ISABELLA THOBURN

COLLEGE

NAME : AAVIKA MISHRA

CLASS AND SECTION : BA 2 SEM 3

SECTION A

COLLEGE ROLL NO. : 194137

(REGULAR)

UNIVERSITY ROLL NUMBER :

190380020010

PAPER 2 : JANE AUSTEN

 TEACHER’S NAME : DR. JOAN
FERNANDEZ

BACKGROUND TO JANE AUSTEN

Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English

novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret,
critique and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the
18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on
marriage in the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic
security. Her works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half
of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary
realism. Her use of biting irony, along with her realism, humour, and
social commentary, have long earned her acclaim among critics,
scholars, and popular audiences alike.

With the publication of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and

Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816), she
achieved success as a published writer. She wrote two other novels,
Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in
1818, and began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but died before its
completion. She also left behind three volumes of juvenile writings in
manuscript, the short epistolary novel Lady Susan, and another
unfinished novel, The Watsons. Her six full-length novels have rarely
been out of print, although they were published anonymously and
brought her moderate success and little fame during her lifetime.

A significant transition in her posthumous reputation occurred in 1833,

when her novels were republished in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels
series, illustrated by Ferdinand Pickering, and sold as a set. They
gradually gained wider acclaim and popular readership. In 1869, fifty-
two years after her death, her nephew's publication of A Memoir of
Jane Austen introduced a compelling version of her writing career and
supposedly uneventful life to an eager audience.

Austen has inspired many critical essays and literary anthologies. Her
novels have inspired many films, from 1940's Pride and Prejudice to
more recent productions like Sense and Sensibility (1995), Emma
(1996), Mansfield Park (1999), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Love &
Friendship (2016), and Emma. (2020).
 PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Pride and Prejudice is an 1813 romantic novel of manners written by Jane

Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet,
the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of
hasty judgments and comes to appreciate the difference between superficial
goodness and actual goodness. Its humour lies in its honest depiction of
manners, education, marriage, and money during the Regency era in Great
Britain.

Mr. Bennet of Longbourn estate has five daughters, but his property is
entailed and can only be passed to a male heir. His wife also lacks an
inheritance, so his family will be destitute upon his death. Thus, it is
imperative that at least one of the girls marry well to support the others,
which is a motivation that drives the plot. The novel revolves around the
importance of marrying for love rather than money or social prestige, despite
the communal pressure to make a wealthy match.
Pride and Prejudice has consistently appeared near the top of lists of "most-
loved books" among literary scholars and the reading public. It has become
one of the most popular novels in English literature, with over 20 million
copies sold, and has inspired many derivatives in modern literature. For
more than a century, dramatic adaptations, reprints, unofficial sequels, films,
and TV versions of Pride and Prejudice have portrayed the memorable
characters and themes of the novel, reaching mass audiences.

SUMMARY:

Pride and Prejudice is set in rural England in the early 19th century, and
it follows the Bennet family, which includes five very different sisters.
Mrs. Bennet is anxious to see all her daughters married, especially as
the modest family estate is to be inherited by William Collins when Mr.
Bennet dies. At a ball, the wealthy and newly arrived Charles Bingley
takes an immediate interest in the eldest Bennet daughter, the beautiful
and shy Jane. The encounter between his friend Darcy and Elizabeth is
less cordial. Although Austen shows them intrigued by each other, she
reverses the convention of first impressions: pride of rank and fortune
and prejudice against the social inferiority of Elizabeth’s family hold
Darcy aloof, while Elizabeth is equally fired both by the pride of self-
respect and by prejudice against Darcy’s snobbery.
The pompous Collins subsequently arrives, hoping to marry one of the
Bennet sisters. Elizabeth, however, refuses his offer of marriage, and he
instead becomes engaged to her friend Charlotte Lucas. During this
time, Elizabeth encounters the charming George Wickham, a military
officer. There is a mutual attraction between the two, and he informs
her that Darcy has denied him his inheritance.

After Bingley abruptly departs for London, Elizabeth’s dislike of Darcy

increases as she becomes convinced that he is discouraging Bingley’s
relationship with Jane. Darcy, however, has grown increasingly fond of
Elizabeth, admiring her intelligence and vitality. While visiting the
now-married Charlotte, Elizabeth sees Darcy, who professes his love
for her and proposes. A surprised Elizabeth refuses his offer, and, when
Darcy demands an explanation, she accuses him of breaking up Jane
and Bingley. Darcy subsequently writes Elizabeth a letter in which he
explains that he separated the couple largely because he did not believe
Jane returned Bingley’s affection. He also discloses that Wickham, after
squandering his inheritance, tried to marry Darcy’s then 15-year-old
sister in an attempt to gain possession of her fortune. With these
revelations, Elizabeth begins to see Darcy in a new light.

Shortly thereafter the youngest Bennet sister, Lydia, elopes with

Wickham. The news is met with great alarm by Elizabeth, since the
scandalous affair—which is unlikely to end in marriage—could ruin the
reputation of the other Bennet sisters. When she tells Darcy, he
persuades Wickham to marry Lydia, offering him money. Despite
Darcy’s attempt to keep his intervention a secret, Elizabeth learns of his
actions. At the encouragement of Darcy, Bingley subsequently returns,
and he and Jane become engaged. Finally, Darcy proposes again to
Elizabeth, who this time accepts.

THEMES:

There are many themes in pride and prejudice. Some of them are as
follows:

Love:

Pride and Prejudice contains one of the most cherished love stories in
English literature: the courtship between Darcy and Elizabeth. As in any
good love story, the lovers must elude and overcome numerous stumbling
blocks, beginning with the tensions caused by the lovers’ own personal
qualities. Elizabeth’s pride makes her misjudge Darcy on the basis of a poor
first impression, while Darcy’s prejudice against Elizabeth’s poor social
standing blinds him, for a time, to her many virtues.

Reputation:

Pride and Prejudice depicts a society in which a woman’s reputation is of the

utmost importance. A woman is expected to behave in certain ways.
Stepping outside the social norms makes her vulnerable to ostracism. This
theme appears in the novel, when Elizabeth walks to Netherfield and arrives
with muddy skirts, to the shock of the reputation-conscious Miss Bingley
and her friends. At other points, the ill-mannered, ridiculous behavior of
Mrs. Bennet gives her a bad reputation with the more refined (and snobbish)
Darcys and Bingleys. Austen pokes gentle fun at the snobs in these
examples, but later in the novel, when Lydia elopes with Wickham and lives
with him out of wedlock, the author treats reputation as a very serious
matter.

Class:

The theme of class is related to reputation, in that both reflect the strictly
regimented nature of life for the middle and upper classes in Regency
England. The lines of class are strictly drawn. While the Bennets, who are
middle class, may socialize with the upper-class Bingleys and Darcys, they
are clearly their social inferiors and are treated as such. Austen satirizes this
kind of class-consciousness, particularly in the character of Mr. Collins, who
spends most of his time toadying to his upper-class patron, Lady Catherine
de Bourgh. Though Mr. Collins offers an extreme example, he is not the
only one to hold such views. His conception of the importance of class is
shared, among others, by Mr. Darcy, who believes in the dignity of his
lineage; Miss Bingley, who dislikes anyone not as socially accepted as she
is; and Wickham, who will do anything he can to get enough money to raise
himself into a higher station.

Gender:
Gender is a key theme in Pride and Prejudice. The story takes place at a time
when gender roles were quite rigid, and men and women had a very different
set of options and influences. Marriage is a pressing question for female
characters like Charlotte Lucas and the Bennet sisters because marriage is
the only way women can achieve economic stability and autonomy. As
upper class women, they would not have been able to work to earn a living,
or live independently. Marriage offered one of the only ways to move
beyond their birth families. However, a woman’s marriageability relied on
an impeccable reputation for chastity, and for women like Georgiana Darcy
or Lydia Bennet, a reckless decision to trust the wrong man could
permanently ruin their future prospects.

CONCLUSION

The work, which Austen initially titled First Impressions, is the second
of four novels that Austen published during her lifetime. Although Pride
and Prejudice has been criticized for its lack of historical context, the
existence of its characters in a social bubble that is rarely penetrated by
events beyond it is an accurate portrayal of the enclosed social world in
which Austen lived. She depicted that world, in all its own narrow pride
and prejudice, with unswerving accuracy and satire. At the same time,
she placed at its centre, as both its prime actor and most perceptive
critic, a character so well conceived and rendered that the reader cannot
but be gripped by her story and wish for its happy dénouement. In the
end, Austen’s novel has remained popular largely because of Elizabeth
—who was reportedly Austen’s own favourite among all her heroines—
and because of the enduring appeal to men and women alike of a well-
told and potentially happily ending love story.