...Word Choice and Syntax Jane Austen originally wrote Pride and Prejudice in 1813 as a novel of manners. Included on pages 11 to 12 is a passage Austen utilizes to depict major themes that recur throughout the novel. She did this by using dialogue between Elizabeth and Jane, as well as Elizabeth’s thoughts. Syntax, a cynical tone, and background imagery of the Bingley sisters are used to suggest that listening to society’s expectations of manners is necessary, but should be limited and that before Elizabeth decides to judge others based on their actions, she must look within herself and realize her own flaws. At the beginning of the passage, Elizabeth expresses her doubts about Jane’s judgements of the Bingley sisters. According to Elizabeth,...
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...In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen creates vivid and engaging characters and fluid character development through her use of diction and syntax. For example, one can analyze how Austen stresses Elizabeth’s reaction to Darcy’s letter. The reader quickly understands Elizabeth’s inquisitiveness and, turbulence existing within Elizabeth’s mind. But such as they were, it may well be supposed how eagerly she went through them, and what a contrariety of emotions they exited. Her feelings as she read were scarcely to be defined. […]. She read with an eagerness which hardly left her power of comprehension; and, from impatience of knowing what the next sentence might bring, was incapable of attending to the sense of the one before her eyes (Austen 181). The diction Austen uses heavily...
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...The Use of Irony in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: “The most unlearned and uninformed female who ever dared to be an Authoress” Irony serves as a fundamental literary tool for authors. It enables them to express their themes and views through characters whose words are often inconsistent with their actions, and in situations where the intended result differs from the actual result. Irony works in a clever manner by showing the reader what the author wants to express by making these inconsistencies apparent to the reader, if not to the characters themselves, and exposing it, more often than not, in a satiric fashion. Yet, while irony works with satire, the power it holds for those who wield it well is no laughing matter. Famous writers such as the sardonic H.L. Mencken and Jonathan Swift, a true satiric master, have used irony to promote real, legitimate change. In Swift’s case, his famous piece, “A Modest Proposal,” used extreme satire and irony to promote change in Irish policy. Perhaps the greatest satirist of all time, William Shakespeare used irony in almost every piece he created. In his play Julius Caesar, the speech he has Mark Antony give in which he repeats the phrase “but Brutus is an honorable man” when he is trying to convey the exact opposite serves as a truly timeless example of this literary tool. It is unique in that it does not simply throw the author’s point of view directly in the reader’s face, but rather enables the reader to discover the author’s...
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...On Jane Austen’s Point of View of Marriage in Pride and Prejudice Acknowledgements This thesis has finally come into being to meet critical eyes through two months of hard work. From the very beginning when I chose the topic till the completion of the thesis, I have benefited from many people . First of all I would like to show my sincere gratitude to my tutor, Shen Guozheng. Without his sincere and trustworthy guidance，valuable suggestions and critical comments，it would be difficult for me to accomplish this thesis．His loyalty to teaching and punctilious work style has profoundly impressed me. Moreover, I heartily thank all the teachers who have helped me in the past four years, who have provided me with incentives and direction for my study. Thanks are also due to my classmates and friends for their constant encouragement and their ways of assistance in the course of writing. Last but not least, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my family members, for their selfless support，thoughtfulness and encouragement． Abstract Jane Austen was one of the distinguished realistic novelists in the nineteenth- century-English literature．Pride and Prejudice is a world wide popular novel published in 1813．Austen set the story in the first decade of the nineteenth century．At that time，marriage was the only way for women to gain social status and recognition. The author of the present thesis will analyze the five marriage patterns from the perspective...
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...Are women the weaker sex and in need of constant care? Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice at the end of 18th century, in a time when women were considered to be weak and without options. Many literary scholars seem to agree that in her writing Austen tries to define her personal concept of feminism and she critiques the patriarchal, social, and marriage structures of her time. Pride and Prejudice portrays a male dominated society, in which women are expected to behave in ‘lady-like’ ways and forced to depend on males for social prestige and financial support. Through the plot of the novel and its main characters, Austen indirectly presents social problems to raise awareness of the then current issues of equality, respect, and options women lacked. Austen is recognized as a critic of gender and social codes of her time. According to Susie Steinbach “she was a harsh observer of the legal, economic, and cultural limitations placed on the women of the upper-middle classes who were her main characters” (Steinbach 131). In Pride and Prejudice Austen relates the prevailing attitudes toward women of the day, for example, by presenting how Bennets’ girls are not entitled to inherit Mr. Bennet's estate because of their gender. This entitlement belongs only to a male, which in this case is their cousin, Mr. Collins. Therefore, if they do not get married to someone affluent, who would ‘take care’ of them, they would stay dependant on the charity of a male relative. As Bennets’...
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...27 January 2014 Pride and Prejudice: Marxist Theory Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen illustrates how money shapes the attitude and the behavior of people. The main idea that Jane Austen presents is the Marxist Theory. This theory states that the underlying reason for . Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of the story, faces many characters who believe that money is the underlying factor to which someone should marry. A main example of this is Elizabeth’s mother Mrs. Bennet, who in fact believes that all of her daughters should get married, however marriage is not entirely about true love; Mrs. Bennet’s view on marriage is that her daughters should chase after a man who have great wealth. Throughout the book, Jane Austen consistently shows the upper class looking down toward the middle class, which is fairly ironic for the fact that they are not that poor if they are considered to be middle class. To continue, Jane Austen’s portrayal of, not all but quite a few, wealthy characters summarize the main theme of the novel, which is the power of societal reputation and money. In Pride and Prejudice nothing was further stressed than having economic power, money, and marriage. The first quote, “It is truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” (Austen 1) establishes what type of book this is going to be. Right out of the gate this quotation introduces the importance of economic power; this also shows the reader(s)...
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...Conflict between Love and Prejudice Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, portrays the social atmosphere that existed in the 18th century. Specifically the emphasis is on the importance of courtship and the effects of social standing on marriage. The story that is given is the Bennett family trying to find suitors for five unmarried daughters. All five daughters have their own unique personalities, but there is one that stands out the most in the novel. The story is concentrated mainly on Elizabeth Bennett, a strong willed and outspoken young lady, and her relationship with Fitzwilliam Darcy (Mr. Darcy), a haughty and extremely wealthy man. Elizabeth is from the middle class and Mr. Darcy comes from a prominent and wealthy family. Elizabeth is conflicted between her prejudices of Mr. Darcy’s behavior and her increasing attraction towards him. It is said that first impressions determine how a relationship will work out. Pride and Prejudice was initially titled First Impressions which is a fitting name because they play a crucial role in the development of the novel. Elizabeth’s first impression of Mr. Darcy is one of contempt and she feels deeply offended by Darcy. At the Netherfield gala, Darcy insults Elizabeth when he exclaims that “she is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt [him]” (Austen 9). At this time, during the Regency Era, a dance was intended for women and men to be together and for women to find potential suitors. The fact that Darcy refuses...
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...Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. Courage Books, sept 1, 1991, Org 1813. 376 pages. I had this book from a previous class. Jane Austen started her life on December 16, 1775 in Hampshire, England. Austen was the seventh of eight children from her father Reverend George Austen and her mother Cassandra. Jane early life took place out in the country and her time was spent performing plays and writing short stories with her siblings, which later influenced her creative writing. At the age 14 Austen wrote her first short novel Love and Friendship and shortly after wrote A History of England by a partial, prejudiced and ignorant historian. Neither book was published, but these novels laid the ground work for Austen’s more popular novels. As Austen grew up she enjoyed going to balls and social gatherings at neighbors estates. Her neighbors houses were large and lavish and so were the people who came. These experiences had a strong impact on Jane because by her early 20’s Jane’s wrote three more novels where classism was major theme. Jane’s more popular novel Pride and Prejudice (published in 1813) was heavily influenced my Jane’s younger experiences. Shortly after writing her novels in the early 1820’s Jane had already moved out of her beloved countryside town to the more populated town of Bath. Jane later moved to Southhampton with a relative where she lived out the rest of her life until she died of Addison disease in 1817, just three short years after publishing Pride and Prejudice...
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...Pride and Prejudice: Marxist Theory 27 January 2014 Pride and Prejudice: Marxist Theory Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen illustrates how money shapes the attitude and the behavior of people. The main idea that Jane Austen presents is the Marxist Theory. This theory states that the underlying reason for . Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of the story, faces many characters who believe that money is the underlying factor to which someone should marry. A main example of this is Elizabeth’s mother Mrs. Bennet, who in fact believes that all of her daughters should get married, however marriage is not entirely about true love; Mrs. Bennet’s view on marriage is that her daughters should chase after a man who have great wealth. Throughout the book, Jane Austen consistently shows the upper class looking down toward the middle class, which is fairly ironic for the fact that they are not that poor if they are considered to be middle class. To continue, Jane Austen’s portrayal of, not all but quite a few, wealthy characters summarize the main theme of the novel, which is the power of societal reputation and money. In Pride and Prejudice nothing was further stressed than having economic power, money, and marriage. The first quote, “It is truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” (Austen 1) establishes what type of book this is going to be. Right out of the gate this quotation introduces the importance of economic...
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...1) Jane Austen * Biography Jane Austen is one of the most read writers in England. She was born on the 17th of December in 1775 in Steventon, Hampshire, in a large family with six brothers and one sister, which formed part of the Landed Gentry (well-born and well-bred people of high social class in England). Jane went on with her education by herself by reading books which her father, who supported her a lot, gave her from his large library. Her family produced plays and Jane Austen took part in these. Most of them were comedies which gave Jane the opportunity to develop her comic and satirical senses. During her lifetime she was not famous because she wanted to keep anonymity. So, instead of writing her name on the books, she just put "by a lady". It is only in the 19th century that she got famous when her nephew wrote A memoir of Jane Austen. This book even included some of her writings that were never published before. She never got married, although she was once proposed to and she never had any children. During the year of 1816, Jane Austen’s health became worse and she died in July in 1817 at the age of 41 years old. But the exact reasons of her death remain vague, some say it was Addison syndrome, other say Hodgkin’s disease, there are several hypotheses. The famous English author is buried in the North aisle of Winchester Cathedral. * Main works She started by writing poems when she was 12 years old. By the time she was 18, she started creating longer and...
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...The text is Pride and Prejudice which is about the ups and downs of the connection/relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. The person who changes the most throughout the novel is Mr. Darcy who changes for the affection of Elizabeth. The first copy of Pride and Prejudice was published in 1993 by Wordsworth Editions Limited. Jane Austen is the author and the genre of the novel is Historical/Romance. The book looks at Mr. Darcy and changing his personality, which characters remain static through the book, what Jane Austen is trying to say about the period of time the novel is set in and why Jane Austen has so many characters that stay the same all through the book. Why does Jane Austen have so many static characters? Well there may well be many answers but the ones that stand out include; characters in the text altering to add a twist to the book to make things more attention-grabbing and because back in the early 18th century men and women were supposed to act in a certain way, and if they acted differently they would be thought of as anomalous and people would think of them as different but not always in a good way. Darcy does not actually feel the need to change until Elizabeth turns him down and tells him that he’s not that grand and that he’s stuck-up. Mr. Darcy changes from disagreeable to agreeable after he asks Elizabeth to marry him but she declines because of his bad nature and atrocious manners towards her. Mr. Darcy is the most changed character throughout...
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...Author Jane Austen was born in Georgian era England during which society viewed a famous woman as someone who has lost femininity, leading Austen to publish anonymously. A realist, Austen shows in her novel a society where social mobility is almost nonexistent and the expression of one’s class is widespread. Considered by some to be a conservative author, Austen often writes about her main character fighting against societal restrictions. Austen was born to a clergyman and represents the Church of England with a great sense of morality derived from her religion. Austen often uses her religion to juxtapose the Puritan society of her era. Gender also plays a large role in her writing; men are portrayed as those who are in the military, church but attain wealth through their own work. Women are shown to only become wealthy through marriage. Austen’s extensive portrayal of the middle and upper class alienates the lower class, as they are only mentioned as servants that are content with their lives. Austen must have done community service, as her father was a member of the clergy, therefore experiencing the hardships of the poor. Nonetheless, Austen shows an absence of appreciation for the poor and their contributions to society. Austen’s work was favorably criticized by contemporaries, even having her works compared to those of William Shakespeare and Homer. 19th century critics viewed the works of Dickens and Eliot more favorably because Austen’s novels did not adhere to Romantic...
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...for Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and provides the bones of the novel. It also serves as bait, bait that hooks readers onto Pride and Prejudice and will not let them go. Austen was exceedingly successful in her opening chapter in trying to entice the audience to read on, and drew on multiple literary techniques to tease the reader’s curiosity, compelling them to read further. Austen used irony, dialogue and an direct authorial comment to display several of the novels themes and create an appealing opening chapter. Jane Austen used irony to create a successful opening chapter. Irony in the first chapter is found in the opening line, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” This is ironic as we find out shortly that this statement is certainly not a ‘universally’ held belief and is only accepted by Mrs Bennet who is a very small minded woman of ‘mean understanding’. Austen is saying that many ‘universal’ statements, are certainly not believed by everyone, they are contrived by a selection of a societies population. In this case, the emphasis on the adverb ‘universally’ is provided as these views about marriage are Mrs Bennet’s whole ‘universe’, as her only goal in life is to marry off her daughters. This made the opening effective, as the reader is introduced to an intriguing connection between the views of society towards marriage at the turn of the 19th century and the views of Austen at this...
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...Erin Coutts Professor Buck Jane Austen Pop Culture 7 October, 2015 Understanding Jane Austen It truly amazes me how the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and the rewrite of Pride and Prejudice by Seth Grahame-Smith can encompass the exact same story plot, yet still be different in so many ways. Jane Austen’s original book is a romantic drama that describes the difficulties faced when dealing with love and family. Her style of writing focuses on language and verbiage. Alternatively, Seth Grahame-Smith is able to rewrite this drama into more of an action thriller including zombies, ninja warriors, and sword fights through his creative and unique writing that instead focuses on characters’ actions and behaviors. While readers may initially wonder how this drastic transformation is possible, Seth is able to effectively deepen the reader’s understanding of the book through his inventive, modern concepts which help create new perspectives that the reader might have otherwise overlooked. As one of the most important sentences in the book, Jane Austen begins the first chapter with, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” (Austen 1). This sentence describes the theme of marriage which encompasses the majority of Pride and Prejudice. Seth’s version instead encompasses the life of zombies and zombie-slayers in comparison to single men and women. Thus, he updates this first, crucial sentence- “It...
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...Pride and Prejudice: Marxist Theory Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen illustrates how money shapes the attitude and the behavior of people. The main idea that Jane Austen presents is the Marxist Theory. This theory states that the underlying reason for . Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of the story, faces many characters who believe that money is the underlying factor to which someone should marry. A main example of this is Elizabeth’s mother Mrs. Bennet, who in fact believes that all of her daughters should get married, however marriage is not entirely about true love; Mrs. Bennet’s view on marriage is that her daughters should chase after a man who have great wealth. Throughout the book, Jane Austen consistently shows the upper class looking down toward the middle class, which is fairly ironic for the fact that they are not that poor if they are considered to be middle class. To continue, Jane Austen’s portrayal of, not all but quite a few, wealthy characters summarize the main theme of the novel, which is the power of societal reputation and money. In Pride and Prejudice nothing was further stressed than having economic power, money, and marriage. The first quote, “It is truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” (Austen 1) establishes what type of book this is going to be. Right out of the gate this quotation introduces the importance of economic power; this also shows the reader(s) that this is the...
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