Jane Austen

Jane Austen
• 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817

• the daughter of a clergyman and the seventh child
• unmarried, spent all of her life within a small circle of family
and friends in Stevenson, Hampshire, Bath and Southampton
• educated generally at home by his father
and elder brothers by reading books.
educated in a boarding school with
her sister for a year
• her sister, Cassandra, is the most
important person in her life
• died in Winchester, England and
buried at Winchester Cathedral
The Literary Portrait of Jane Austen
• England’s first truly important female novelist and widely
regarded as the greatest of all female novelists.
• writing style was elegant and satirical.
in Pride&Prejudice through characters
• plots indentifies the basic and unchanging truths of human
nature.
to meet one’s ideal marriage partner is still the hope of every young man
and woman
• in her works, often critical of the assumptions and prejudices
of upper-class England
• in her concept of the novel, affected by Richardson and
Fielding
third person omniscient narrator shows the influence of Fielding
• her works represents the transition in English Literature from
neo-classicism to romanticism.
• criticism
• critics accuse Austen of potraying a very limited world.
representing a happy and isolated world of middle and upper class. but
never giving information about the facts about the time. for example, the
wars with France.
• the lack of interest of the lives of the poor
the lower-class is rarely appear in her works and if they, generally servants,
appear at all, seem perfectly pleased with their destiny and chance. but
actually they do not.
• Charlotte Bronte
“An accurate daguerreotyped portrait of a commonplace face; a carefully
fenced, highly cultivated garden, with neat borders and delicate flowers; but
no glance of a bright, vivid physiognomy, no open countryi no fresh air, no
blue hill, no bonny beck.”
Works of Austen
Her completed novels according to publication dates;
• Sense and Sensibility (1811)
• Pride and Prejudice (1813)
• Mansfield Park (1814)
• Emma (1815)
• Northanger Abbey (1817)
• Persuasion (1817)
Pride and Prejudice – General
Information
• first publication is 1813
written between October 1796 and August 1797
• narrator
third-person omniscient
• climax
Mr. Darcy's proposal to Elizabeth Bennet
• protagonist
Elizabeth Bennet
• antagonist
Snobbish class-consciousness
• point of view
primarily told from Elizabeth Bennet’s point of view, later some events are told from Mr. Darcy’s point of view
• tone
comic, or in Jane Austen’s own words “light and bright and sparkling”
Plot – Time and Place
• main plot
Mr. Bingley moves into a house in Netherfield, a near estate of the Bennets,
with his sisters and friend, Darcy. Darcy falls in love with Elizabeth Bennet
but doesn’t reveal it. Elizabeth regards Darcy a snobbish upper-class
member. By the way, Bingley and Jane, Elizabeth’s sister, fall in love with
each other. However, Darcy prevents the marriage. Thus, Elizabeth hates
him. Afterwards, Darcy asks Elizabeth to get marry him, she refuses him.
Then, the incidents are presents from Darcy’s side, and both Elizabeth and
Darcy realizes their deficiencies. They get marry at the end of the novel.
• time
the action covers fifteen months, from the autumn of one year to the
Christmas of the next and it probably happens in 1794-5.
• place
generally in Longbourn, in rural England. also in Bath and Derbyshire.
Characters in Pride and Prejudice
• Elizabeth Bennet
protagonist, II. daughter, the most intelligent and sensible, bright and quick-witted,
prejudiced.
• Fitzwilliam Darcy
wealthy, intelligent and reserved gentleman, his pride causes him to look down his social
inferiors, at the end of the novel his class consciousness is changed.
• Jane Bennet
the eldest and most beautiful daughter, more reserved and gentler than Lizzy, easy-going.
• Charles Bingley
Darcy’s wealthy best friend, blissfully uncaring about the social differences.
• Mr. Bennet
sarcastic sense of humour that he uses purposefully to irritate his wife.
• Mrs. Bennet
foolish and noisy, only goal in life is to see her daughter married.
• Mr. Collins
idiotic clergyman who stands to inherit Mr. Bennet’s property, the worst combination of
snobbish and obsequious in the novel though his social class is nothing.
• Lady Catherine de Bourgh
rich, bossy noblewoman, Mr. Collins’s patron and Darcy’s aunt, represents class snobbery,
especially in her attempts to order the middle-class Elizabeth.
Themes and Motifs
• Themes – love, reputation, class
love – contains one of the most cherished love stories in English
literature: the courtship between Darcy and Elizabeth.
reputation – depicts a society in which a woman’s reputation is of the
utmost importance, a woman is expected to behave in certain ways.
(Elizabeth’s walk and muddy skirts and Mrs. Bingley’s behaviours)
class – life of the middle and upper class, Austen satirizes this kind of
class-consciousness, particularly in the character of Mr. Collins, who
spends most of his time toadying to his upper-class patron, Lady
Catherine de Bourgh.
• Motifs – courtship and journeys
courtship – the story of two courtship, Elizabeth-Darcy and Jane-
Bingley, and other smaller courtships. courtship therefore takes on a
profound, often unspoken, importance in the novel. marriage is the
ultimate goal.
Social Satire in Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice is a social satire;

• Austen uses the novel to satirize her society's view of a
woman's role during the time period (late 1700s). Mrs. Bennet
is the epitome of the stereotypical lower aristocratic woman of
the era. she is most concerned about making the best match
for her daughters, feels that she has nothing else to worry
about but seeing her daughters married.
• Austen also satirizes the arrogance of the extremely wealthy
aristocrats toward the country folk. Darcy, Ms. Bingley, and
Lady Catherine all play a role in this part of the author's satire.
Women in Pride and Prejudice
Comparing with Women of the
Women of the Period;
Period
• had a very specific role in society and were expected to be both subservient
and innocent,
• their primary role was to get married, has children and maintain a household
for their husbands,
• deferred to decisions made by men, regardless of their own feelings.
Women in Pride and Prejudice;
• Elizabeth is contrast to this definition of ideal woman, she is clever and
opinionated, also did not choose to marry for money, but rather, chooses
love.
• Charlotte chose to marry for money rather than love and Austen potrays her
as petty and weak in contrast to Elizabeth.
• Jane is potrayed to be an ideal woman, she marries for love, but does so
without the pride and prejudice of her sister, Elizabeth
It can be suggested that Austen was trying to encourage women to believe their
own opinions and valid.
“pride” and “prejudice”
The main characters on whom the title is based are Elizabeth
and Darcy.
• Darcy is represents “pride” because at the beginning of the
novel, he is too proud to mingle with the society in and around
Meryton. He avoids the
Bennet family because
their social statue.
• Elizabeth is an example
of “prejudice” because
she cannot abide the
pride and snobbishness
of Darcy.
Pride and Prejudice – Social Classes
through Fashions and Clothing -
Women
Pride and Prejudice – Social
Classes through Fashions and
Clothing - Men

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• 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817

• Sense and Sensibility (1811)

• Pride and Prejudice (1813)

• Mansfield Park (1814)

• Northanger Abbey (1817)

Pride and Prejudice is a social satire;

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