The Importance of Letters in Pride and Prejudice
The Importance of letters in 'Pride and Prejudice' Letters are used as a dramatic device in the novel to further the plot, aid in the revelation of character and in the exposition of the theme in Jane Austen's novel 'Pride and Prejudice' Jane Austen inherited the epistolary mode of writing novels from the 18th century, notably from Samuel Richardson, whose novels are written completely in the form of letters. She retained the device and adapted the method successfully weaving her letters into the natural narrative of dialogue and description. Often these letters form narrative crisis points or indicate a new direction in the plot. The letter is thus used as a dramatic device in the novel to further the plot, aid in the revelation of character and in the exposition of the theme. The definition of the epistolary is "Novel told through letters written by one or more of the characters." The advantage is that it presents an intimate view of the character's thoughts without interference from the author and that it conveys the shape of events to come with dramatic immediacy. Some disadvantages of the form were apparent from the outset. The characters speak to us and we therefore get a small point of view of what's happening. Only the character's (writer's) point of view is portrayed and no other. In all there are mainly six to seven letters in the novel that help in the unraveling of the plot. The first letter written by Mr. Collins, announcing his arrival anticipates the role he is to play in the plot. His later letters about how Mr. Bennet should treat Lydia or his retailing the gossip that Elizabeth will shortly be engaged to Darcy, show Jane Austen using the letter as a plot device. This she does naturally and unobtrusively, with Jane’s letters to Elizabeth (at first misdirected) providing information on Lydia’s crisis, and Mrs. Gardiner’s letter to Elizabeth revealing Darcy’s part in the arranged wedding
of Lydia and Wickham. Elizabeth’s letters to her aunt, Mrs. Gardiner are also significant in revelation of character and relationship between the two. Darcy’s letter to Elizabeth explains his past dealings with Wickham. Jane Austen avoids dialogue by using the letter instead in providing important information to the reader. Thus, the letter plays an important role in furthering the plot.The letters also serve to reveal character, as seen by Mr. Collins two letters, both addressed to Mr. Bennet. The first letter is a masterpiece of pompous condescension, pedantically worded, giving us a complacent, snobbish and conceited word picture of him. ...
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of Lydia and Wickham. Elizabeth’s letters to her aunt, Mrs. Gardiner are also significant in revelation of character and relationship between the two. Darcy’s letter to Elizabeth explains his past dealings with Wickham. Jane Austen avoids dialogue by using the letter instead in providing important information to the reader. Thus, the letter plays an important role in furthering the plot.The letters also serve to reveal character, as seen by Mr. Collins two letters, both addressed to Mr. Bennet. The first letter is a masterpiece of pompous condescension, pedantically worded, giving us a complacent, snobbish and conceited word picture of him. It announces his arrival at Longbourne. It anticipates the role he is to play in the plot. It also gives us a picture of the law of entailment, which stated that in the absence of male heirs, property would fall into the hands of the closest male relation, which happened to be Mr. Collins. His constant reference to Lady Catherine De Bourgh, shows his pomposity and his status earned by association with her. He is seen as a social climber. Thus, we already form a picture of Mr. Collins character before we are even formally introduced to him in the play. It is also significant to note Mr. Bennet’s response to the letter; he says that Mr. Collins “seems to be a most conscientious and polite young man”. The second letter of Mr. Collins comes somewhat towards the end of the novel. This letter is an apology to Mr. Bennet for losing his daughter Lydia, who had eloped and got married. He states in his letter “the death of your daughter would have been a blessing in comparison to this”. Although he is a man of religion, he still advices Mr. Bennet to “close the doors” on her. He also retails the gossip that Elizabeth will shortly become engaged to Darcy, even before Elizabeth herself conveys this to her father. He comes across as condescending, moralistic and upright. Mr. Collins is important to the theme of ‘pride’ in the novel. His letters are a perfect example of his pride and condescension and he is wonderfully caricatured through all his letters. Jane Austen thus uses the letter as a plot device to further the plot as well.Jane’s letters also reveal character and further the plot. She writes to Elizabeth telling her about her stay in London. This letter is significant as it is typical of Jane’s character. It also reveals the relationship between the two sisters. All of Jane’s experiences of London are conveyed through this letter. Jane finally admits that she was right about the insincerity of Caroline Bingley’s friendship, although, as usual, she makes excuses for her inattention saying that she must only be acting so rudely for the sake of her brother. Here, instead of giving us a long narrative about Jane’s stay in London, Austen beautifully condenses her entire stay into a succinct letter giving the reader a comprehensible picture. The letter from Elizabeth to her aunt, Mrs. Gardiner illustrates the close relationship between aunt and niece, as do many other letters in the rest of the novel. She relates that Mr. Wickhams affections for her have subsided and have been transferred to another young lady, Miss. King, who had recently acquired 10,000 pounds. This also provides an important insight to his character. Elizabeth concludes that she must not have been in love with him because her feelings towards him are still cordial. It is almost like Mrs. Gardiner fills in the gap of a ‘mother’ where Mrs. Bennet does not. Austen conveys much of the plot in these two letters, enabling her to keep the reader informed of what both Elizabeth and Jane are doing even though they are in different places. Perhaps the most important of all from the point of view of character, plot and theme is Darcy’s letter to Elizabeth, which she reads “with a strong prejudice against everything he might say”. He begins the letter in a very polite manner by saying, “be not alarmed madam”. In his “faithful narrative” he tells Elizabeth about “two offences”. The first being that it was him who separated Mr. Bingley from Elizabeth’s sister, Jane because he thought Jane was not attached to him. He then explains his past dealings with Wickham. At first, Elizabeth does not believe Darcy, however, after much thought she begins to see the truth in Darcy’s narrative. Elizabeth begins to see that she judged Darcy completely wrongly, and she grows ashamed, concluding that she had been “blind, partial, prejudiced and absurd”. Darcy’s letter shows his true character, which is different from what we previously felt about him. His emotions in the letter are conveyed as heart felt and strong. This letter can be considered the turning point of the novel and expresses the theme.When Elizabeth visits Pemberley with her aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, she receives two letters from Jane. These two letters inform Elizabeth about Lydia’s elopement with Wickham. At first they expected that the two were planning to go to Gretna Green in Scotland since that was where minors can marry without parental permission. However, after gaining further intelligence they find that there is reason to doubt that Wickham has any intention of marrying her at all. Jane asks Elizabeth and the Gardiners to return home as soon as possible and requests that Mr. Gardiner helps her father search for Lydia and Wickham in London. In the early nineteenth century, a young lady’s elopement was cause for great scandal to the entire family. Thus, the shock and dismay of the family is understandable. This letter gives us an insight of Lydia’s frivolous character. After Elizabeth receives this letter, she fears that such an action on her sister’s part will make a renewal of Darcy’s proposal impossible. Feeling this loss, she realizes she loves him. Hence, this letter is ironic as when she finds all hope is gone of being married to him, she realizes she actually loves him. Hence, once again we see that Jane Austen conveys an event through the use of the letter and thus is able to further the plot. Mrs. Gardiner’s letter towards the end of the novel, explain the particulars with regard to Darcy’s involvement in the wedding of Lydia and Wickham. Mr. Darcy was responsible for finding the whereabouts of Wickham. When Darcy found the couple he tried to convince Lydia to leave him but when she refused, he tried to get Wickham to marry her, which he had no intention of doing. However, when he offered him money to persuade him, he agrees. Mrs. Gardiner concludes the letter stating that she is sure Darcy’s actions are motivated by his love for Elizabeth, and relates to Elizabeth how much she thinks he would be a good match. It is now that Elizabeth realizes her true feelings for darcy. She is sure however, that he would never marry her now and suffer through being Wickham’s brother-in-law. All the above letters contribute to the narrative and are in effect, a reflection of the times, for letters were a major means of communication. They provide the drama of expectation; letters are followed by action, whether inward or outward, and they are thus pivotal contributions to the plot. This genre exhibits the quality in which there are two separate audiences to the letter: a character of the novel and the reader. The reader is required to become his own narrator since the author is not directly telling the plot. The author can be compared to an editor since she has control of the epistolary composition. Jane Austen beautifully uses this form in her novel, Pride and Prejudice, as it was a form personally known to her. She corresponded with her sister, Cassandra in the form of letters. For years, Jane Austen has been trying to tell us in her novels that the little events of everyday life- are the things that shape character and often spell the difference between happiness and sorrow, comfort and pain. When we begin to comprehend how fully Jane Austen uses the little events of her life, as illustrated in the letters we may understand more fully the ripening of her genius.
