Pride and Prejudice
Explore in detail how Austen creates an untypical regency woman through the views and actions of the character Elizabeth Bennett. Pride and Prejudice was first published on the 28th of January 1813, it is one of the most famous of Jane Austen's novels and is one of the first romantic comedies in the history of the history of the novel. The manuscript was first written between 1796 and 1797, it was initially called 'First Impressions' but it was never published under that title. The novel opens with the line, "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife". In the late 18th century England, women were downgraded to the minor roles in society in relation to property and social responsibilities. For example, women were not allowed to visit new arrivals to the town (such as Mr. Bingley) until the male, head of their household, had done so first. Women were under enormous pressure to marry for the principle of securing their financial futures and making valuable connections between their families. Consequently, marriage, although it is romanticised, was in many ways a financial contract and social agreement, rather than a subject of love. Although Jane Austen did not condone loveless marriages, as she stayed single all her life, she did approve of matches having equal opportunity in a range of aspects such as
The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried James Oberhofer English 101 D Mr. B. Moon 22-OCT-04 O'Connor remarks "The Things They Carried" is a short story that is written "as an experience not an abstraction" and that "the meaning has been embodied in it". These quotations are truly pure in description and interpretation of the short story as the reader, must look beyond the crude physical properties of the objects and actions chronicled and focus more upon their hidden meanings and messages. O'Brien uses the physical characteristics of weight to make an impact upon the reader to relate with the men. In emphasizing the soldier's everyday burden, the reader can easily relate to the situation in general. As the story progresses, the main attention of the story transfers from a physical sense of weight to an emotional sense of burden. It is through this shift that "the meaning is truly embodied in the story". This shift shall be focused on and elaborated in this essay. The men in the story carried many things upon their shoulders. Primarily, each man was assigned to carry the basic necessities of life, which was standard operating procedure. These basic necessities included objects such as bandages, knives, dog tags and uniforms. In saying this, all of the men were somewhat created equal in the fact that they were all ordered to carry the standard issued equipment assigned to them. They all
