How far do you agree that Jane Austens novel Pride and Prejudice is no more than an entertaining study of the surface of polite society and its trivial doings?
How far do you agree that Jane Austen's novel 'Pride and Prejudice' is 'no more than an entertaining study of the surface of polite society and its trivial doings'? In 'Pride and Prejudice there certainly is a great deal of comedy, and will appeal to many readers for what Claire Tomalin calls 'its good-humoured comedy, its sunny heroine, its dream denouement'. The two main characters appear to be part of what Vivien Jones calls a typical 'rags-to-riches love story', maintaining happiness after a series of vicissitudes, which might incline readers to think it rather superficial. The critic talks about the surface trivia of Austen's society, which seems to comprise only of balls, scarlet coats and Muslin gowns, but she probes beneath the surface of her society, and concerns herself with the real confinement of the lives of women in her period. Jane Austen explores how women were victims of a patriarchal society, by presenting the unfairness of the entail. She presents Mr. Collins as a fool, by bluntly stating through the critical objective narrative that he 'was not a sensible man'. By this we see that it is ridiculous that such an imbecile should be able to turn out the two rational sisters Jane and Elizabeth from their own home, since should they not be married they could be facing the same options as Jane Fairfax in Austen's 'Emma', left to 'the governess trade', with it's
Is it possible to see Elizabeth Bennet as a feminist heroine?
Is it possible to see Elizabeth Bennet as a feminist heroine? Elizabeth Bennet is perhaps the least conventional of Austen's characters, and certainly does not conform to what her society expected of her in the way of being submissive. Austen herself admitted that 'pictures of perfection ... make me sick and wicked', and so our lovable protagonist Elizabeth is set apart from the traditional heroine with her independence of mind, and courage to challenge accepted role of women. To the modern day reader her refusal to be the demure, submissive ideal woman of the conduct books written by such a Hannah Moore, insisting 'girls ... should early acquire a submissive temper and a forbearing spirit' allows her to appear a feminist heroine. By refusing two offers of marriage Elizabeth exercises her only available method of choice, as Henry Tilney of Austen's Northanger Abbey points out 'Man has the advantage of choice, woman only the power of refusal'. This demonstration of control earns our respect for Elizabeth as a heroine, and it certainly challenges the society's insistence on the significance of class distinction, appealing to the modern reader. Feminist critics Gilbert and Gubar assert that 'Elizabeth stands out as a young woman who has no intention of following the prescription of restraint and submission for the achievement of happiness'. She demonstrates this with the manner
How does Jane Austen present Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice
How does Jane Austen present the character of Mr Collins in chapters 13-16 of Pride and Prejudice? The character of Mr Collins is introduced by Jane Austen once the initial stage has been set for the novel-that of the Bennet family, Mr and Mrs Bennet and their five unmarried daughters. Mr Collins is a cousin of Mr Bennet and stands to inherit their property as the only male heir. Mrs Bennet refers to Mr Collins as 'that odious man' and also 'a man whom nobody cared anything about'. However this opinion was formed before the two were acquainted and is based on her feelings of injustice that Mr Collins stands to inherit Longbourn on the death of Mr Bennet. Mr Collins is a clergyman and would have held a respectable position in Jane Austen's society. He wishes to obtain a wife because in the eyes of society it is time for him to settle and be married, his sponsor Lady Catherine de Bourgh has advised him to marry and he is keen to comply with her wishes. Pride and Prejudice was originally called First Impressions and it is through the letter that Mr Bennet receives that we learn of Mr Collins and our very own first impressions are formed. Jane Austen's choice to introduce Mr Collins to us in the form of a letter gives us an idea to his formal personality and to his social awkwardness. The letter shows him to be very pompous in style, referring greatly to the fact that he was so
Chapter 35 essay on Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice".
AS English Literature How does Austen tell the story in Chapter 35? (20 marks) Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austen is a well written and respected novel. Throughout Pride and Prejudice Austen uses a range of different narrative techniques in order to interest and inform her audience. Austen takes on a different aspect in Chapter 35 in the form of letters. In this essay I will attempt to show how Austen tells the story in Chapter 35 and the effect it has on the novel. Austen opens Chapter 35 with 'free indirect style', this is a form of narrative voice in which a character's thoughts and feelings seem to be directly expressed, freely taking on views and often the language of that character. 'Elizabeth awoke the next morning to the same thoughts and mediations which had at length closed her eyes'. This is an obvious example of free indirect style it takes on the thoughts and feeling of Elizabeth and allows the reader to emotionally engage with her. Austen cleverly uses this technique to allow the reader to create an intimate and emotionally engaging relationship with Elizabeth. By using this narrative technique at the opening of the chapter this allows the reader to connect to the character so throughout the chapter the reader can take on the thoughts and feelings of Elizabeth. 'Free indirect style' is a subtle take on 'stream of consciousness' and refers to the
Plot-Construction of Pride and Prejudice
JANE AUSTEN'S PLOT-CONSTRUCTION In contrast to the simplicity of her style, Jane Austen's plots are unexpectedly complex. She is not content to simply draw two or three characters in isolation. She prefers a family, with their many friends and acquaintances and she tries within her limited range to make things as difficult as possible. SETTINGS OF HER NOVELS Jane Austen's field of study is man. She is, therefore, more preoccupied with human nature than nature in the nineteenth century usage of the word. The background and the scenery of the provincial town is rich in its beauty and grandeur. But there is no attempt to look into the spirit of this country. Thus although, she has some sense of locality yet she does not paint an English community like the other writers of her time. She rather avoids those very elements of the population in which the local flavour, the breath of the soil is most pronounced. She is further incapable of evoking a scene or a landscape and cannot conjure up the spirit of Bath as Emile Bronte could conjure up the spirit of the Moorlands or Hardy that of Wessex. All this, one may say, would be fatal to her dramatic quality of construction. In all her novels, we see only a limited range of human society. Most of her characters are the kind of people she knew intimately, the landed gentry, the upper class, the lower edge of the nobility, the lower
How does Flaubert use the Agricultural fair at Rouen to further his satire of 19th century French society?
WORLD LITERATURE 2 ESSAY: TYPE 2C Candidate number: D-0612-011 Name: Matthew Jackson Text: Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert Title: "How does Flaubert use the Agricultural fair at Rouen to further his satire of 19th century French society?" Word count: 427 words. HOW DOES FLAUBERT USE THE AGRICULTURAL FAIR AT ROUEN TO FURTHER HIS SATIRE OF 19TH CENTURY FRENCH SOCIETY? Gustave Flaubert wrote his novel Madame Bovary in the mid-nineteenth century as a satirical comment on the upper middle class, those who were just rich enough to pretend to be rich. Flaubert loathed them and wrote his novel to make them appear as the fools that he thought them to be. His loathing for the upper middle class of 1850's France stemmed from the ideals which they held. Flaubert saw his fellows as a generation lost to the meritless and frivolous dreams of the French Romantic movement.1 French Romanticism was a movement through all the creative arts towards idealising the world which artists constructed. Although equally present in music and visual art, Flaubert focused both his hatred and his satire on the literature of the time, this reactionary nature earned him the title of a "naturalist". This was however something that Flaubert hated; the Naturalistic movement was one that focused on specifics and on realism in a work, whereas Flaubert sought to make his story one that was