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Background Information
Pride and Prejudice Background Information
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Literary & narrative techniques
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Satire Ideas, customs, behaviors, or institutions are ridiculed in order to criticize human folly and to improve society Listen closely to Elizabeth!
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Irony DRAMATIC = the audience is aware of something the audience/readers are not VERBAL = a speaker says one thing but means another (sarcasm) SITUATIONAL = a difference between what is expected to happen and what actually does happen
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Free Indirect Discourse
The practice of embedding a character’s speech or thoughts into an otherwise third-person narrative. The narrative moves back and forth between the narrator telling us what the character is thinking and showing us the character’s conscious thoughts, without denoting which thought belongs to whom. a character's thoughts or spoken words are reported without quotation marks (or some other kind of indication, like the phrase "she thought" or "he said"). The result is a story that reads almost like it shares two “brains”: one belonging to the narrator, the other belonging to the character. Elizabeth
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Literary genre
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Comedy of Manners Uses elements of satire to ridicule or expose the behaviors, manners, flaws, and morals of the middle or upper classes Love affairs, witty & comical exchanges, humorous revelation of societal scandals
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Comedy of Manners Examples
The characters’ searches for love & financial stability Social scandals of the Meryton community Witty banter between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy or Mr. and Mrs. Bennet
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Themes
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Social Class & Lack of Mobility
By the 19th century, 3 distinct groups made up the social class system: working, middle & upper classes Mr. Darcy = hereditary aristocracy Mr. Bingley = landed gentry The Bennets = middle class
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Marriage and Family Acknowledges that marriage was a necessity for women in the 18th and 19th centuries Also expresses Austen’s disillusionment with the fact that women were often forced into marriage out of financial necessity Through Elizabeth, Austen advocates for marriage based on mutual respect and love
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Pride and Prejudice Originally planned to title the novel First Impressions First impressions and premature preconceptions complicate the relationships between the characters Pride and prejudice influence these perceptions
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The characters
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Mr. Bennet Patriarch of the family
Belongs to the minor gentry; gets a small income from the land attached to his estate (Longbourn) Very fond of Elizabeth No sons, so estate will pass to Mr. Collins
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Mrs. Bennet Married to Mr. Bennet for 23 years
Her main goal in life is to find husbands for her daughters Fond of Lydia; not as fond of Elizabeth
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Jane Bennet Eldest daughter Close to Elizabeth
Befriended by the Bingley sisters Known for her beauty and good nature
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Elizabeth Bennet Second eldest daughter 20 years old
Bright and independent Tends to speak her mind
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Mary Bennet Third daughter The intellectual of the family
Busies herself with reading and music
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Catherine (Kitty) Bennet
Fourth daughter 18 years old Close to Lydia
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Lydia Bennet Youngest daughter 15 years old Mrs. Bennet’s favorite
Very prone to flirting, especially with the officers in Meryton
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Fitzwilliam Darcy Owner of a country estate called Pemberley
Income of 10,000 pounds per year Reputation as a proud and ill-mannered man Close friend of Charles Bingley
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Charles Bingley Inherits the fortune his father built through manufacturing and trade Leases Netherfield Park Falls in love with Jane Bennet
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Caroline Bingley & Louisa Hurst
Charles Bingley’s sisters Each command a fortune of 20,000 pounds Join Bingley in Netherfield, but live in London Louisa is married to Mr. Hurst; Caroline wants to marry Mr. Darcy
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Charlotte Lucas Eldest child of Sir William and Lady Lucas
Elizabeth’s closest friend
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Mr. Collins Mr. Bennet’s cousin The Bennet’s closest male relative
According to the laws of entail, he stands to inherit Longbourn
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Mr. Wickham Member of militia regimen posted to Meryton
Son of the late Mr. Darcy’s steward Known Fitzwilliam Darcy since childhood
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Lady Catherine de Bourgh
Wealthy widow of high social standing Lives with her daughter Anne at Rosings Park Sister of Darcy’s late mother and intends for him to marry Anne
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Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner Mr. Gardiner is Mrs. Bennet’s brother; he is a businessman in trade in London Mrs. Gardiner is close to Jane and Elizabeth
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Colonel Fitzwilliam Darcy’s cousin
Develops a friendship with Elizabeth
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Georgiana Darcy 16 years old Darcy’s sister
Rumored that she is intended to marry Charles Bingley Was previously involved with Wickham
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Common questions
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Cousins Marrying?? Yes, Mr. Collins and the Bennet girls are cousins (distant). Remember, the priority during that time period was keeping property within the family – that was much more important than love
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What do the “---”s mean? Austen used "-----" a lot in her writing. Example " shire" or "lord/lady -----". She did this to avoid insulting or annoying the aristocracy. She sometimes used real people/events and didn't want any confusion in her books. If she used a real shire like Oxfordshire (real place) then someone could argue her book could never have taken place there be of x y or z. So she just omitted real names of people and places to keep her writing credible.
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