Pride and Prejudice

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Pride and Prejudice

• By Jane Austen

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Introduction and Background

• A. A Brief (and tasteful) History of Sex and
  Marriage
• Ancient / classical
• Medieval world
• Courtly love and the test
• of love

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A. Brief history (continued)

1. Love and Marriage (10661966)
2. Love and Marriage in the modern age
3. Biology of love and attraction
4. Economics of marriage

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B. Jane Austen

• Lived from 17751817
• 2. Transition time from the age of Reason to the
  Age of Romanticism
• 3. Jane is definitely __________________

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B. Jane Austin (continued)

• Began writing in her teens
• a. Mostly for family entertainment
• b. The squeaky door of privacy
• c. Books are published anonymously

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B. Jane Austen (continued)

1. Give me a litte town and a few families and I
   will create a world.
2. The Great novels Pride, Sense and Sensibility,
   Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion (the last
   two published in 1818 after her death)

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Social Background

• Class Structure of the British Society
• Landed Gentry Aristocrats who draw their income
  from inheritance or property (the lands they
  own) e.g. Lady Catherine Darcy (10,000 a year)
• New Gentry merchants and manufacturers e.g.
  Bingley (4-5000 a year)

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• Country vs. London
• Country -- simple, centered around the church and
  activities such as dance, fair and sports.
  Darcy "the country ... can in general supply but
  few subjects for such a study of amusement. In
  a country neighborhood you move in a very
  confined and unvarying society" (textbook pp.
  31-32).
• London busy, fashionable and polluted e.g.
  parties, theatres, grog (liquor) shops

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Background -- Map
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II. Major Themes in Pride and Prejudice

• The Social Themes
• Conformity vs. individuality
• Love and marriage
• Marriage and money

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II. Major Themes (continued)

• The Psychological Themes
• Maturation
• Reason vs. Emotion

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III. Characters and Marriages

• Mr. and Mrs. Bennet
• B. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner

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III. Characters / Marriages (continued)

• C. Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins
• D. Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley

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III. Characters and Marriages

• Lydia Benet and Wickham

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III. Characters and Marriages (cont)

• F. Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy

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III. Characters and Marriages

• Minor Characters
• Miss Caroline Bingley
• Lady Catherine deBourgh
• Miss deBourgh
• Georgianna Darcy

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IV. Settings

1. Longbourne
2. Netherfield

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IV. Setting

1. Hunsford and Rosings
2. Pemberly

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V. Techniques

1. Irony
2. Satire
3. Syntax and dictionthe power of language
4. No Symbolism--Why

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VI. Conclusion

• What makes Jane Austen great
• B. Why has Pride and Prejudice lasted as a
  popular novel for almost 200 years