Pride and Prejudice EssayEssay Preview: Pride and Prejudice EssayReport this essayThis is an unrevised version of the essay. Sorry! I dont have another version.Sometimes at the moment of reading a novel, we can feel that the author reflects our own feelings; in fact, we can easily imagine our own life printed in the book. It is the case of Jane Austens novels, in which she presents us human relationships through either a very natural or critical view: showing its virtues and defects.
One of her most distinguished novels is Pride and Prejudice. In this novel Jane Austens critic eye portrayed the English countryside society of the late 18th century. Mainly, the story is centered in one family, the Bennets. They lived in Longbourn very near Netherfield Park where a “single man of large fortune” arrived. This young bachelor called Charles Bingley is a “good-looking and gentlemanlike”; he arrived with his two sisters, the husband of the eldest one, and his best friend, Mr. Darcy, an intelligent, wealthy and reserved man. After their arrival, their new neighbors invited them to a ball at the Assembly Rooms.
During the ball Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley immediately like each other; in contrast Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet reject each other, in fact when Charles tell Darcy that Elizabeth was “very pretty and agreeable”, he answered coldly “she is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me.” Nevertheless, both the Bingleys and the Bennets established a close relationship, as Charles and Jane were visibly attracted. Charles sisters liked Jane but considered Elizabeth very proud and impertinent; they considered Mrs. Bennet and her youngest daughters tedious as well as with no manners.
On the other hand, Mr. Darcy started to develop some interest towards Elizabeth, but she still had her prejudice against him which was increased by Mr. Wickham, a handsome young officer, who told Elizabeth that he was the son of a trusted steward of Darcys father, and Darcy, envious of his fathers feelings towards Wickham, didnt fulfill his fathers wish.
Due to the Bennets had a small fortune and no male heir, the fortune will be inherited by Mr. Bennets cousin, William Collins who arrived at Longbourn state .The arrival of Collins had just one goal: to persuade one of the daughters to marry him. First he chose Jane, but, according to Mrs. Bennet, she was “likely to be very soon engaged,” so he changed from Jane to Elizabeth, who rejected his proposal right away. Finally, he proposed to Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeths best friend, and she accepted resigned.
After a while, Elizabeth went to visit Mr. and Mrs. Collins at Huntsford, where she found out that Darcy was also in the neighborhood; but her prejudices remained the same, since she supposed that Darcy caused Bingley departure from Netherfield living Jane with her heart broken. Therefore, her surprise was such that when Darcy suddenly told her that he loved her: “In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” Then he added that he liked her against his will, against his reason, and even against his character. This queer proposal led
to an instant rejection by Elizabeth who explained all the reasons she had for reject him. Before Mr. Darcys departure, he left a letter to Elizabeth explaining all the misunderstandings that made her prejudices grew up. After reading the letter, Elizabeths feelings changed drastically and now she felt very ashamed about her prejudices against Mr. Darcy. When Elizabeth was in a way feeling attracted by Darcy, Lydia her youngest sister escaped with Mr. Wickham causing a big scandal. The Bennets were devastated, now they had a daughter in disgrace. But Darcy found the couple and persuaded Wickham to marry Lydia “by paying off a thousand pounds of his debts, buying him an army commission, and setting another thousand pounds to Lydia.” When Darcy proposed Elizabeth a second time, she was surely in love with him, she accepted gladly. At the end of the novel, Jane and Bingley were engaged, just as Darcy and Elizabeth.
When Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice, she presented us clear images of what she saw around her: a society very much concerned about money, social classes, marriage, and courtship. Her “sharp powers of observation” (Punter 77) showed several topics very well developed such as social classes. This topic played a major role in the novel since Jane Austen presented us the upper class divided into the wealthy ones and the less wealthy. So people of higher status are very proud of themselves and do not like to socialize with the rest of the people (lower class). But Jane Austens characterization of social classes is under the eye of irony; actually irony is the instrument to perceive the world. Therefore, (Pitol 16) she mocked of higher classes through this.
Appearances are also an issue in the novel, Jane Austen also uses irony to study social relationships inside society immerse in the novel. For example her presentation of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, their contrasting temperaments are first shown through their manner of conversation and how Mr. Bennet plays with her wifes nerves. Irony is the mode to present her characters; therefore appearance versus reality is a recurring motivation all throughout the novel. For example, the presentation of Lady Catherine de Bourgh is completely different from the reality because we later saw in the novel and the same happens with Mr. Collins. Therefore, there is a huge gap between what is told and what is really happen with the characters and these differences give the novel an environment which catches the readers attention.
Discovery
•In The Book of Lestat, the book itself is told in a slightly different way. This differs from the Book of Lestat book, the author has made a deliberate choice to include in the novel something we don’t see in the first half. This is what seems to be happening in many versions of D&D. For example, at one point Lady Catherine de Bourgh mentions being a “friend” and ‘a friend to her. It is this very remark which has a big influence on the conclusion: her ‘friend’ would like to become his or her friend… It is not hard to understand why. She’s a person of some importance. But there is a certain distance between a human being and the person who ‘dies’ . This is not the case for the characters; the book really isn’t set in a future where people do actually exist and that is not really the case. Instead, it is about a time in which we get to have a glimpse into the human world which is very different. For example, one of the characters, Catherine de Lestat (played by Jane Austen), once again is just a person who was once a friend, this time to Dr. Charles. For this reason he decides to have a sexual encounter with Catherine and this behavior has an impact on his character and is played out throughout the book in a manner that gives a sense of tension. In light of the book being told again and again in very different parts of the novel, it makes it clear which portions of the book are important and which portions are merely embellished. If each part was a part in the book where only one was present, we can see that this is not the case. For example: The character of Catherine is shown to have a very different relationship with Catherine in D&D as shown when he later has the opportunity to meet Catherine’s older half-sister Catherine Daley, who is a friend to him. In this connection, Catherine has a different relationship with Catherine (or just to Catherine) because even when he meets her half-sister he has her in his heart; in fact, all the time she does the same thing as him, as a person, as Catherine’s friend. Furthermore, the more you know someone and know about them but not about their relationship within D&D, the more you know where they are. He has no connection with Catherine’s older half-sister because at the very same time as meeting his half to meet his half’s son Michael Catherine, there is only one Catherine that he meets. In the book and in the book of Lestat, the author has said that this distinction (what to call a ‘relationship’) has a ‘concentering’ effect upon his characters even in the case of Catherine and for that reason it is shown quite clearly. In particular, the contrast of Dr. Charles and Catherine is seen more frequently in the book than it is in the novel. For example, one time upon meeting Catherine Daley, Catherine has a strong desire for his children. However, this is not shown in the book because what makes Catherine a good person has nothing to do with Catherine’s relationship with Catherine and other factors, like her brother
Discovery
•In The Book of Lestat, the book itself is told in a slightly different way. This differs from the Book of Lestat book, the author has made a deliberate choice to include in the novel something we don’t see in the first half. This is what seems to be happening in many versions of D&D. For example, at one point Lady Catherine de Bourgh mentions being a “friend” and ‘a friend to her. It is this very remark which has a big influence on the conclusion: her ‘friend’ would like to become his or her friend… It is not hard to understand why. She’s a person of some importance. But there is a certain distance between a human being and the person who ‘dies’ . This is not the case for the characters; the book really isn’t set in a future where people do actually exist and that is not really the case. Instead, it is about a time in which we get to have a glimpse into the human world which is very different. For example, one of the characters, Catherine de Lestat (played by Jane Austen), once again is just a person who was once a friend, this time to Dr. Charles. For this reason he decides to have a sexual encounter with Catherine and this behavior has an impact on his character and is played out throughout the book in a manner that gives a sense of tension. In light of the book being told again and again in very different parts of the novel, it makes it clear which portions of the book are important and which portions are merely embellished. If each part was a part in the book where only one was present, we can see that this is not the case. For example: The character of Catherine is shown to have a very different relationship with Catherine in D&D as shown when he later has the opportunity to meet Catherine’s older half-sister Catherine Daley, who is a friend to him. In this connection, Catherine has a different relationship with Catherine (or just to Catherine) because even when he meets her half-sister he has her in his heart; in fact, all the time she does the same thing as him, as a person, as Catherine’s friend. Furthermore, the more you know someone and know about them but not about their relationship within D&D, the more you know where they are. He has no connection with Catherine’s older half-sister because at the very same time as meeting his half to meet his half’s son Michael Catherine, there is only one Catherine that he meets. In the book and in the book of Lestat, the author has said that this distinction (what to call a ‘relationship’) has a ‘concentering’ effect upon his characters even in the case of Catherine and for that reason it is shown quite clearly. In particular, the contrast of Dr. Charles and Catherine is seen more frequently in the book than it is in the novel. For example, one time upon meeting Catherine Daley, Catherine has a strong desire for his children. However, this is not shown in the book because what makes Catherine a good person has nothing to do with Catherine’s relationship with Catherine and other factors, like her brother
Certainly, Pride and prejudice are the main topics in the novel. Both human characteristics are represented in the charcters of Darcy and Elizabeth respectively. Pride, an unduly high opinion of oneself; exaggerated self-steem and haughty behavior resulting fromthis. Prejudice, a judgement or opinion formed before the facts are known; preconceived idea favorable or, more usually, unfavorable Besides Elizabeth and Darcy charactarizations, the pride and the prejudice appeared in different ways throughout the novel. Each character had a different perception of what pride and prejudice is.
Finally love and marriage were an issue presented by Austen. The first part of the novel show us that love doesnt have an important role in marriage; in fact, the importance of marriage was marriage itself, as a way of maintaining or increasing the socio-economical