Saturday, April 14, 2012

Pride and Prjudice


Pride and Prejudice
·      Jane Austen
·      Setting
o   England
·      Characters
o   Elizabeth
o   Mr. Darcy
o   Jane
o   Mr. Bingley
o   Jane
o   Mr. Wickham
o   Mr. Bennett
o   Mrs. Bennett
o   Mr. Collins
o   Charlotte
·      Plot
o   Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty and Lydia live in Longbourn with their parents. Mrs. Bennett goes into a tizzy when the wealthy Mr. Bingley rents Netherfield Park. So Mr. Bennett is forced to go see the man so the rest of the family can.
o   They meet at a dance and Mr. Bingley falls for Jane. Mr.s Darcy and Mr. Bingley’s sister (who is after Darcy). Darcy insults Liz’s beauty and the crowd brands him as too proud.
o   Bingley starts to fall for Jane and Darcy starts to become enchanted by Liz’s witt, charm and intelligence. Jane goes to Netherfield but gets caught in a storm and falls ill. While shes being cared for by the Bingley’s Elizabeth hikes over to see her and attracts the disdain of Miss Bingley because of Darcy and Liz’s muddy dress
o   Mr. Collins comes to visit. He is the heir to their father’s estate. He is annoying and embarrassing. Liz rejects his proposal of marriage.
o   The girls run into the militia and they meet Wickham. He tells Liz about how Darcy cheated him of his inheritance
o   Bingley leaves for London (upsetting Jane) so she follows them to London. Unfortunately Miss Bingley is very rude to her and Bingley doesn’t see her
o   Meanwhile, Charlotte has married Mr. Collins too everyone’s shock. Liz goes to visit and meets Lady Catherine (aunt of Darcy). She is rude to Liz. There Darcy proposes and Liz refuses causes he was being an ass then lectures him on wronging Jane and Wickham
o   Its revealed that Wickham tried to elope with Georgiana Darcy
o   Lydia goes to Brighton for the summer
o   Liz goes with the Gardiners north and they visit Pemberley
o   Darcy walks in on them and he entertains them and wishes them to meet his sister
o   News arrives that Lydia has fun off with Wickham and Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Bennet set off to find her
o   Darcy finds them and pays Wickham to marry her.
o   Bingley returns and Jane gets engaged
o   Lady Catherine tries to make Liz promise not to marry Darcy and Liz refuses
o   Darcy proposes to Liz
o   They both get married <3
·      Author’s Style and Narrative Voice
o   Point of View
§  Third person
§  From Elizabeth’s point of view
o   Tone
§  It seems very gossipy to me. It’s light and conversational. There is an air of humor and wit that is present.
o   Imagery
§  There is a lot of imagery in the description of setting. Austen spends a lot of time describing Pemberly and Netherfield.
o   Symbolism
§  Estates
·      Pemberly, Netherfield and Rosing all represent the fortunes that await a girl in a good amrriage. They represent the money, prestige and social standing. Pemberly’s description seems to almost match that of its owner. Rosing is large and cold, like Lady Catherine. 
·      Quotes
o   “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 the entire plot of the book in one sentence. Every eligible man is being hounded by mothers wanting their daughters to have a good husband.
o   "Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.”
§  Charlotte Lucas’s line
§  Charlotte believes that marriage is like a business deal, whereas Elizabeth wants romantic love. Lizzy refuses to marry anyone unless she is in love even if that means being a burden to her family.
·      Theme
o   Austen is trying to tell people to marry for romantic love and not money because love will bring you happiness
§  Elizabeth truly loves Mr. Darcy and by the end of the novel shows it as does Mr. Darcy himself. They end up very happy together in a very large estate. Jane and Mr. Bingly are fairly wealthy and are kindof in love however they are punished by Austen in that Mr. Bingly neglected his feelings towards Jane and tried to move on for a while. Charlotte marries Mr. Collins only for the financial security and not at all because she cares for him. Therefore the pair does not end up as well off as The previous two. The lowest pair on the totem pole is Lydia and Wickham because they aren't actually in love. If he truly loved her, he would have respected her honor and married her instead of running away with her and running her reputation...

1 comment:

  1. Another great post. I think, though, your theme is missing Wickham and Lydia; they marry purely for love but they don't quite come out on top. I'm not sure how to qualify the theme to incorporate their story, though, so you might be as close as you can get. On the whole, though, very little to change here. Nice work.

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