Pride & Prejudice

Pride & PrejudiceJane Austen

Jane Austen’s Life• Born: December 16, 1775 at

Steventon rectory (England)• Parents: Reverend George Austen &

Cassandra Austen– Father was a member of the clergy

The Austen Family• 2nd daughter of seven children

(mostly brothers)– Closest to her elder sister

Cassandra & brother Henry who would later become her literary agent

• Close-knit family with a exceptionally close bond with her father

Jane Austen’s Life

• Some formal education but also learned whatever her father and brothers could teach her at home– Extensive library at home for

reading

• The family supported Jane’s creative side

Jane ‘s Brush With Love• 1795- Met a neighbor’s

nephew – Tom Lefroy (age 20)– He was studying to be a

barrister (trail lawyer)– The two fell in love, but

Jane’s family had little to offer toward the marriage, and Tom’s family viewed an engagement to Jane as highly impractical.

– They sent Tom away and made every effort to keep them apart for good.

• The romance ended.

Jane Get Engaged?• December 1800: Jane’s father

retires from the clergy and the family moves to Bath (age 27)

• Jane meets Harris Bigg-Wither– She accepts his proposal of

marriage (He has a sizable fortune and real estate)

– The next day she revokes her acceptance of his proposal, realizing she lacks affection for the man

• Later, in a letter to her niece she advises her simply not to wed if the affection is not there.

• Jane never marries.

Life Begins to Change• January 1805- Jane’s father dies

• Mrs. Austen, Jane, and two other daughters move in with their brother Frank at Chawton cottage.– Her writing career is rejuvenated

(age 33)

• 1816- Jane’s health begins to decline – suffers from Addison’s Disease

Jane ‘s Death• June 18, 1817- Jane dies• Buried at Winchester Cathedral

Austen’s Works• Pride and Prejudice (1813) age 37• Sense and Sensibility (1813) • Mansfield Park (1814) age 38• Emma (1815) age 40• Persuasion & Northanger Abbey

(1817)– Published after her death

19th Century Society: The Regency

Period WealthSocial ClassCourtship and MarriageGender RolesParents and Family

19th Century Wealth

Inherited wealth is superior to wealth

earned through business or a profession.

19th Century Social Class

You should remain in the social class you are born into, only socialize with those of the same class, but treat those “below” you with respect, not contempt.

Major theme in Pride & Prejudice is manners and class differences

19th Century Courtship &

MarriageUnmarried men and women must always be chaperoned. Courtship is formal and physical contact is limited. Marriage is an economic arrangement to preserve or increase wealth in families.

Courtship was formal, but brief; once a couple became a couple, engagement quickly followed.

19th Century Gender Roles

Men’s and women’s roles are strictly proscribed along gender lines, from education and work to property rights and speech.

The “Accomplished”

LadyFor women of the "genteel" classes

the goal of non-domestic education

was thus often the acquisition of "accomplishments," such as the ability to:– draw, sing, play music, & speak

modern (i.e. non-Classical) languages (generally French and Italian)

The “Accomplished”

LadyPurpose of these “accomplishments” is to attract a husband.

In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet displays her relatively detached attitude towards the more trivial aspects of this conventional game by adopting a somewhat careless attitude towards her "accomplishment" of playing the piano, and not practicing it diligently.

19th Century Parents & Family

Parents demand and receive deference (putting their interests first) and respect. -They have a strong voice in the choice of marriage partners.

Pride and Prejudice:

Helpful Things to Know . . .

“airs”: songs or tunesCards: like business cards, only socialFormality of mannersImportance of introductionsPublic knowledge of private wealthWalking vs. horseback riding vs. the

carriageInvitations to dinners and balls“Standing up with”: dancing across from

each other as a coupleWhist: a card game

Niceties and Courtesies: Manners and Customs in the time of Jane Austen“For what do we live, but to

make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?”

-Mr. Bennet, Pride and Prejudice

Basic Etiquette: The Gentleman

In riding horseback or walking along the street, the lady always has the wall.

Meeting a lady in the street whom you know only slightly, you wait for her acknowledging bow- then and only then may you tip your hat to her, which is done using the hand farthest away from her to raise the hat. You do not speak to her - or to any other lady - unless she speaks to you first.

If you meet a lady who is a good friend and who signifies that she wishes to talk to you, you turn and walk with her if you wish to converse. It is not "done“ to make a lady stand talking in the street.

In going up a flight of stairs, you precede the lady (running, according to one authority); in going down, you follow.

Basic Etiquette: The Gentleman

In a carriage, a gentleman takes the seat facing backward. If he is alone in a carriage with a lady, he does

not sit next to her unless he is her husband, brother, father, or son. He alights from the carriage first

so that he may hand her down. He takes care not to step on her dress.

At a public exhibition or concert, if accompanied by a lady, he goes in first in order to find her a seat. If he enters such an exhibition alone and there are ladies or older gentlemen present, he removes his hat.

A gentleman is always introduced to a lady - never the other way around. It is presumed to be an honor for the gentleman to meet her. Likewise a social inferior is always introduced to a superior.

A gentleman never smokes in the presence of ladies.

Basic Etiquette: The Lady If unmarried and under thirty,

she is never to be seen in the company of a man without a chaperone. Except for a walk to church or a park in the early morning, she may not walk alone, but should always be accompanied by another lady, a man, or a servant. (Note: this would seem to have become a more general rule later in the century, as Austen's women are seen walking alone.)

Under no circumstances may a lady call upon a gentleman alone unless she is consulting that gentleman on a professional or business matter.

Basic Etiquette: The Lady A lady does not wear pearls or

diamonds in the morning.

A lady never dances more than three dances with the same partner.

A lady should never "cut" someone, that is

to say, fail to acknowledge their presence after encountering them socially, unless it is absolutely necessary. By the same token, only a lady is ever truly justified in cutting someone

Coming Out The London social season (lasting from Easter

until August 12th, the start of Grouse hunting season) was each year awash in girls just "out" in society.

The principle reason for "coming out" was to marry well. Girls were expected to be quite childlike until they were about 18, when they were taken to London from their parents' country homes to be presented at court.

This was their official entry into society which made them available for parties, balls, and of course, marriage. At least, is the idea for the

daughters of the nobility and gentry.

Coming OutI have yet to discover what exactly this

meant for girls of "good" family such as the Bennets. It is not a family of nobility who would have been received in court.

I can only assume that for their daughters to be "out" meant that they were permitted to go to social events. Therefore when Lady Catherine De Bourgh questions Elizabeth Bennet on the subject, Lizzie replies that all her sister are "out" because they all attend the local parties and balls.

I Could Have Danced All Night...

In Jane Austen's time, the most common dances were "country dances" which consisted of several couples walking through a series figures together. It is described a figure as a "series of movements" in which the couples stood, moved forward, walked around one another, sometimes with arms or hands interlaced, wove between the other dancers, and then stepped back into their places.

One or two, or all of the couples could move at the same time. In some cases, this left a number of the dancers standing by waiting their turns to move allowing, "time for the long, bantering Austenian conversations"

I Could Have Danced All Night...

Characters in Pride & PrejudiceThe Bennets

Mr. Bennet- long-suffering & witty - (Elizabeth is his favorite daughter)

•Mrs. Bennet-emotional, silly, shallow (Elizabeth is her least favorite daughter)

The Bennet GirlsJane sweet, pleasant, very pretty, sees

best in everyone

Elizabeth sharp, clever, observant, attractive

Mary smart, bookish

Kitty shameless flirt

Lydia shameless flirt

New Neighbors at Netherfield Fitzwilliam Darcy

– handsome, arrogant, smart, rich, at times contemptuous – Has inherited Pemberly estate– Nephew of Lady Catherine

Dubourgh– Byronic hero– Dotes on her sister, Georgianna

New Neighbors at Netherfield

Charles Bingley

– pleasant, handsome, rich, available young man

– Is renting Netherfield estate; neighbor to the Bennets

– Is attracted to Jane Bennet

• Bingley’s two sisters: extremely stuck-up, openly mocking

•Caroline is the most vocal

Also Neighbors to the Bennets…

Mr. Collins: clergyman, both servile and self-important, very pompous

Lady Catherine de Bourgh: Darcy’s aunt, wealthy, controlling, “owns” Collins

Also Neighbors to the Bennets…

Charlotte Lucas: Elizabeth’s best friend; is very plain looking & marries out of necessity

Mr. Wickham: Young lieutenant from

the militia in Meryton who wronged Darcy and blackmails the Bennet family