflect on is the changing of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth throughout the story. They both undergo huge changes to their characters and opinions. Austen uses characterization of both of these characters throughout the story to symbolize the changing of their opinions and dispositions. Elizabeth: In the beginning of the novel Elizabeth is prejudice against Mr. Darcy and the higher class characters. In Chapter 3, Mr. Bingly suggest to Darcy that he dances with Elizabeth, Darcy then says "She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me; I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men'... [Elizabeth] told the story, however with great spirit among her friends, for she had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous." She just laughs it off, this shows that she is prejudice and expects all high class people to be snobby and arrogant (in her defense, he was pretty snobby and arrogant at first.) During the novel Elizabeth becomes more open to the different types of people. She is very nice to Mr. Collins, even though he is not as smart as her. She is also tolerant of Lady Catherine de Bourge and Mr. Darcy, even though they are snobbish. After Darcy's proposal, she really reconsiders her views of situations and realizes that she had read Mr. Darcy all wrong. She accepts that he actually wasn't horrible and starts to see what was really good in him, rather than focus on the snobbish side. In Chapter 43 she thinks "... that [Mr. Darcy's] character was by no means so faulty... as they had been considered in Hertfordshire." This signifies the changing of her attitude and the growth of her character through difficult decisions.

Mr. Darcy: Darcy is very arrogant; he is disliked by all of the Bennet family. Even Mrs. Bennet, who is always excited about a bachelor, said "[Mr. Darcy] is a most disagreeable, horrid man, not at all worth pleasing. So high and so conceited that there was no enduring him!" This passionate exclamation really sums up Mr. Darcy's character in the first chapters of //Pride and Prejudice//. His pride is too large for the women living in this town, as none of them were good- looking enough for him. After Elizabeth's refusal to his proposal, he starts to make an effort to be a better person. He realizes that just because he is wealthy that he doesn't get everything he wants, and that if he treats people with more respect, he will get respect in return. When Elizabeth and the Gadiners' go to visit Pemberley, Mr. Darcy is very amiable, and actually tries to treat his guests equally, even though Elizabeth is much less wealthy than him. Near the end of the story, many people have changed opinions of Mr. Darcy, including Mr. and Mrs. Bennet.

Criticism: I have no criticisms for this novel. If I were rating it would be the highest score possible. Not only is it romantic and interesting, but also is really funny. Before reading Pride and Prejudice I had never really seen jokes told in formal language. Austen executes the jokes perfectly from the snobby arrogant jokes to the silly jokes told by Mr. Bennet. The ones told by Mr. Bennet to Mrs. Bennet are the best in my eyes. 1. When talking to Mrs. Bennet about introducing himself to Mr. Bingley in Chapter 1 he says "...though I must throw in a good word for my little Lizzy." then Mrs. Bennet replies "I desire you will do no such thing. Lizzy is not a bit better than the others; and I am sure she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good humored as Lydia. But you are always giving her the preference.' 'They have none of them much to recommend them,' replied he; 'they are all silly and ignorant, like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sister." This conversation was really funny for me as a child with siblings, because the parents are supposed to love each of their children equally, but in this case neither of the parents loves their children equally! 2. After receiving a proposal of marriage from Mr. Collins, Elizabeth's mother is very upset because Elizabeth denied the proposal. Her mother tells her that if she doesn't accept, then she will be disowned. Then they have a talk with Mr. Bennet and he says 'An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do //not// marry Mr. Collins, and I will neer see you again if you //do//.' This was really funny in the text because Mrs. Bennet was really there to have Mr. Bennet tell Elizabeth to marry Mr. Collins.

These are just a few of the jokes in the novel, so if you like this kind of humor then pick up Pride and Prejudice!

Sources:

Thank You sources! Listed below are the sources I used to make this webpage. Sparknotes - to ensure correct information and ideas Pride and Prejudice - I used the 1995 Modern Library edition with an introduction by Anna Quindlen and a biographical note copyright 1996 by Ramsey House, Inc.

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