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Style of Jane Austen in writing
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First Impressions Revisited
“The course of true love never did run smooth.”
-William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream
‘Pride and Prejudice' first appeared between 1796 and 1797 under the title, ‘First Impressions'. At first, the novel was written anonymously; however, after Jane Austen's death, the novel became publicly known to people. The novel itself is a comedy of manners set in a quiet and charming rural England, between 1796 and 1813; to be exact, Pride and Prejudice is set amidst Napoleonic Wars, dating from 1797 up to 1815. In Austen's words, the novel was ‘light and bright and sparkling'. The quote from William Shakespeare best describes the love stories of Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley; Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. They say that true love has challenges. Most couples start as bitter enemies at first then afterwards to lovers. This is exactly true about Lizzy and Darcy, since both of them dislike each other. However through the course of time, they eventually learned to care for each other and their mistakes made them a strong couple. Jane and Bingley also found true happiness since both Darcy and Elizabeth approves of their affair. The novel starts with Mr. Bennet, the patriarch and the owner of Longbourn, the Bennet's family estate. He is the spouse of Mrs. Bennet, an ill-bred woman of lowly upbringing. She is a noisy, tiresome and foolish woman driven with a desire to see all of her daughters secured with their future husbands. Their residence is near the fictional town of Meryton, the place where the militia lives with civilians. Since their residence is near the headquarters and ordinary people, it is not surprising that most of the family, excluding Jane and Lizzy, have intolerable mannerisms....
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...his acceptance to inherit the Longbourn estate shows his love for praising himself. Darcy's letter for Elizabeth, though he talked about himself on the first part of his letter, he is just trying to explain the things unknown to Elizabeth and the real nature of Wickham's character. The letters in Pride and Prejudice weaves the novel to it endpoint whilst making clear to the readers about the real intentions of the characters.
Works Cited
Books:
Austen, Jane and Linda M Jennings. Pride and Prejudice. Abr. Ed. London: Puffin, 1995. Print.
Bebris, Carrie. North by Northanger, or, The Shades of Pemberley. New York: Forge, 2006. Print.
Websites:
Loney, Robert. "Jane Austen Stayed Here." Orchard-gate.com, n.d. Web. 22 Mar 2014. .
Unknown. "Pride and Prejudice - Chatsworth House Official Website." Chatsworth.org, n.d. Web. 22 Mar 2014. .
Pride and Prejudice is a story that addresses a collective reality in early 19th century England, that a woman lacking a good fortune needed to marry well. This novel focuses on Mr. & Mrs. Bennet and their five daughters (all of whom are of marriageable age): Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty and Lydia. The Bennets live on the Long bourn estate, in England. It has become Mrs. Bennet’s sole purpose to help each of her daughters marry a wealthy man with high social status. This seem to be of particular importance to Mrs. Bennet as there is an entailment on their estate and, with no male heirs, she and her daughters will be evicted from their home upon her husbands death. When a nearby Nether field estate is rented by Mr. Bingley, a man who is handsome,
Johnson, Claudia L. "Pride and Prejudice and the Pursuit of Happiness." Pride and Prejudice. By Jane Austen. Ed. Donald Gray. New York: Norton and Co., 1993. pp. 367-376.
Sheehan, Lucy. "Historical Context for Pride and Prejudice." Columbia College 2009. Web. 18 Feb. 2014
In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Jane uses the novel to show the common day romance of the time period. In the novel, Elizabeth Bennet, a sophisticated, lively girl manages to change Mr. Darcy, a cocky, stubborn man into a person who is head over heels in love. Although it takes her some time, Elizabeth is able to change the way Mr. Darcy feels about love in general and causes him to act differently then he has ever done before. Mr. Darcy’s self- discovery in response to Elizabeth Bennet’s blunt honestly allows him to re-evaluate his approach to love.
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.
Fowler, Karen J.Introduction. Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen: The Complete Novels. By Jane Austen. New York: Penguin, 2006. 211-421. Print.
Sherry, James. "Pride and Prejudice: The Limits of Society." Studies in English Literature (1979): 609-622. Web.
In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy both go through dramatic changes in their attitude towards each other. Darcy is devoted to Elizabeth, but denies it because of her family and her lower status. Elizabeth believes Darcy to be arrogant and interfering. Through conversations these characters have, their true regard for each other is discovered. Austen effectively uses dialogue to develop the change in the principal characters’ moral temperament, and also to advance significant concerns in the novel such as marriage and wealth-based status.
Letters play a very important role in ‘Pride and Prejudice’. They can tie the story together because letters provide information which we would not have found out from the dialogue between the characters. We can also find out extra background information which can help with the reader’s understanding of characters, the plot and the novel in general. Letters can reveal character’s personalities and how they feel about the other characters in the novel, for example Miss Bingley’s feelings about Jane. Letters are used as a dramatic device in ‘Pride and Prejudice’ to further the plot, link the story and to inform the readers of the character’s personalities.
Pride and Prejudice is an apt name for the book, since these notions permeate the novel thoroughly, especially in the views of Elizabeth and Darcy. Eventually when Elizabeth accepts Darcy’s final proposal we. Even after they both confess their love for each other; they pose and answer questions for each other. This shows that from the beginning to end, Darcy and Elizabeth have gone through major changes by putting aside their pride of themselves and prejudices for others.
The novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was originally titled First Impressions. This is significant because it reflects the values and attitudes of 19th century England, and portrays the main themes of the novel. It is set in England during the 1800’s and Austen focuses on a society whose opinions are based on first impressions.
Mr. Darcy, the leading male character in the novel, possesses an ancient family name, magnificent estate, and a sizable fortune which may seem to contribute to his pride. But later on in the book, we learn that he is a generous master to his servants and tenants and a loving brother to his young sister Georgiana. He is responsible for so much: his sister, his family name, and his estate, Pemberley. Although seen as excessively proud in a negative way, Charlotte Lucas defends Darcy by saying that a man of his wealth and family background has a right to be proud.
Pride and Prejudice, one of Jane Austen’s masterpieces makes use of satire to promote social change, because the English society of the 19th century only saw marriage as a ticket that would help you move upward on the social ladder. Throughout the book, the reader gets front row seats as Austen mocks both the conservative middle class and upper class, giving the dissentient characters a chance to be seen in society with a better image. Austen expresses her feelings on why social changes must occur to her audience by making use of satire to describe Mrs. Bennet, Mrs. Hurt, and Miss Bingley in comparison to the way she develops characters such as Elizabeth Bennet and the wealthy gentleman Fitzwilliam Darcy. Furthermore, while the reader gets to witness dramatic moments from Mrs. Bennet, Mrs. Hurst, and Miss. Bingley as they strive to comply by the traditions of the 19th century, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy play a significant role in trying to demonstrate to the reader on why love should be the chief reason for marriage.
Introduced to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice as a tall, handsome, self-absorbed aristocrat, Darcy experiences a change in personality and character. In order to dispose of his existent views on money and marriage, Darcy needed to feel something, to fall in love. Although he was well mannered, he did not know how to treat women with respect, especially those of a lesser economic status. The love of Elizabeth Bennet, however, changed his behavior.
Kneedler, Susan. "The New Romance in Pride and Prejudice." Literature Resource Center. Gale, 1993. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.