Jane AustenPride and Prejudice

A study of voice…

“Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can.”

A comedy of manners – money, family background, and personal vanity complicates the course of true love.

Highlights of Jane’s Life

Born 1775

Died 1817 (age 42)

Daughter of a country minister in Steventon

(small Hampshire town)

Sister – Cassandra (neither married)

Brothers –James, Henry, Francis, and Charles

Educated

Novels

Sense and Sensibility (published 1811) Pride and Prejudice (1813) Mansfield Park (1814) Emma (1816) Northanger Abbey (1817) posthumous Persuasion (1817) posthumous

Shorter works Lady Susan The Watsons (incomplete novel) Sanditon (incomplete novel) Juvenilia The Three Sisters Love and Freindship [sic; the misspelling of

"friendship" in the title is famous] The History of England Catharine, or the Bower The Beautifull Cassandra

Hollywood’s Fascination

Pride and Prejudice (six film versions) Emma (five film versions) Sense and Sensibility (four film versions) Persuasion (three film versions) Mansfield Park Northanger Abbey 2007 Release of Becoming Jane 2007 The Jane Austen Book Club

The Novel

Originally published under a pseudonym Considered most popular of her six novels Original title First Impressions (1797) Redrafted, published under new title in

1813.

Plot

Emphasis on character development Restricted to a sphere of a few families Study of relationships and upper classes Matrimony supplies stability Coincidence main plot device Explores human weaknesses No outright evil

Comedy charged with moral purpose Good-natured irony Narrative voice – amused detachment Highly polished, considered the product of

a perfectionist Masterpiece of verbal and structural irony

Famous opening line sets the exigent and tone: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”

Exigent: social pressure, not individual choice, determines marriages and relationships.

Satirical tone: It is not that a single man desires a wife, but that everyone finds he lacks one, his good fortune requires it.

Ideal – Polite social behavior Reality – Characters fall short Tone – Politely modulated despite

characters contrasting behavior defects. Result – The follies, self-deception,

vulgarity, and deceit are illuminated by the grace and polish of the narrative tone.

Elizabeth – Protagonist of worth

Intelligent Not frozen in one position – dynamic Sharp wit outshines narrator’s tone Contrasts as well to the flat, polite, self-serving

euphemisms of the rest of the characters. Seeks a firmer grip on reality than the society

that prizes facades.

Realistic – Elizabeth can be deceived. Cinderella Story – Convention is tilted

- wicked step sisters - Bennet sisters

- wicked step mother - Mrs. Bennet

- fairy godmother - Lady Catherine

- handsome Prince - Darcy

Purpose

Austen desired to satirize the traditional Eighteenth Century Romance Genre

*Battling Lovers *The Charming Rake*Obstacles *The Injured Innocence*Blocking Figure *The Jealous Rival*Parallel Romances*Comic Ending

Criticism – Greatest strengths also greatest weaknesses.

No awareness of international upheavalsand turmoil of her day*Napoleonic Wars*Industrial Revolution*Plight of working class*Effects of psychology (Freud)*Effects of science (technology/Darwinism)

Jane wrote what she knew.

*Little insight into male characters.

* Extreme passion avoided.

Point of View

Austen pioneered Free Indirect Discourse

- third-person limited narration.

Is the heroine speaker or the narrator?

This narration is the precursor to stream-of-consciousness.

Romanticism versus Realism

Advocates no restraint

Shows nature as a transcendental power

Reveals man’s plight currently tragic

Celebrates natural beauty

Presents order and discipline

Supports traditional values and norms

Views human condition in comic spirit

Sparse description of nature

Dialogue

Most vivid and important part of the novel Major turning points are verbal Provokes gentle laughter at times Makes bitter observations at times States moral evaluations

Theme

Knowledge comes through careful reasoning and considered experience, unclouded by pride or prejudice based on rank or mere appearances.

Historical Backdrop

Regency Period Industrial Revolution and Social Class

Structure Women’s Rights and Entailment due to

Patriarchy Social Mobility Limits Social Decorum and Reputation

This has been an undocumented Report NOT a Research Project! This is an example of the research you

should do as an initial way of approaching your topic.

Now you are probably ready to create a research question.

What are some possible research questions? Discuss with your partner!

Here is mine -

How does Jane Austen’s use of verbal and situational irony cause her to be categorized as a Realist rather than a Romantic author?

Now I must research to find out what the authorities say… I would not just Google this idea. I need to find authority. I need to use literary texts and internet

sites that are recognized as critical analysis by people in the field.