Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Blaine Josten's Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice by Blaine Josten 10 Surprising Facts About Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It’s a simple story: boy is rude to girl, girl dislikes boy. Boy proposes to girl and she refuses him. Later, she discovers that he’s stinking rich. Hijinks ensue. In the end, they are married in an ideal 19 th -century wedding of both love and money. Today, more than 200 years later, Pride and Prejudice remains Jane Austen’s most beloved novel. 1. Like her characters, Jane Austen was rejected for not being rich enough. Pride and Prejudice is about young women of genteel poverty trying to find good marriage matches. This issue must have been fresh on the young author’s mind when she wrote the book. At age 20, she had a flirtation with a young man named Tom Lefroy. Like a scene out of one of her novels, she flirted scandalously with him at a ball. “Imagine to yourself everything most profligate and shocking in the way of dancing and sitting down together,” she wrote to her sister Cassandra. “He is a very gentlemanlike, good-looking, pleasant young man, I assure you.” But Austen’s social status wasn’t high enough and Lefroy’s family separated the two lovebirds. Lefroy was soon engaged to a woman with a large fortune. Austen wrote her sister: “At length the day is come on which I am to flirt my last with Tom Lefroy … My tears flow as I write this, at this melancholy idea." 2. Mr. Darcy would be the equivalent of a Rockefeller or a Vanderbilt. The characters in Pride and Prejudice constantly exclaim over Mr. Darcy’s 10,000 pounds a year, but how rich is that exactly? In 2013, The Telegraph calculated that adjusting for financial changes, a decent estimate might be 12 million pounds, or $18.7 million U.S. dollars a year. And that’s just interest on top of a much larger fortune. It’s no wonder Mrs. Bennet gushed about Elizabeth’s engagement—"How rich and how great you will be! What pin-money, what jewels, what carriages you will have!" Marrying Darcy would be like marrying a Rockefeller or a Vanderbilt. 3. Lydia Bennet elopes to the Las Vegas of her day. In the book, the Bennet family is almost ruined when Lydia elopes with the nefarious soldier George Wickham to Scotland. “I am going to Gretna Green,” Lydia writes to her friend, “and if you cannot guess with who, I shall think you a simpleton.” Unlike England, Scotland allowed people under 21 to get married without parental consent, and without the same legal and religious bureaucracy. Gretna Green was the first town over the Scottish border. There, a young couple could be joined with “marriage by declaration,” which often occurred in a blacksmith shop. 4. Like Elizabeth and Jane Bennet, Jane Austen was close to her sister. In Pride and Prejudice , the relationship between the two sisters is central to the novel. In real life, Jane was very close to her sister Cassandra. They wrote each other almost every day when they were apart and would voluntarily share a bedroom, even when they could sleep separately. When Jane died, Cassandra wrote her niece: “She was the sun of my life, the gilder of every pleasure, the soother of every sorrow.” It’s no wonder that close sisters appear in so many of Austen’s novels. 5. One publisher rejected Pride and Prejudice without even reading it. Austen finished the book, then titled First Impressions , when she was 21 years old. In 1797, her father sent it to the publisher Thomas Cadell, writing that he had "a Manuscript Novel comprised in three Vols., about the length of Miss [Fanny] Burney's Evelina ." He asked how much it would cost him to publish the book and what Cadell would pay for copyright. In response, Cadell scrawled “Declined by Return of Post” on the letter and sent it back with insulting speed. The novel languished for 14 years until, flush with the success of Sense and Sensibility , Austen revised the manuscript. It was published in 1813 when she was 37 years old. 6. The book's title came from a Fanny Burney novel. Austen probably got the title Pride and Prejudice from Cecilia by Fanny Burney, where the phrase is repeated several times—and in block capitals, no less. “The whole of this unfortunate business,” said Dr. Lyster, “has been the result of PRIDE and PREJUDICE. … If to PRIDE and PREJUDICE you owe your miseries, so wonderfully is good and evil balanced, that to PRIDE and PREJUDICE you will also owe their termination.” 7. Pride and Prejudice was published anonymously. Austen didn’t put her name on her novels, and would only say they were “By a Lady.” The title page of Pride and Prejudice said, “by the author of Sense and Sensibility .” It wasn’t until after her death that her brother revealed her name to the public. 8. Jane Austen that worried Pride and Prejudice was too frivolous. Because Pride and Prejudice humorously deals with women getting married, it’s often described as “chick lit,” a label some fans find reductionist. But Austen herself worried the book wasn’t serious enough. “The work is rather too light, and bright, and sparkling,” she wrote. “It wants shade; it wants to be stretched out here and there with a long chapter of sense, if it could be had.” Overall, though, Austen was “well satisfied enough” with the novel, especially with the character of Elizabeth. In another letter, she said, “I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least I do not know.” 9. Jane Austen sold her copyright to Pride and Prejudice for 110 pounds—but wanted 150. Austen sold the copyright for Pride and Prejudice to her publishers for 110 pounds, even though she said in a letter that she wanted 150 pounds. She chose this one-time payment, forfeiting any risk or reward connected to the future of the book. It was a bad gamble" The book was a bestseller, and was on its third printing by 1817. It has been in print ever since. 10. Pride and Prejudice has been adapted hundreds of times. The adaptations of Pride and Prejudice seem endless (and sometimes bizarre). There have been at least 11 film and TV versions of the book, including the 1995 BBC miniseries starring Colin Firth as a memorable Darcy. Other (looser) adaptations include Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) , Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016), the Bollywood movie Bride and Prejudice (2004), the mystery novel Death Comes to Pemberley , and the 2012-2013 web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries . Do you love reading? Are you eager to know incredibly interesting facts about novelists and their works? Then pick up our new book, The Curious Reader: A Literary Miscellany of Novels and Novelists, out May 25! Blaine Josten's Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice by Blaine Josten. Jane Austen began writing the novel which later became Pride and Prejudice in October of 1796 and finished it by August of the following year; she was then twenty-one years old. Little is known of this early version of the story beyond its original title: First Impressions . No copy of that original is known to exist. Three months after Miss Austen completed work on the book, her father offered it to a publisher in the hope that it would make it into print. The publisher refused without ever having seen the manuscript. Fortunately for all of her admirers, whether Austen was discouraged or not by her first rejection, she continued to write; though, it was not until the winter of 1811, fully fourteen years after finishing First Impressions , that she again picked up that manuscript and began revising it into the version we know today as Pride and Prejudice . This occurred in the wake of her first publishing success--the publication of Sense and Sensibility on 30 October 1811. Pride and Prejudice was far more fortunate than its earlier incarnation; it was accepted for publication and was presented to the world on 28 January 1813. Jane Austen's name was never attached to any of her published novels during her lifetime, and the title page of Pride and Prejudice read only: BY THE AUTHOR OF "SENSE AND SENSIBILITY." Chapter descriptions are designed to be very vague and cryptic. They are for people who are familiar with the book to help them find the chapter they want, and they are not designed for the student who might be looking for a quick way to get out of reading the novel. Pride and Prejudice. Pride and Prejudice was written by Jane Austen in the years following 1796 before its original publication in 1813. It is Austen's second published novel, the first being Sense and Sensibility . Contents. Plot [ edit | edit source ] Tells the story about the Bennet family. Characters [ edit | edit source ] , the protagonist and second child of the Bennet family. , the owner of Longbourn. , his wife. , oldest child of the Benett family. Supporting Characters [ edit | edit source ] Reception [ edit | edit source ] Pride and Prejudice is one of the most well known and beloved novels. Many during Austen's time and afterward have praised it. Sir Walter Scott praised Pride and Prejudice in his journal however Charlotte Brontë's thoughts were very different. Notes [ edit | edit source ] Pride and Prejudice is written in a style of free, indirect speech like most of Jane Austen's works and has been the subject of many different film and television adaptations over the years. First Impressions [1] is believed to be a first draft of the novel and was written before 1800. This is why many interpret the setting of the novel to be in the late 1790s, as opposed to the Regency period. [2] Written primarily from the perspective of the female protagonist, Miss Elizabeth Bennet, the reader follows her life and the lives of her sisters and the ever constant pursuit of marriage by nearly all of the female characters, excluding herself. Give details on critical reception, textual history, dedication, composition, editions, etc. Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. This assignment focuses on Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. In each topic, a different genre or approach is adopted to help readers see and perhaps address the problem. Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. Choose one of the three reading selections from the list of topic choices below. The focus is on a brief but important primary source material written by important authors. In each case, the subject relates to the problems of certain people who are oppressed or impoverished. In each topic, a different genre or approach is adopted to help readers see and perhaps address the problem. Read the selections as identified with each topic below. Write a 4–5 paragraph essay (350 words minimum) that analyzes the work following the list of things your paper should cover, given just after the topics. Topic Choices Reading selection of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. Her works are very popular today, with Austen reading clubs and all types of new books and events based on her ideas. Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. In 2017, England printed new £10 bank notes bearing Austen’s image. Read Chapter 43 in full. Reading selection from Samuel Johnson, No. 91. Sufficiency of the English Language, an essay first published in The Rambler. Johnson was the editor of two coffeehouse magazines, The Rambler (1750–52) and The Idler (1758–60), and was the author of Dictionary of the English Language. He was also the subject of one of the first biographies, by James Boswell. Also, in his life, Johnson overcame numerous illnesses and handicaps. Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. Reading selection of Olympe de Gouges’s Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen (written in 1791). The selection should be read in full, with background provided on page 874 of our class text. You should also look at the revolutionary document of 1789 that she is “correcting,”- Declaration of the Rights of Man. Olympe de Gouges has the status of women as her main concern. The general context is the French Revolution and the attempts to redefine rights and status once one replaces monarchy. Jane Austen’s Criticism on the Society Based on Pride and Prejudice. During the 19th century, society was a lot different in both governmental and economic. In Pride and Prejudice, the author, Jane Austen, uses irony and satire to criticize aspects of the society. Jane Austen uses her satire to marvelously bring out the ridiculous characters. These characters symbolize her criticism on the society. Through her use of characters, she reveals her concerns towards the law, government, and each one’s own social value in the society. Social status is an important part of the 19th century English society and the Bennet family is no different from any other family in their attempt to improve their social status or to give the impression that they have a high social status. Mrs. Bennet’s plan to marry her daughters off is a mean to gain social status. The author criticizes this hierarchical structure that divided social groups into classes. The opening of the novel opens up with the theme: It is universally acknowledged that any single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. Social class is obviously significant in the novel as both the theme and Austen’s criticism on the society. Through Elizabeth and Darcy, the author successfully criticizes the hierarchical structure that causes troubles between Elizabeth and Darcy throughout the novel. “He spoke well, but there were feelings besides those of the heart be detailed, and he was not more eloquent on the subject of tenderness than of pride. His sense of her inferiority—of its being a degradation—of the family obstacle…” (161). Darcy’s dilemma between his social status and his love for Elizabeth causes his rejection when he first seeks for her hand in marriage. Because of his social status, Darcy hides his love for Elizabeth. In the beginning of the novel, the personality of Darcy gives the reader a sense of dislike. Thus, the author successfully shows the internal conflict that he faces. On the other hand, Elizabeth troubles finding a husband who shares the same affection but more importantly benefit her social status. She refuses enter a marriage that is bonded by no love: She had always felt that Charlotte’s opinion of matrimony was not exactly like her own, but she could not have supposed it possible that when called into action, she would have sacrificed very better feeling to worldly advantage… And to the pang of a friend disgracing herself and sunk in her esteem was added the distressing conviction that it was impossible for that friend to be tolerably happy in the lot she had chosen. (110) These conflicts that the characters face show the troubles that social status gives. Moreover, Austen criticizes on the fact that women choosing their other half is because of either social status or wealth but far from loving one another. Furthermore, this hierarchical structure changes the way people view each other. Jane Austen shows this by the ways the characters behave and their personality towards each other. For example, Miss Bingley treats Elizabeth differently because of her social status. Her treatment towards Elizabeth shows her jealousy and snobbery personality: She has nothing, in short, to recommend her, but being an excellent walker. I shall never forget her appearance this morning. (32) Miss Bingley feels threatened by Elizabeth and knows that she cannot compete with her. Thus, she uses her class and social status to be above Elizabeth. Through Miss Bingley’s actions and characteristics, Austen shows how the upper class views the lower class. Another example would be Lady Catherine, who is a noble woman. She is ignorant and like Miss Bingley, she dislikes Elizabeth because of her social status. Moreover, she tries to stop the marriage between Darcy and Elizabeth: I was told that not only your sister was on the pint of being most advantageously married, but that you…would in all likelihood, be soon afterwards united to my nephew, my own nephew, Mr. Darcy. Though I know it must be a scandalous falsehood, though I would not injure him so much as to suppose the truth of it possible… (297) She criticizes Elizabeth’s family and ignores others. By viewing Lady Catherine and Miss Bingley, their personality shows Austen’s criticism on the wealthy and high class. Elizabeth’s prejudice against Darcy causes her to treat Darcy differently than others. She dislikes Mr. Darcy when she first met him but on the other hand likes Mr. Wickham. Her prejudice towards the upper class shows the author’s real intentions in implying her criticism. The law is another criticism where Austen uses the Bennet family to portray it to the reader. The entailment of property causes conflicts between the society. She shows the reader through Mr. Bennet. In the beginning of the novel, the author tells the reader of Mr. Bennet’s property: Consist[ting] almost entirely in an estate of two thousand a year, which, unfortunately for his daughter, was entailed in default of heirs male, on a distant relation; and their mother’s fortune, though ample for her situation in life, could but ill supple the deficiency of his. 25) Mr. Collins serves as her criticism of the law which forces Mr. Bennet to leave his property into the hands of such a ridiculous man instead of his own daughters. Austen first shows the personality of Mr. Collins in order to create the greatest satire of the story: His veneration for her as his patroness, mingling with a very good opinion of himself, of his authority as a clergyman, and his rights as a rector, made him altogether a mixture of pride and obsequiousness, self-importance and humility. (61) M. Collins reveals himself as someone so full of self-importance and exaggerated politeness that even the reader is disgusted by his personality. In addition, Austen can successfully show her criticism towards the law. Moreover, implies her criticism on the value of a person’s social status. Mr. Collins believes so strongly in the value upon a person’s class that he is so full of “self-importance” because he has Lady Catherine, a noble woman, as his patroness. The character’s inheritance is another implied criticism of the author’s views of the society. Mr. Darcy’s inheritance of his estate and wealth is an example. By using the upper class individuals, Austen portrays the conflicts that are brought about by the entailments. Secondly, Austen criticizes the education system of the society. She uses characters in the novel to criticize the education system. The character’s knowledge and education can be easily seen through. For instance, Elizabeth is intelligent and witty yet Lydia and Mary is the exact opposite. Lydia’s elopement with Wickham shows her lack of education because a well educated individual will never consider elopement as a solution towards marriage: An express came at twelve last night, just as we were all gone to bed, from Colonel Forster to inform us that she was gone off to Scotland with one his officer… with Wickham! Moreover, she does not consider the shame she brings to the family with her scandal and decides to elope with a handsome, young, man. Hence this elopement, it shows Austen’s views of a well educated individual and her criticism of the lack of education of people during the 19th century. In the next place, Jane Austen criticizes on the rights women have during the 19th century. In the novel, Austen gives the read a stereotype of what women should be. Dancing, singing, and playing the pianoforte are the women’s most basic knowledge: ‘A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, all the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved. ’ (35) This view of how women should be like shows the values and rights women have during the 19th century. In order for them to be successfully approved by others they have to be knowledgeable. Moreover, through this stereotype, Austen shows how women are treated. Dancing, singing, and playing the pianoforte are all entertainments for others. In addition, the women are viewed as objects where their purpose in life is to entertain others. Furthermore, Austen implies this when Miss Bingley praises Darcy’s sister during Elizabeth’s stay with the Bingleys: ‘How I long to see her again! I never met with anybody who delighted me so much. Such a countenance, such manners! and so extremely accomplished for her age! Her performance on the pianoforte is exquisite. ’ (34) Her constant praise shows her prejudice towards the lower class. Thus, she dislikes Elizabeth and views her as an obstacle between her and Darcy. By portraying some women in the novel as weak creatures that are vain or obsessed with love, Austen strives to improve the condition of women. Ultimately, she wants to help women break free of the shallow, passive stereotype that society expected of them. In addition, the women who suffered under the shallowness of the upper class because of their social status are another criticism of the author. Pride and Prejudice is aimed as a satire against the attitudes of women. Therefore, by making fun of characters for the betterment of the society, Pride and Prejudice proves that it is a true satire. Women cannot be economically independent, thus, they try to find a wealthy husband. An example would be Charlotte Lucas as she accepts Mr. Collins’ proposal. Mr. Collins is an utterly silly individual who “was not a sensible man… A] mixture of pride and obsequiousness…” (69)He is also extremely conceited as he thinks himself superior to others because of his good standing with Lady Catherine. Charlotte’s only reason in marrying Mr. Collins is to gain financial stability and comfort as Mr. Collins is prosperous under his wealthy patroness. Moreover, she perfectly well knows the unhappiness that might come as a result of the marriage: Her reflections were in general satisfactory. Mr. Collins was to be sure neither sensible nor agreeable; his society was irksome… (120) Even so, Charlotte disregards happiness, putting it below financial gain. Through the exaggeration of Mr. Collins’ personality, Austen shows her disapproval towards the rights the women have during the 19th century. Pride and Prejudice portrays the life of the middle class and the upper class family in England during the early nineteenth century. The law, social values, and women rights are all criticisms that Jane Austen portrays by the use of the characters in the novel. Through Pride and Prejudice, Austen shares her criticism on the society and in hope of making a change in the society.