Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen

1775*-1817 Jane was educated by her father, the rector of the local church. She began to write in her teens, but her first novel (Sense and Sensibility) wasn't published until 1811.

Pride and Prejudice Working title: First Impressions. First draft done around 1797 but rejected by publishers. Revised form published in 1813.

Social Norms Public vs. Private life: Women were expected to remain private, so Jane published her works anonymously. Writing books was... manly, for lack of better words. It wasn't lady-like. We'll see some of this conflict between the Bennet sisters.

Social Norms, cont. Divisions of Social Class: Difference between personal merit (character, conduct) and family merit (wealth, social connections).

Social Norms, cont. Social Advancement: Men could “move up” in society through the military, the church, or law. Women could “move up” by getting married. This explains why that's basically all the women in the story care about.

Big Ideas Love: Can love “conquer all,” meaning all of the obstacles in its way?

Big Ideas, cont. Reputation: A woman's reputation is very important to her and her family. Similarities today?

Poll Questions 1. First impressions are often wrong. 2. Children are rarely justified in being embarrassed by their parents. 3. Parents should have some say about whom their children marry.

4. Families should be concerned with what others think. 5. Love at first sight is a common occurrence. 6. People communicate more effectively in the twenty-first century than they did during the nineteenth century.

7. “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance” (Charlotte, 21). 8. Playing “hard to get” is useful in attracting members of the opposite sex. 9. People are happiest when they marry within their own social class.

Famous Beginning “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” What does that mean? And can we turn that around? …

Does it also mean this? A single woman must be in want of a husband (especially in possession of a good fortune).

Discussion questions to introduce Pride and Prejudice (we’ll come back to these again later)

What can men do that women can't? Not just physically – what’s more important is what is culturally accepted, etc.? What can women do that men can't? In our culture? In other cultures Islam, Africa, Asian, etc.?

The point: entailment and inheriting Jane Austen’s society’s beliefs about women/men lead to a practice like entailment They're also why women cared so much about getting married in general, as well as getting married as soon as possible.

Notice how the age for marrying has gone up in America lately... Why is that? What age is “old” for getting married?