Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice Characters and Social...

England, under James 1st rule was a vastly altered period compared to our now modern society. So many of the values held during this time, have now been discarded and forgotten. Jane Austen grew up in the Romantic period and experienced a world which was divided, whether through education, class, status, fashion, abilities, gender and etiquette. Her novel, Pride and Prejudice is counted as one of the great classics of English Literature. Austen engrosses readers to live in her world for a time and experience a society filled with matchmaking, romance, marriage and gossip. Every one of her characters is so distinctive and has a clearly outlined caricature. Each of their diverse values conveys a different thinking of the time. Pride and†¦show more content†¦Mary (another sister) plays a tedious, dreary piece on the piano and sings quite embarrassingly. Instead of girls having an education they were expected to have accomplishments and skills. Mrs Bingley then takes over and ex pressively shows off her prestigious talents which highlight her upbringing. Elizabeth does not really value these skills such as piano playing, drawing or sewing and would much rather spend her time reading. Her intelligence and wit however, compensate for this in the eyes of Mr Darcy. Perhaps the largest dismissal of social etiquette in the novel is when Mr Collins finds Mr Darcy is Lady Catherine’s nephew and wishes to introduce himself to Elizabeth’s horror, ‘assuring him that Mr Darcy would consider his addressing him without introduction as an impertinent freedom, rather than a compliment to his aunt†¦ it must belong to Mr Darcy, the superior in consequence, to begin the acquaintance’. Mr Darcy finds the introduction comical, though he does not really show it and so do the readers as Mr Collins is so pompous in his manner and believes he can disregard the expected rules because he knows an aristocrat. Mr Darcy’s personal conflict throughout the novel is understanding how he could override his former beliefs and values. During the Romantic era it was unheard of that a man from the very top of a social class, in this case the gentry, could marry someone from the bottom ofShow MoreRelatedComparative Study: Letters to Alice and Pride and Prejudice1502 Words   |  7 Pagesportrayed in Pride and Prejudice are creatively reshaped in Letters to Alice. The two texts, Letters to Alice and Pride and Prejudice, mirror and contrast the central values shared and explored by evaluating them; presenting them against Jane Austens context and that of Fay Weldon. Mirroring Austens novel, Weldon presents the central values for women such as the social values of moral behaviour, independence, and, literary values of reading and writing, from Pride and Prejudice and adapts themRead MoreJane Austen s Pride And Prejudice1294 Words   |  6 PagesJane Austen s exceptional novel Pride and Prejudice has been depicted as a classic that is as much a social study on class, marriage and gender as it is a romantic tale. It is an amusing representation of the social atmosphere of the late eighteenth and mid nineteenth century England, and it is primarily required with courtship rituals of the English high class. The novel is more than a romantic tale, however through Austen s subtle, and ironic style, it addresses gender, class, and marriageRead MorePri de And Prejudice By Jane Austen Essay1156 Words   |  5 Pagesfewer are remembered as symbols of social change. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is a novel remembered by many, and through the decades, as such a novel. The tale of Elizabeth as she overcomes various oppressions has become a classic. Women throughout Jane Austen’s time period were constantly oppressed by social codes and expectations.These social codes included requirements from chaperoned dates to a limit of expression of emotion. Elizabeth’s strength of character penetrates these obstacles promptedRead More Essay on Pride and Prejudice as Romantic Novel and Romantic Criticism1398 Words   |  6 PagesPride and Prejudice as Romantic Novel and Romantic Criticism       To a great extent, Jane Austen satirizes conventional romantic novels by inverting the expectations of love at first sight and the celebration of passion and physical attractiveness, and criticizing their want of sense. 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If Pride and Prejudice is indeed about how two stubborn youth have misjudged each other, then why is it that this novel is so infrequently viewed to be connected to Austen’s origi nal novel about misjudgment and reading one’s fellowsRead MoreJane Austen s Pride And Prejudice1450 Words   |  6 Pageslight-humored wit as well as heartfelt cast of characters, Pride and Prejudice explores the classic yet distinctive narrative of the two divergent characters Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Set towards the end of the eighteenth century and early nineteenth century in England, Jane Austen offers a profound insight into the social manners and behaviors expected of individuals in this time. In Elizabeth’s endeavor for independence in the face of her expectation as a female to marry, she must also unravelRead MoreJane Austen s Pride And Prejudice1434 Words   |  6 PagesJane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was considered a radical novel back in 1813 when she wrote and published the piece. It is a social commentary on the treatment and societal standards of women, as well marriage expectations at the turn of the 19th century. Austen critici zes the patriarchal society, materialism, double standards of men and women by centering the book around Elizabeth Bennett, a young woman of decent means who does not understand the reason for the pressure to find a suitable husbandRead MoreDichotomy In Jane Austens Pride And Prejudice878 Words   |  4 Pagesgreatest dichotomies in Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice is made evident in the title. Namely, the book and the title reflect the division between individual as a spontaneous self and individual as socially constructed part of a greater whole, and the interaction that takes place as a result of the interaction between these selves. â€Å"Pride,† while it can be informed by the presence of others, is a character trait that can exist individual qua individual. For example, compares â€Å"pride† to â€Å"vanity,† a word