1、Pride and Prejudice-Chen Yao “ It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.,Jane Austen was born at Steventon Parsonage, Hampshire, England, on December 16th, 1775, the seventh of eight children.At first,she was sent to Oxford

2、to be educated.A few years later,she had returned home because the Austens could not afford to send her to school . Austen acquired the remainder of her education by reading books, guided by her minister-father . Her father apparently gave Austen unfettered access to his large and varied library, an

3、d provided her with expensive paper and other materials for her writing and,drawing.Austen had a close relationship with her sister-Cassandra Elizabeth. .Austen never married.In 1796,she had a short relationship with Tom Lefroy ,who was the Irish supreme judge.It is said that he is Mr. Darcys protot

4、ype in Pride and Prejudice.In 1816,Austen got a serious illness and died in Winchester on 18th, July 1817, at the age of 41.She was buried in the north aisle of the nave of Winchester Cathedral .,Status From 18 century to the early 19th century ,sentimental novel and Gothic novel are full of British

5、 Literature. But Austens novel destroys the old and establishes the new. Unconventionally shows that British rural middle class life which has not been under capitalist industry revolution impact.Her works, often through the comedic scenes of mocking peoples stupidity, selfishness, snobbery and blin

6、dly confident weakness.Austens novel appeared in the early 19th century.She broke the false romanticism trend , inheriting and developing the excellent tradition of realism in the 18th century in the UK. She opens the climax of the realistic novels of 1830s.,Jane Austen is one of the very few famous

7、 female writers in the world .She is a domestic novelist and novelist of manners.She is mentioned in the same st atus with Shakespeare.,Austens literary concern,Austens main literary concern is about human beings in their personal relationship. She is particular preoccupied with the relationship bet

8、ween men and women in love. Stories of love and marriage provide the major themes in all her novels, in which female characters are always playing an active part.,Novel of Manners(社會(huì)風(fēng)俗小說）,work of fiction that re-creates a social world, conveying with finely detailed observation the customs, values,

9、and mores of a highly developed and complex society. The conventions of the society dominate the story, and characters are differentiated by the degree to which they measure up to the uniform standard, or ideal, of behaviour or fall below it. The range of a novel of manners may be limited, as in the

10、 works ofJane Austen, which deal with the domestic affairs of English country gentry families of the 19th century and ignore elemental human passions and larger social and political determinations.,Domestic Novel,domestic Novel refers to a type of novel popular with women readers during the middle o

11、f the nineteenth century. The genre began with Catharine SedgwicksNew-England Tale(1822) and remained a dominant fictional type until after 1870.,Features,1. Plot focuses on a heroine who embodies one of two types of exemplar. 2. The heroine struggles for self-mastery, learning the pain of conquerin

12、g her own passions 3.The tales generally end with marriage. 4. The novels may use a language of tears that evokes sympathy from the readers.,List of Works,Novels: Sense and Sensibility(1811) Pride and Prejudice(1813) Mansfield Park(1814) Emma(1815) Northanger Abbey (1818, posthumous) Persuasion (181

13、8, posthumous) Short fiction : Lady Susan(1794, 1805) Unfinished fiction : The Watsons 1804) Sanditon (1817) Other Works: Sir Charles Grandison (adapted play) (1793, 1800) Plan of a Novel (1815),A Brief Introduction of Pride and Prejudice,Pride and Prejudice is the masterpiece of Jane Austen. This w

14、ork takes the daily life as the source material . Contrary to popular sentimental novels of the community content and affectation of writing methods. Vividly reflects the end of the 18th century to the early 19th century British township life in a conservative and occlusion state and the ways of the

15、 world .,Social Background,1.The story of Pride and Prejudice took place in nineteenth century.At that time, Britain was at the period of transition from the earlier stage of Capitalism to Capitalist Industrialization. In the countryside, the aristocratic family still held great power and right that

16、 country squires were likely to fawn upon them. However, as the development of Capitalism and the expand of the rank of rich people, the distinction between social strata was becoming smaller and smaller, while money was getting more and more important in peoples mind about social value. England con

17、sented to accommodate the aspirations of the rising middle classes by permitting intermarriage with commomers.,2.The story took place in the times between 18th and 19th centuries in UK;it was universally regarded that a single wealthy man must be in a want of a wife. 3.It is a common practice during

18、 Austens time for women to marry a husband to save her from spinsterhood or to gain financial security.So generally speaking,a woman in middle class can change her life only by a successful marriage.,The Relationship Between Main Characters,Social Hierarchy,Plot,Mr and Mrs Bennet live with their fiv

19、e daughters at Longbourn near London. Because they have no son, their property will have to pass, according to the law at that time, to a cousin, William Collins. Hoping to secure their daughters position in society, they both want to marry them to some wealthy gentlemen. It so happens that Charles

20、Bingley, a single man in possession of a good fortune, comes to settle in the neighborhood with his two sisters and his friend Fitzwilliam Darcy, who is also rich and unmarried. Bingley and Jane fall in love with each other almost at first sight. And Darcy is attracted to Janes sister Elizabeth, but

21、 he offends her by his insolent behavior and rude remarks at a ball. The dislike and repulsion is increased by the pride of the one and the prejudice of the other.,However, Darcy continues to be attracted to her, in spite of himself, till he proposes to her but is rejected indignantly. Later on, on

22、a trip to north of England with her uncle and aunt, Elizabeth chances to meet Darcy, who receives them very warmly and shows greatly improves manners. Thus pride is checked and prejudice removed. Just at this point, news reaches Elizabeth that her youngest sister Lydia has eloped with Wickham. By Da

23、rcys help, their marriage is finally brought about. And through his influence, the former tie between Bingley and Jane is renewed, which leads to their engagement. Darcy and Elizabeth also become engaged despite the intervention of Lady Catherine de Bourgh. The story then ends happily with the marri

24、ages of Jane and Elizabeth.,Characters Lists,Elizabeth Bennet The protagonist of the novel and the second oldest of five sisters, Elizabeth is lively, quick-witted, sharp-tongued, bold and intelligent .She is the most logical of the Bennet daughters and that makes her her fathers favorite . Elizabet

25、h is especially distinguished by her fine eyes. The importance of her eyes may be symbolic of her abilities of perception. She has pride in her abilities to perceive the truth of situations and of peoples characters. However, her perceptive abilities fail her frequently because she is influenced by

26、vanity and judges people rashly. By the end of the novel she overcomes her prejudice through her dealings with Darcy. Elizabeth is concerned with propriety, good-manners, and virtue, but is not impressed by mere wealth or titles.,Mr. Darcy An extremely wealthy aristocrat, Darcy is proud, haughty and

27、 extremely conscious of class differences at the beginning of the novel. He does, however, have a strong sense of honor and virtue. Elizabeths rebukes after his first proposal to her help him to recognize his faults of pride and social prejudice. It is, in fact, precisely because Elizabeth is not so

28、 awed by his high social status as to be afraid to criticize his character that he is attracted to her. The self-knowledge acquired from Elizabeths rebukes and the desire to win Elizabeths love spur him to change and judge people more by their character than by their social class.,Jane Bennet Jane i

29、s the oldest in the family. Beautiful, good-tempered, sweet, amiable, humble and selfless, Jane is universally well-liked. She refuses to judge anyone badly, always making excuses for people when Elizabeth brings their faults to her attention. Her tendency to give people the benefit of the doubt lea

30、ds her to be hurt by insincere friends such as Caroline Bingley, although in the end her judgments seem to be more accurate than Elizabeths overall and to do her much less harm. Jane is a static characteras she is basically a model of virtue from the beginning, there is no room for her to develop in

31、 the novel.,Charles Bingley Mr. Bingley, much like Jane, is an amiable and good-tempered person. He is not overly concerned with class differences, and Janes poor family connections are not a serious deterrent to his attachment to her. Bingley is very modest and easily swayed by the advice of his fr

32、iends, as seen in his decision not to propose to Jane as a result of Darcys belief that Jane is not really attached to him. Also like Jane, Bingley lacks serious character faults and is thus static throughout the novel. His character and his love for Jane remain constant; the only thing that changes

33、 is the advice of Darcy, which leads him not to propose to Jane in the beginning of the novel but to propose to her in the end.,Mr. Wickham An officer in the regiment stationed at Meryton, Wickham is quickly judged to be a perfectly good and amiable man because of his friendliness and the ease of hi

34、s manners. He initially shows a preference for Elizabeth, and she is pleased by his attentions and inclined to believe his story about Darcy. Yet while Wickham has the appearance of goodness and virtue, this appearance is deceptive. His true nature begins to show itself through his attachment to Mis

35、s King for purely mercenary purposes and then through Darcys exposition of his past and through his elopement with Lydia, deceiving her to believe that he intends to marry her.,Lydia Bennet The youngest of the Bennet sisters, Lydia is foolish and flirtatious, given up to indolence and the gratificat

36、ion of every whim. She is the favorite of Mrs. Bennet, because the two have such similar characters. Lydia is constantly obsessed with the officers in the regiment, and sees no purpose to life beyond entertainment and diversion. She lacks any sense of virtue, propriety or good-judgment, as seen in h

37、er elopement with Wickham and her complete lack of remorse afterward.,Mrs. Bennet Mrs. Bennet is a foolish and frivolous woman. She lacks all sense of propriety and virtue and has no concern for the moral or intellectual education of her daughters. From the beginning of the novel her sole obsession

38、is to marry off her daughters. She is perfectly happy with Lydias marriage, and never once censures her daughter for her shameful conduct or for the worry she has caused her family. Her impropriety is a constant source of mortification for the Elizabeth, and the inane nature of her conversation make

39、s her society so difficult to bear that even Jane and Bingley decide to move out of the neighborhood a year after they are married.,Mr. Bennet An intelligent man with good sense, Mr. Bennet made the mistake of marrying a foolish woman. He takes refuge in his books and seems to want nothing more than

40、 to be bothered as little as possible by his family. His indolence leads to the neglect of the education of daughters. Even when Elizabeth warns him not to allow Lydia to go to Brighton because of the moral danger of the situation, he does not listen to her because he does not want to be bothered wi

41、th Lydias complaints.,Mr. Collins A clergyman and an extremely comical character because of his mix of obsequiousness and pride, Mr. Collins is fond of making long and silly speeches and stating formalities which have absolutely no meaning in themselves. For Mr. Collins, speech is not a means to com

42、municate truth but a means to say what he thinks the people around him want to hear or what will make the people around him think well of him. He is in line to inherit Longbourn once Mr. Bennet dies, and wants to marry one of the Miss Bennets to lessen the burden of the entailment. When Elizabeth re

43、fuses him, he considers his duty discharged and transfers his affections to Charlotte Lucas.,Charlotte Lucas Charlotte acts as a foil to Elizabeth by embodying the opposite view of marriage. Charlotte makes no attempt to find a husband whom she loves and esteems, but simply gives in to the necessity

44、 of acquiring financial security through marriage. She deals as well with Mr. Collins as is possible, but Elizabeth doubts their long-term happiness.,Mr.Bennets MarriageMoral Marriage,In contrast to Elizabeth,her father,Mr.Bennet, is an example of living with ones mistakes “He had married a woman wh

45、ose weak understanding and illiberal mind,had very early in their marriage put an end to all real affection for her.Respect,esteem and confidence,had vanished forever;and all his views of domestic happiness were overthrown.” Mrs. Bennets main interest in life is to find suitable husbands for her fiv

46、e daughters,while Mr.Bennet would like to islolate himself from his family and refugee in his library or in mocking his wife.Mr.Bennet also can be considered as an irresponsible father because lacks of responsibility towards his family and he encourges his younger daughter to elope with Wichham.So f

47、rom every point of view,their marriage is a common one,like hundreds of thousand couples.,Charlottes Marriage-Based on Economics,In Pride and Prejudice,Charlotte and Collins are the first young couple to get married.Their marriage is out of any expectation.At first,Collins proposes to his cousinEliz

48、abeth,because he would inherit Mr.Bennets wealth，and he is kind of admiring her .Unexpectedly,Elizabeth refuses him with sharp tongue.Then Charlotte get a chance to step in .She is not very pretty,and there is not much money for her to inherit .Collons find comforts from Charlotte,and Charlotte find

49、s a wealthy man she wants.They get married as quickly as lightening.But on the other hand,this is also very dull.,Lydias marriageWith neither love or money,Elizabeths little sisterLydias marriage is another bad marriage.Lydia is impulsive ,vain and immature.She is crazy about Wichhams handsome appea

50、rance and his boast, even elopes with him.She doesnt consider her later life,forgetting that anyhow she is a poor girl .Elopement is an embarrassment at that time.Only Wichham married her can save her reputation.Actually Wichham has no intention of marrying her until Darcy promises to pay all his de

51、bts ,to secure him a commission and present Lydia another one thousand pounds.After marriage,they dont love each other as much as before.This marriage is another one without love.They dont know the real meaning of love and marriage.,Elizabeths MarriageA perfect ,ideal one,Their marriage is the main

52、aspect of the novel and it is the most successful and happiest ideal marriage.The author puts all hope on Elizabeth who has a consciousness of resistance and smart mind.Mr.Darcy is a wealthy and handsome and proud bachelor.Darcy is viewed as rude and conceited by all the inhabitants of Meryton as we

53、ll as Elizabeth Bennet.When he falls in love with Elizabeth,his proposal is refused by her,she also scolds his arrogance forcefully.After that he realizes his deficiencies and makes improvement ,she also realizes her mistakes when she understands that she has greatly misjudged Darcy and Wichham .The

54、ir marriage is a much complex state of affairs.Despite their intial feelings for each other,they both achieve shared admirations and respect but this is only acommplished through the painful process of stripping away the misinterpretation and self-deception of the other .Their marriage is rational b

55、ecause they have learned why they love each other.,Janes Marriage-Love at First Sight,Jane is the eldest daughters of the Bennets.She is very beautiful ,gentle and kind-hearted.But she hides her serious attachment to Bingley under her quiet open and cheerful manners.Mr.Bingley is good-looking and ge

56、ntlemanlike,he has modest, easy and polite manners,but he is lack of self-confidence.He doesnt quitely sure if Jane has attachment to him and Miss.Bingley doesnt want Jane to be her sister-in-law for her low position and connection.There are many obstacles in the access of their marriage and finally

57、 get together under the help of Elizabeth. It is not difficult to see that the marriage of Jane and Bingley is more or less based on their good looks as they love each other at first sight .Yet Mrs Bennet is particular happy just because her son-in-law has a yearly income of four or five thousand po

58、unds.So in addition to their nice appearance,their happiness owes a great deal to Bingleys large fortune.,Essential Factors Influence Marriage in This Book:,Property Love Peronailty,The Great Impact of Money on Marriage,In Pride and Prejudice ,we can always see country,squires and leisure life with

59、walks,balls,picnics,conversations and marriage.But seeing through the surfuce,there is a world of struggling for existence determined by money.The first sentence of the whole novel proclaims,it is a truth universally ackonwledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. Here,a good fortune and in want of are two key phrases.In want of means it is needed objectively not subjectively .So we can also say that in Pride and Prejudice ,the “real truth universally acknowledged that a woman without possession must be in want of a husband with a good fo