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Recommended: Importance of books
Why are books so important? Some may say their educational other’s may say for there entertainment. Well I personally believe that books are important because their our guides/sages that will help us determine our path in life. Books represent knowledge, and imagination, and feelings and hopes and fears of the people who write them. Even if they are badly written, you can still learn from books. Some of the books that I remember that that affected me were Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Mythology by Edith Hamilton and Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech.
First I’ll talk about the book Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice is the story of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their five unmarried daughters. They live in the estate of Longbourn in Hertfordshire, a rural district about thirty miles from London. The family is not rich. Their property is ‘entailed’ to pass to the nearest male heir in the family, in this case to Mr. Collins. I love this book because not only because of the drama that unfolds but the story behind this story. I’m talking about the author Jane Austen a remarkable who had little to no formal education when growing up as a kid.and was only taught by her father and older brothers. She was one of eight children of a clergyman and grew up in a close-knit family. She did not went to college, but gained knowledge by reading books. When she was a teenager she started writing books. She had eloquent writing and a witty sense of humor that caught my attention. She made think about how fortunate I am having an education and having great opportunities in life. While back then all women can worry about is finding wealthy suitors to marry at such a young age.
Mythology by Edith Hamilton is a book which retells stories of Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology drawn from a variety sources. My favorite story in the book was Atalanta the only women aboard who sailed with Jason on his quest for the golden fleece. This led the way for the return trip with the witch Medea of Colchis on the ship. Atalanta is also the hunter who first pierced the Calydonian Boar. Atalanta is best known, however, for losing a race because she kept stopping to pick up golden apples.
The Regency Period in England was an extravagant era often associated with prominent social, political, economic, and artistic advancements. It took place in the early 1800’s and was a time of much elegance and aristocracy. Movies and books set in this time period all seem to highlight the elegance and romance that was prevalent at the time. Famous Regency Era literary works, such as Pride and Prejudice, portray young English women getting their happily-ever-after endings with their true loves. Unfortunately, such endings did not actually happen to real women of the era because they lived very austere and vapid lives. They hardly had a choice in many of their lives’ decisions and had little to no career options. These women were raised from birth to be lady-like, obedient, and agreeable in order to attract respectable men to marry, as they were fully dependant on men. Women were essentially treated as property passed on from their fathers to their husbands. They had many restrictions placed on them and often weren’t even allowed to walk outside without proper accompaniment. Because the expectations placed on women were so rigid and absurd, some feminist authors from the time ridiculed these social standards in their writing. Famous novelist Jane Austen was known for satirizing many social customs of the Regency Period in her romantic fiction novels, placing a special emphasis on women’s rights. Pride and Prejudice in particular depicted protagonist Elizabeth Bennet as a smart, headstrong, free thinking individual who didn’t let negative outside forces sway her beliefs. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen challenges the social propriety and creates her own ideals for women through Elizabeth Bennet’s independence, intelligence, and stron...
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice illuminates a social courtship between the proud Mister Fitzwilliam Darcy and the shrewd, unconventional Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Elizabeth is proud of her own identity. She astutely justifies herself as “a gentleman’s daughter” (Austen 337) in her confrontation with the prejudiced and class-conscious Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Mister Fitzwilliam Darcy, who shares Elizabeth’s sharp tongue, comes from a family of high social status; his privileged upbringing instilled in him “pride and conceit” (Austen 349) that blinds him from acknowledging the similarity and equality between him and Elizabeth. Upon first proposing to Elizabeth, he does not realize that he is not raising her social status by marrying her. They are of equal authority in marriage; their similar personalities makes them all the more equal and complementary to each other. Thus, their marriage, following a second, sincerely worded proposal, signifies Darcy’s recognition of Elizabeth’s worth, and through his recognition, Austen argues for the fundamental equality between husband and wife.
Beneath the love story in Pride and Prejudice is a cast of evolving characters who change before the reader’s eyes in a way that is both realistic and applicable to the world in any century. Jane Austen manages to get across some points about love and being able to see our own shortcomings without preaching it to the reader.
Books are the blooming flowers of knowledge and wisdom. Without books you would be depriving the world from obtaining knowledge about culture, heritage and literature. No books of any kind should be banned from the library.
My dad taught me that books could be my teachers, my mom taught me that our backyard could be my classroom, and my sister showed me that you could bring books into the swimming pool. I did not know it when I would spend hours in the pool reading a book that my parents weren’t encouraging it in vain, but my family life, for good reason, was centered on books. We were the planets orbiting around one sun that was the bookshelf. Little did I know that books would be the catalyst to academic success in my early life, and I owe it all to my family. Although a life with a book in your nose might seem boring, I was never bored. Living through the characters vicariously, I explored Narnia with Lucy, attended Hogwarts with Harry, and rode dragons with Eragon. Of course
Jane Austen, author of Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, and many other well-known books, was born on December 16th, 1775, in England. Her parents, George and Cassandra Austen, came from lower middle-class English families. When Austen was a child, her home had an open and intellectual atmosphere, and her family frequently discussed politics and social issues. This influenced her writing as an adult, which explored themes of social class and the treatment of women. As a teenager, Austen was sent to Oxford to be educated, but she contracted typhus and nearly died. She was then educated at home, learning what girls were normally taught during that time, such as French, needlework, and music. Austen was also a enthusiastic reader,
Each of Jane Austen’s characters in her novel, Pride and Prejudice, experiences a significant character development. Whether the change occurs by self-realization or through the assistance of another character varies from each individual character. For Austen’s leading man, Mr. Darcy, his character improvement is documented through his two marriage proposals to Elizabeth Bennet and her subsequent first rejection of his proposal. His first proposal demonstrates his extreme arrogance, elitism, and blindness to his many flaws. While his latter proposal shows not only the recognition of his deficiencies, but the overall improvement in his mentality. Mr. Darcy’s two proposals, though having the same intended end result, are completely different
England, under James 1st rule was a vastly altered period compared to our now modern society. So many of the values held during this time, have now been discarded and forgotten. Jane Austen grew up in the Romantic period and experienced a world which was divided, whether through education, class, status, fashion, abilities, gender and etiquette. Her novel, Pride and Prejudice is counted as one of the great classics of English Literature. Austen engrosses readers to live in her world for a time and experience a society filled with matchmaking, romance, marriage and gossip. Every one of her characters is so distinctive and has a clearly outlined caricature. Each of their diverse values conveys a different thinking of the time. Pride and Prejudice is preoccupied with the gentry and most of the social aspects which consumed these people’s lives. There were so many expectations of how you would behave in public, but of course not all of these were upheld. Elizabeth Bennet, Mr Darcy, Mrs Bennet and Charlotte Lucas are four characters which keep such strong beliefs about the social norms. These characters are expressed so descriptively and through their personalities readers can learn just how the numerous social standards were received.
Austen was raised in an unusually liberal family where her father was a part of the middle-landowning class. They had a moderate amount of luxuries, but were not considered well off. Unlike many girls of her time Austen received a fairly comprehensive education. She received this mainly through the undivided support of her family. Austen and her sisters, like most girls of their time, were homeschooled. Austen’s zealous parents encouraged the girls to play piano, read and write. Her parent’s encouragement led to her interest in writing. Austen’s father housed an extensive library filled with books which kept Austen occupied for years (“Sense and Sensibility” 119). Through her observant nature and passion to read and write, Austen was able to eloquently write of the many “hidden truths” of social and class distinction during her time. They included daily societal changes some of which foreshadowed future societal leniency. Familial support also extended societal norm of marriage. Her parents attempt...
Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, is a remarkable story showing the complications between men and women before and during their time of falling in love. The plot is based on how the main characters, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, escape their pride, prejudice and vanity to find each other; however, both must recognize their faults and change them. Jane Austen follows the development of Elizabeth’s and Darcy’s relationship in how they both change in order to overcome their own vanities and be able to love each other. Mr. Darcy is a very proud and vain man. Darcy’s pride occurs because his family allows him to follow his principles “in pride and conceit” (Austen 310).
Pride and Prejudice is the most enduringly popular novel written by Jane Austen. It talks about trivial matters of love, marriage and family life between country squires and fair ladies in Britain in the 18th century. The plot is very simple. That is how the young ladies choose their husbands. Someone said that "Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of the novel, flatly rejected William Collins' proposal, who is the heir of her father's property and manor, and refused the first proposal from the extremely wealthy nobleman Fitzwilliam Darcy later,"(1) all this makes it clear that Elizabeth "seeks no fame nor fortune, but self-improvement and high mental outlook."(1) It's right. From the view point of Austen, Elizabeth's marriage, who finally marries Darcy, as well as Jane-Bingley's, composing money and love, is the ideal marriage people should after. But in other marriage cases in this novel, we can see that if money and love can't be held together in one marriage, love would always make a concession to money because of the special social background. After reading through the whole book, we will find that money acts as the cause of each plot and the clue of its development. It affects everybody's words and deeds, even Elizabeth Bennet. Tony Tanner once said, "Jane Austen, as well as other authors, is very clear that no feeling could be extremely pure and no motive could be definitely single. But as long as it is possible, we should make it clear that which feeling or motive plays the leading role." (2)
Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ is a female centric novel. The contrast between Austen’s strong female protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, and the theme of marriage as a driving force throughout the novel suggests that, for an author whose own life was independent from a man, Austen was providing social commentary on women in society and could thus be seen to challenge traditional female roles. This is particularly important when taken into account the time period the novel was produced in. Austen was writing during a time where feminism was not a developed idea. As a female writer she was viewed as highly unusual for not marrying and having a career, something which ran contrary to the middle-upper class view for women as the domesticated, subservient housewife.
Jane Austen’s great writing talent is shown throughout her story, Pride and Prejudice. The way she develops her characters, particularly the main male characters, draws in the reader. Mr. Wickham, who first is seemed to be the perfect man, sweet charming, and respectful, is actually later in the story revealed to be selfish, self-consumed, and greedy. Mr. Bingley who is sweet, shy, and friendly learns to become more independent and confident throughout the story. Last but not least, Mr. Darcy, who is prideful, snobby, and pompous, becomes the complete opposite. Towards the end of the story the reader sees his changes: he is humbled, sensitive, and is able to show his vulnerability. Jane Austen makes her characters come alive to the reader. The way in which she shows her characters growth throughout the story is pure genius.
middle of paper ... ... ast, Miss Austen’s very finely written novel of Pride and Prejudice. That young lady had a talent for describing the involvements and feelings and characters of ordinary life, which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with.’ (Watt, 1963). BIBLIOGRAPHY Allen, W. (1954)
On the surface, Jane Austen's 1813 novel, Pride and Prejudice tells the story of how three of the five daughters of a family living in 19th century England become engaged to be married. Underlying themes of the story, however, reveal a message about growing up and the judgments of people based on either outward appearances, behavior, or secondhand information from another person. The title of the novel proves to be extremely fitting, as Elizabeth, the main protagonist, learns that too much pride, along with many unjustified prejudices come to result in ignorance as to who a person really is inside and renders one incapable of finding true love.