1 Lecture 12 The Romantic PeriodWalter Scott Jane Austen and her Pride and Prejudice

2 Contents Romantic Movement Historical backgroundSchools of English Romantic poetry Walter Scott ( ) His life experience: (p ) His works Features of Scott’s historical novels Jane Austen( )and Pride and Prejudice Life experience Main works Literary features Appreciation and simple analysis of her masterpiece, Pride and Prejudice Romantic

3 Romantic Movement Historical background (Read from p164 to the first line on p167) The Romantic Movement was international in the 19th century. The outburst of Romantic feeling in England was sudden. It was triggered off by certain specific events of historical significance: the French Revolution and American Civil War.

4 American Civil War and the French Revolution, especially, the Declaration of Rights of Man approved by the national Assembly and the storming of Bastille, aroused great sympathy and enthusiasm in the English liberals. Patriotic clubs and societies multiplied in England. In England itself, there appeared conflicts. There were political upheavals, and ideas of revolution. And as a result of the Enclosure and the agricultural mechanization, the peasants were driven out of their land. They swarmed into the industrialized towns and became poor workers. The working class was in a worse-off condition both in work and in life with no protection and no power whatever. The government became more and more repressive. Its law was “the survival of the fittest”.

5 5. With the battle of Waterloo, the first modern depression in England began. While the price of food rose rocket-high, the workers wages went sharply down; 16 hours’ labor a day could hardly pay for the daily bread. This cruel exploitation caused large-scale workers’ disturbances in Britain. The climax of popular agitation and government brutality came in August 1819 at St. Peter’s Field, Manchester, where a huge but orderly group of peaceful protesters were charged by mounted troops who killed nine and wounded hundreds more. This is the notorious “Peterloo Massacre” which roused indignation even among the upper class. 6. In 1832, the Reform Bill was enacted. However, the workers who played the major role in the fight got little.

6 Romantic Movement British Romanticism, as a historic phase of literature, is generally said to have begun in 1789 with the publication of Wordsworth and Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads and to have ended in 1832 with Sir Walter Scott’s death and the passage of the first Reform Bill in the Parliament. However, as a new current of literature, in fact, it had started long before the publication of this writing. We have just learned about that, such as Blake and Burns who were the forerunners of Romantic poetry. 2. The Romantic Movement, whether in Britain, Germany or France, expressed a more or less negative attitude toward the existing social and political conditions that came with the industrialization and the growing importance of the bourgeoisie.

7 3. The ideas that the Romanticists have about human are different from those of the 18th century. (The last paragraph on p167 to p168) 4. The famous representatives and their romantic characteristics (The middle paragraph on p168) So, representing the highest achievement in English poetry, the English romantic period has been considered the second great period in English literature, second only to the Elizabethan age.

8 Schools of English Romantic poetry Romanticism (a literary term): It is an artistic and intellectual movement,originating in Europe in the late 18th century and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, putting emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, departing from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebelling against established social rules and conventions. Two schools of English poetry: 1. The Lakers: William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Robert Southey are the representatives. As they lived close to the lake area in North England, they have been called “Lake poets”, or “the Lakers” (p 170) 2. The Satanic School: Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats are representatives. They were more rebellious and aggressive,

9 Walter Scott ( ) Pictures

10 His life experience Sir Walter Scott wrote romantic poems and adventure stories of the past. The setting is often in Scotland. Famous writers whose historical novels he influenced include James Fenmore Cooper, Alexandre Dumas and Aleksandr Pushkin. He popularized his country's history and traditions. Early Years of Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, First Baronet, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on August 15, 1771, the son of a lawyer whose name was also Walter Scott, and a doctor's daughter. He was said to have inherited his father's disciplined attitude and his imaginative gifts from his cultured mother. At two, he became ill, which caused his right leg to be permanently crippled, but this did not deter him from his pursuits. He attended Edinburgh University and trained as a lawyer. At 26, he married Charlotte Carpenter and had five children.

11 Scott walked and rode around the countryside when he had spare time from his legal work. He collected the old ballads that people sang. These had fascinated him since boyhood, which he spent near Scotland's border with England. Scott Turns to Writing Aged 31, Scott's ballads appeared in a three-volume collection called Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. Soon after came The Lay of the Last Minstrel, his own long poem about an old border country legend followed. At 40, Scott had written two more story-poems. By this time he became rich and famous. He purchased a border country estate and started building a mansion beside the River Tweed. Waverley was the first of his 27 novels which he wrote; he was 43 years old. This novel deals with the rebellion of 1745, which attempted to restore a Scottish family to the British throne. Like most of his later novels, his hero's loyalty is often split between two rulers, affecting a way of life.

12 His works: 1. His poems: The Lay of the Last Minstrelsy; Marmion,; The Lady of the Lake; The Lord of the Isles; Rokeby. 2. Subjects of his historical novels: Scott has been universally regarded as the founder and great master of the historical novel. His historical novels covered a long period of time, ranging from the Middle Ages up to the 18th century. His historical novels can be divided into 3 periods: *

13 * The novels on the history of Scotland: Waveryley, Guy Mannering, Old Morality, Rob Roy. These representative works were highly successful for their vivid descriptions of typically Scottish characters and their powerful representations of the past events in Scotland. These novels have made known as “Waverley Novels”. * The novels of the second period concern English subject. The novels represent different phases of English history, covering the history after the Norman Conquest. His most famous novel in this period is Ivanhoe * Scott’s novels in the third period are about the history of European countries. His best known novel in this phase is Quentin Durward. St. Ronan’s Wells is the only novel of Scotts that deals with his contemporary life.

14 Features of Scott’s historical novelsThe combination of historical fact and romantic imagination. Historical events are closely interwoven with the fates of individuals. When describing historical events, Scotts is concerned not only with the lives and deeds of kings, statesmen and other historical figures, but is always considering the fates of the ordinary people such as peasants, shepherds and villagers. A landscape of romantic imagination

15 Jane Austen( ) Pictures

16 Brief life experience JANE AUSTEN was born at the Rectory in Steventon, a little village in north-east Hampshire, on 16th December She was the seventh child and second daughter of the rector, the Revd George Austen, and his wife Cassandra Leigh. Of her brothers, two were clergymen, one inherited rich estates in Kent and Hampshire from a distant cousin and the two youngest became Admirals in the Royal Navy; her only sister, like Jane herself, never married.

17 Steventon Rectory was Jane Austen's home for the first 25 years of her life. From here she travelled to Kent to stay with her brother Edward in his mansion at Godmersham Park near Canterbury, and she also had some shorter holidays in Bath, where her aunt and uncle lived. During the 1790s she wrote the first drafts of Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Northanger Abbey; her trips to Kent and Bath gave her the local colour for the settings of these last two books. In 1801 the Revd George Austen retired, and he and his wife, with their two daughters Jane and Cassandra, left Steventon and settled in Bath.

18 The Austens rented No. 4 Sydney Place from , and then stayed for a few months at No. 3 Green Park Buildings East, where Mr. Austen died in While the Austens were based in Bath, they went on holidays to seaside resorts in the West Country, including Lyme Regis in Dorset - this gave Jane the background for Persuasion. In 1806 Mrs. Austen and her daughters moved to Southampton, and then in 1809 to Chawton, where they had a cottage on one of Edward's Hampshire estates. Here Jane was at leisure to devote herself to writing, and between she revised her three early novels and also composed another three - Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion.

19 Jane fell ill in possibly with Addison's Disease - and in the summer of 1817 her family took her to Winchester for medical treatment. However, the doctor could do nothing for her, and she died peacefully on 18th July 1817 at their lodgings in No. 8 College Street. She was buried a few days later in the north aisle of Winchester Cathedral. Jane's novels reflect the world of the English country gentry of the period, as she herself had experienced it. Due to the timeless appeal of her amusing plots, and the wit and irony of her style, her works have never been out of print since they were first published, and are frequently adapted for stage, screen and television. Jane Austen is now one of the best-known and best-loved authors in the English-speaking world.

20 Her main works Sense and Sensibility (1811) Pride and Prejudice (1813) Mansfield Park (1814) Emma (1815) Northanger Abby (1818) Persuasion(1818)

21 Her literary features With great details drawn from everyday life, the picture of her characters is vividly portrayed and everyone comes alive. With simple language and conversing dialogues, her novels are surprisingly realistic Her plots appear natural and unforced. She keeps the balance between content and form.

22 Categories of women characters portrayed in her novels: There are three types of women characters in her novel. The women who marry for only money, position, and property; Those who marry just for passion Those who marry for love which is based on consideration of the persons personal merits as well as his economical and social status. The reasons why her novels have been still fascinated (p192)

23 Appreciation and simple analysis of Pride and PrejudiceHistorical context and Austen’s contribution in writing the novel To think about Pride and Prejudice in historical-terms, you have to realize that there was a "war of ideas" going on at this time. It was taking place everywhere – in art, politics, society. On one side was the "Romantic movement," which was a response to the Enlightenment ideal of rationalism. The Romantics were all, "let’s talk about our feeeelings" and "let’s return to nature." The Romantics were reacting against the firmly entrenched conservatives who really liked rules, tradition, and the rigid conformity of the scientific method.

24 Every day the Romantics would express their ideas, and then the conservatives would express theirs, and the ideas would fight in these mad air battles all over England. But which side was Pride and Prejudice fighting on? Pride and Prejudice has some characteristics of the Romantic movement, namely, that it deals with feelings, but love in Pride and Prejudice is still grounded in a certain kind of rationalism and celebration of human intelligence; Elizabeth and Darcy make sense as a balanced, complementary couple, and it is only after their heads come to terms with their hearts that they are ready to get engaged. So there are at least two reasonable options for thinking about Pride and Prejudice in the context of this intellectual war: it’s either waving a white flag between the conservatives and the Romantics, or else it’s simply ignoring them altogether.

25 There was another war. This conflict was going on in the literary world, where the novel was just growing up. There were two decisions a writer could take during this time – she could focus on developing her characters’ tortured inner lives, or she could focus on developing awesome storylines with great action sequences. Her contribution: Pride and Prejudice was one of the first novels to bring both of these together – the characters’ complex inner lives don’t prevent them from living within an interesting plot. Austen weaves the two together skillfully by giving the less important characters a similarly less interesting inner life – Lydia’s character and her elopement, for example, is used to demonstrate the depth of Darcy’s commitment to Elizabeth and her family. By synthesizing these two novel forms, Austen helped the modern novel grow up.

26 Role of women then:In the eighteenth century a woman's role in society was determined by her father and husband. Convention demanded that women were submissive and modest. Their educational opportunities were inferior to men's and they were not expected to think for themselves. On the surface, Austen's fiction would appear to perpetuate this. Marriage is deemed the most a woman can hope to achieve, and her novels end happily with this confirmation. Yet Austen heavily criticizes the ignorance endorsed by popular expectation, such as Mrs Bennet's comic fickleness and absurd hypochondria, Lydia’s 'ignorance' and 'idleness', etc.

27 However, it is through Elizabeth and her relationship with Darcy that Austen betrays most her resentment at the restraint upon women. Elizabeth is contemptuous of idle small chat, preferring to converse with the gentlemen. She possesses wit and intelligence far removed from the conventional representations of women at the time. Elizabeth argued that in order for women to achieve equality they must think independently with reason. Yet for all her spirit and quick wit, Elizabeth still conforms to expectation. She may have been prepared to reject one of the richest men in England, but at the end of the novel she is keen to assume her role as mistress of Pemberley.

28 Plot overview The arrival of the wealthy to the estate of Netherfield Park causes a commotion in the nearby village of Longbourn. In the Bennet household, is desperate to marry Bingley to one of her five daughters—, , , , or . When Bingley meets Jane at a ball, he seems immediately smitten with her. Yet Bingley’s snobby friend is rude to Elizabeth. Through the next few social gatherings, Jane and Bingley grow closer, while Darcy, despite himself, finds himself becoming attracted to Elizabeth’s beauty and intelligence.

29 When Jane is caught in the rain while traveling to visit Bingley, she falls ill and must stay at Netherfield. Elizabeth comes to Netherfield to care for Jane, and though Bingley’s sisters are rude and condescending to her ( wants Darcy for herself), Darcy’s attraction to her deepens. Elizabeth, however, continues to consider him a snob. Meanwhile, , a pompous clergyman and Mr. Bennet’s cousin and heir, visits the Bennets in search of a marriageable daughter. At about the same time, the Bennet sisters also meet , an army officer Elizabeth finds charming, and who claims Darcy wronged him in the past. Elizabeth’s prejudice against Darcy hardens. Soon after, at a ball at Netherfield, Mrs. Bennet, much to Darcy’s annoyance, comments that a wedding between Jane and Bingley is likely to soon take place. Collins, in the meantime, proposes to Elizabeth, who declines, angering her mother, but pleasing her father. Collins then proposes to Elizabeth’s friend , who accepts out of a desire for security rather than a need for love.

30 Bingley suddenly departs for London on business, and Caroline informs Jane by letter that not only will they not be returning, but moreover her brother is planning to wed , Darcy’s sister. Jane is crushed. Elizabeth is sure Darcy and Caroline are deliberately separating Bingley and Jane. The sisters’ aunt and uncle, and , invite Jane to London hoping that she will get over her disappointment, but after she arrives Caroline snubs her and she regrets ever marrying Bingley. Elizabeth visits Charlotte and Mr. Collins, where she encounters Collins’ patron and Darcy’s relative, the wealthy and formidable . Darcy arrives and surprises Elizabeth by joining her for long intimate walks. She grows angry, however, when she learns that Darcy advised Bingley against marrying Jane. Oblivious, Darcy announces his love for her and proposes marriage.

31 Elizabeth refuses his proposal, accusing him of ruining Jane’s marriage and mistreating Wickham. In a letter Darcy explains that he intervened because he felt Jane did not truly love Bingley. Wickham, he writes, is a liar and a scoundrel. Elizabeth begins to feel she has misjudged Darcy and may have been rash in turning him down. Returning home, Elizabeth finds that has become smitten with Wickham. She urges her father to intervene, but he chooses to do nothing. Elizabeth soon accompanies the Gardiners on a trip. During the trip, Elizabeth visits Pemberley, Darcy’s magnificent estate. She fantasizes about being his wife there and is further impressed when he unexpectedly shows up and introduces her to his charming sister, Georgiana. Bingley also arrives and reveals that he is still in love with Jane.

32 Elizabeth’s trip is cut short by a letter from Jane announcing that Lydia has eloped with Wickham. Fearing a scandal that will ruin all the daughters’ futures, the Bennets search for Lydia in London. When Mr. Gardiner tracks them down, Wickham demands his debts be paid off in return for marrying Lydia. The Bennets assume that Gardiner gives in to the demand, since Lydia and Wickham soon return, playing the happy newlyweds. (Mrs. Bennet is happy that at least one of her daughters is married.) Elizabeth soon discovers that Darcy, not Gardiner, paid off Wickham’s debts, out of love for her. Bingley and Darcy return to Netherfield and Bingley finally proposes to an overjoyed Jane. While Darcy goes to London on business, Lady Catherine visits Elizabeth, warning her not to marry Darcy. Elizabeth refuses to promise. On his return, Darcy asks Elizabeth again to marry him. This time she accepts, telling him her prejudice against him had made her blind. Darcy acknowledges that his pride made him act rudely. Both couples are married and the Bennet family rejoices in their daughters’ happiness.

33 Plot analysis: Classic Plot AnalysisMost good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.

34 1. Initial Situation We meet the Bennet family: five single daughters with no money. And then a young, rich, single man moves into the neighborhood. This is clearly an initial situation because there’s way too much instability in this system. Pushy mother? Poor, single daughters? One rich, single man? Anyone else predict that the pushy mother is going to be pushing her daughters on the single man? 2. Conflict Bingley starts falling for Jane, but his sisters and friend don’t approve. An obstacle in the path of true love and familial happiness! Yes, this is conflict. To make matters worse, Darcy has developed a crush on Jane’s sister Elizabeth, and all the objections he has to Bingley marrying Jane (lower class family with crazy family members) also apply to the prospect of him marrying Elizabeth.

35 3. Complication Bingley’s sisters and Darcy succeed in dissuading Bingley from marrying Jane; Darcy sinks lower and lower in Elizabeth’s estimation. Our lovers seem as far away from each other as possible: Bingley’s sisters effectively quarantine him from seeing Jane, and Wickham drips (figuratively) poison into Elizabeth’s ear about Darcy’s character. While before Elizabeth simply disliked him, she now feels full-on disgust.

36 4. Climax Mr. Darcy shows his heart; Elizabeth learns her errors in judgment. All the festering feelings come to a head here. Darcy finally tells Elizabeth how he feels, saying he can repress his emotions no longer, and Elizabeth counters with a, "if you were the last man alive, I still wouldn’t marry you." OK, those weren’t her exact words, but they were pretty close. She finally vents all her anger over what Mr. Darcy has done to Jane and to Mr. Wickham. But! That’s not the end of the climax! Darcy gives Elizabeth a letter that exonerates him from all the charges she leveled against him. Both characters question their identities. As for Elizabeth, who prides herself on being a great judge of character, she learns that people’s exterior masks can fool her. This is the climax of the novel because the greatest attitude shifts come here, towards the end of Part Two. It’s all smoother sailing from here on out for our two main characters.

37 5. Suspense Lydia runs off with Wickham, potentially ruining the Bennet family name forever. If Lydia goes off with Wickham to "live in sin," it will destroy any chance at happiness for Elizabeth and Jane. No respectable man will marry a woman who has a fallen sister. Don’t know about you, but we’re biting our nails. 6. Denouement Mr. Bingley proposes to Jane; Mr. Darcy proposes to Elizabeth Mr. Darcy uses money to force Wickham to marry Lydia. The Bennet family is saved. Whew. Here’s the ending we’ve been waiting for – couples reunited, misunderstandings cleared up, in-laws chucked out the window…

38 7. Conclusion The happily ever after – the last chapter serves as a bit of an epilogue. Our two favorite married couples are doing well, but Lydia and Wickham’s marriage unravels and they become broke. Charles and Jane Bingley move out of Netherfield after a year because they can’t stand Mrs. Bennet, Mary becomes less sanctimonious, and Kitty blossoms under the guidance of her two oldest sisters. Oh, right. Jane moves to an estate practically next door to Pemberley. That all sounds quite peachy.

39 Themes 1. Love and marriage Pride and Prejudice is most easily defined as a romantic comedy, but Austen stresses that the first flush of romantic love will not sustain a marriage and is no basis for happiness. Mr. Bennett is described as being 'captivated' by Mrs. Bennett's 'youth and beauty' on first meeting her, but this is inadequate for a relationship to last. Similarly, Lydia and Wickham's elopement is, on the face of it, very romantic, driven as they are by passionate feeling. In Pride and Prejudice, a happy marriage springs from both physical attraction and compatibility. So while Bingley may have been drawn to Jane's beauty, it is their 'general similarity of feeling and taste' that will ensure their marriage lasts. Their love has deepened through their shared setbacks. On the other hand, Darcy and Elizabeth's love only arises once misunderstanding, and blinding pride and prejudice, is overcome. They are made to examine why they love each other with practicality and reason.

40 2. Pride and Prejudice How we judge others is a related theme - to do so without enough knowledge invites prejudice. And Austen goes on to show how the extent to which we know other people is directly correlated with the extent to which we know ourselves. Thus Elizabeth is more prone to siding with Wickham because of her prejudice against Darcy; but both characters come to a greater understanding of themselves as they work through their faults, this process eventually serving to draw them closer together. It is easy to label Darcy as being the character symbolic of pride, and Elizabeth of prejudice. Darcy takes pride in his rank, and his arrogance colors his assessment of the people of Longbourn. Elizabeth and the neighborhood are prejudiced against Darcy from the beginning, taking offence at his low opinion of them. However, it becomes clear that these qualities infect the portrayal of other characters in the book. Lady Catherine displays ridiculous pride in her status; Mrs Bennet is ridiculously prejudiced in her views. Pride and prejudice seep through all of the characters, and in many guises.

41 3. Women and Feminity Although Pride and Prejudice begins with the anonymous figure of a rich, single man, the novel is actually concerned with the plight of the poor, single woman. So far as the novel makes a conscious statement about womanhood, it argues that poor, single women have an extremely limited range of choices: poverty or marriage. Pride and Prejudice offers us a look into this rather intensely feminine world of courting, marriage decisions, and social realities.

42 Character analysis Elizabeth Bennet Elizabeth is a spontaneous, high-spirited, vivacious, witty, and warm young lady. She is also a bright, complex, and intriguing individual who is realistic about life. Unlike her sister Jane, she is not ready to believe that everyone is flawless. She knows the impropriety of her father and is aware that it springs from the unhappiness of his life with his wife. She also perceives the fickleness of her mother’s temper and her crass social behavior. Even to the point of being saucy and blunt at times, Elizabeth is not afraid to speak her mind.

43 2. Elizabeth is an honest individual, both to others and to herself2. Elizabeth is an honest individual, both to others and to herself. Once she realizes the truth about Darcy, she admits her incorrect prejudice against him and regrets her previous rejection of him. In fact, she even admits to herself that she is in love with Darcy, but she is realistic enough to think that she no longer stands a chance with him. When she learns that Darcy has saved Lydia from disgrace, she swallows her remaining pride and states her appreciation to Darcy. His response is to ask for her hand in marriage once again. This time, a much wiser Elizabeth eagerly accepts.

44 3. Elizabeth main flaw is an exaggerated prejudice3. Elizabeth main flaw is an exaggerated prejudice. Her first negative impression of Darcy at the Netherfield ball, Wickham’s tall story about him, and Darcy’s influencing Bingley against Jane fuel her prejudice. She spends most of the novel truly disliking her future husband. When Darcy proposes to her the first time, she does not even give the offer serious thought before turning the man down. Fortunately, Darcy is determined and does not give up on Elizabeth.

45 Literary devices 1. What’s Up With the Title? The title refers primarily to the love story between Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, both of whom have serious amounts of pride and prejudice. The common interpretation is that Darcy, with all his "I’m too good for you" attitude, embodies the pride side of the title, and that Elizabeth, with all her, "You’re snobby and I don’t like you" attitude, embodies the prejudice side. But that’s the common interpretation. What frequently gets overlooked is that Elizabeth prideful and Darcy is prejudiced. The point is, their collective pride and prejudice prevent them from getting together.

46 2. Writing Style: Clear, Witty, SarcasticIn this dialogue-driven novel, wit and sarcasm predominate the text. Pride and Prejudice is often an exercise in reading between the lines, as Austen’s characters must almost always use polite language to mask their true intentions. (The greatest exception is, of course, when Elizabeth chews Darcy out after his proposal.) 3. Setting: 19th century rural England Pride and Prejudice is set in rural England around the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries among the gentry, and although we never really see the city, the novel sets up a pretty heavy contrast between city folk and country folk. Most of the action takes place at specific country estates: Longbourn (the Bennet home), Netherfield (Bingley’s home), the Hunsford Parsonage (the Collinses), Rosings (Lady Catherine), and Pemberley (Darcy).

47 4. Tone Satirical, Ironic Pride and Prejudice is a lot like The Simpsons. In the same way that Homer Simpson is a caricature of the typical American middle-class man, Mrs. Bennet is a caricature of a pushy mother eager to get her daughters wed. Austen skillfully skewers Lady Catherine’s pretension (otherwise known as the "full-of-herself" disease) and shows the similar pomposity of Mr. Collins, the clergyman. Scenes such as Mr. Collins’s proposal and Lady Catherine’s visit to Longbourn offer us comic relief while also advancing the plot. Mr. Bennet is a key character in establishing the tone of the novel, as his observations on life are typically spot-on.

48 Experiencing Chapter 1 SummaryThe narrator begins with the statement: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Then the narrator begins the story. One day in their modest house in Longbourn, Mrs. Bennet shares some news with her husband, Mr. Bennet. A wealthy young gentleman, Charles Bingley, has just rented the nearby estate of Netherfield. Mrs. Bennet twitters with excitement because she wants him to meet her daughters and hopefully marry one. Analysis In terms of taking an interest in their daughters’ futures, Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet are polar opposites: she gets involved while he remains distant and makes jokes.

49 One of the most famous lines in literature, the opening establishes the pursuit of marriage as central to the social world of the English gentry. In addition, the claim that a wealthy man must be looking for a wife shows how desperately important it was for women to marry wealthy men. In Austen’s time, they had no other means of support. Mrs. Bennet asks her husband to get them an introduction. Mr. Bennet purposely frustrates his wife by sarcastically replying that he’ll write to give his consent for Bingley to marry any of his daughters, especially Elizabeth, whom he considers especially bright. In terms of taking an interest in their daughters’ futures, Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet are polar opposites: she gets involved while he remains distant and makes jokes.

50 Brief interpretation of the first sentenceThe first sentence of this chapter is one of the famous ones in English literature because of its masterful irony, its humorous tone The first part of the sentence "it is a truth universally acknowledged” seems that the novel is going to dedicate itself to lofty ideals. The second half of the sentence, however, reveals that the "universal truth" is nothing more than a social truth, which ironically is not a truth at all, but a misrepresentation of social facts A man with a fortune does not need a wife nearly so much as a woman, who has no means of outside support in the 19th century, is greatly in need of a wealthy husband. Throughout the novel, it is Mrs. Bennet who seeks suitable husbands for her older daughters.

51 A comment It is apparent from this chapter that the novel is to center on character development and relationship and to investigate with great detail the behavior and manners of the landed middle-class society of 19th century England. The family is the heart of the middle-class, and its preservation is vital. Marriage, the key subject matter of the book, is extremely important in order to continue the family and to supply stability and economic well- being for the women of the time.

52 Experiencing Chapter 58 SummaryOnly days later, Darcy comes to Longbourn with Bingley. They all go for a walk and Elizabeth and Darcy soon find themselves alone. Elizabeth cannot contain her gratitude any longer for all that Darcy suffered and sacrificed for Lydia. Darcy tells Elizabeth that he did everything for her. Analysis Elizabeth has to be a little impolite in ignoring Darcy’s request that Mr. Gardiner take the credit. But by breaking the rules, Elizabeth allows for their climactic emotional exchange.

53 Elizabeth has to be a little impolite in ignoring Darcy’s request that Mr. Gardiner take the credit. But by breaking the rules, Elizabeth allows for their climactic emotional exchange. Darcy says his feelings for her have not changed since his rejected proposal, and asks about her feelings. Elizabeth confesses that her feelings have significantly changed. Darcy is overwhelmed with happiness. While there is no explicit marriage proposal from Darcy yet, everything hinges on Elizabeth’s growth as a character and ability to overcome her prejudice..

54 Darcy explains that he started to hope after Lady Catherine informed him about Elizabeth’s stubborn refusal to follow her commands. Darcy regrets his first proposal to Elizabeth. He’s been prideful since childhood and presumed that she would accept. He thanks Elizabeth for teaching him a lesson about humility. Elizabeth apologizes for treating him so roughly. Selfish plans based on class prejudice all backfire in this novel. Just as Elizabeth was humbled after she learned the truth about Darcy, so Darcy learned humility in realizing that his pride injured her and prevented his own happiness.

55 Darcy explains that he told Bingley the truth about Jane and advised him to return to Netherfield. Bingley was angry about being deceived while Jane was in London, but he has forgiven Darcy. Darcy does penance for his blatantly wrong decision to lie and must ask forgiveness: another example that Darcy has relinquished his pride.

56 A comment This is a very significant chapter for the climax of the plot is reached when Elizabeth accepts Darcy’s proposal. Even when they have confessed their love, this intelligent pair poses and answers questions to each other, try to analyze their feelings, and review their past actions. It is important to note that Elizabeth and Darcy have undergone significant changes in the novel, putting aside their pride and prejudices; in contrast, Jane and Bingley have remained static characters.

57 Critical overview Commentators, including Lady Darcy and Miss Mitford, complained that the characters, particularly the Bennets, are unrefined and socially mannerless. "In 1819," writes Laura Dabundo in the Concise Dictionary of British Literary Biography, "Henry Crabb Robinson wrote the first of several diary entries in praise of her novels." "Later in the century," Dabundo explains, "George Henry Lewes argued for the unqualified excellence of her writing, comparing her accomplishment to that of Shakespeare, but nonetheless he saw her fiction as cool and unfevered."