$Unique_ID{bob01247} $Pretitle{} $Title{Works of Jane Austen Essay Questions and Bibliography} $Subtitle{} $Author{Austen, Jane} $Affiliation{Instructor Of English, Rutgers University} $Subject{elizabeth pride darcy social marriage prejudice family characters bennet elizabeth's} $Date{} $Log{} Title: Works of Jane Austen Book: Study Guide Author: Austen, Jane Critic: Fitzpatrick, William J. Affiliation: Instructor Of English, Rutgers University Essay Questions and Bibliography Essay Questions And Answers 1. Discuss the significance of the title. Pride and prejudice are the traits that help determine the actions of the two main characters and thereby the course of the plot. In this sense, the story is about pride and prejudice, about the effects of these vices on persons and events. The "pride" consists in an unrealistic exaggeration of one's importance, and it manifests itself socially in discourtesy and generally unjust and offensive treatment of others. Pride may well be the occasion of prejudice, which consists in judging before the evidence is at hand. Others are not considered on their real merits (or demerits). Both are moral distortions of the personality and prevent the individuals from establishing reality. Darcy is undoubtedly a superior person; but he so exaggerates the sense in which he is "above his company" (III) that he is unable to treat Elizabeth (whom he loves) with the respect she deserves. In the very act of proposing marriage to her, he insults her by describing the great humiliation it is for him to marry someone socially so far beneath him. Although he sees Elizabeth's merit well enough to propose, he cannot treat her as his social equal (XXXIV). Elizabeth's pride has been offended by Darcy's insult at the ball in Meryton (III, V). She is then ready to believe the worst of him (XVIII), and is happy to credit Wickham's account of his almost criminal behavior. Her attraction to Wickham also disposes her to suspend her splendid critical faculty and accept whatever he says. She is thus prejudiced against Darcy (because of his slight to her) and prejudiced in favor of Wickham (because of his attractiveness). Her prejudice prevents her seeing Darcy's growing interest in her, at Netherfield and at Rosings, so that she is totally unprepared for his proposal. As his pride has blinded him to the impossibility of Elizabeth's tolerating his insults, so her prejudice has prevented her appreciating Darcy's real worth. The action of the novel is largely the story of how these two overcome their pride and prejudice. As the various characters are united in a common plot and by an analogy of action, so do most of them exhibit variations of the same moral failings. Lady Catherine's pride is ridiculous in a way that Darcy's is not, because of her ignorance and terrible bad manners. Her prejudice against Elizabeth reveals a blind hysteria. Mr. Collins, for all his obsequious groveling at Rosings, is so egotistical that he turns a letter of condolence into an announcement of self-congratulation (XLVIII). Mrs. Bennet is enormously prejudiced against Darcy and against anyone else who appears in any way not to cooperate in her schemes to get her daughters married. And so on. It is necessary to distinguish the pride of egotism and snobbery from the pride of self-esteem, independence, and dignity. The latter is a virtue, and we admire it in Elizabeth when she answers Darcy's insulting proposal and when she stands up to Lady Catherine. It is in this meaning of a sense of one's own identity that Elizabeth says, "There is no improper pride in him" (LIX). 2. Discuss the social context as the medium of the action of the story. Marriage is the social act par excellence. In it, society conserves and revivifies itself (or disintegrates); in it families and fortunes and traditions are joined. There is much more at stake than the pitter-patter of hearts locked in romantic embrace. The richness of Pride and Prejudice derives in part from the author's exploration of the conflicts, the problems, that attend marriage among the middle class of English society at the beginning of the nineteenth century. All society is hierarchical. There are ranks, or orders, or estates, or classes. In the time of Elizabeth and Darcy, these were acknowledged with greater formality than now, and the crossing of class lines was a dramatic social event. In the romance of Darcy and Elizabeth (and in the other marriage business) the social facts of life appear as: income ("fortune"); aristocratic ideals; snobbery; breeding ("manners"). For people in general (the four and twenty families of Meryton) the most interesting fact about a person is his income. For Mrs. Bennet, the Lucases, Charlotte, marriage is a "preservative from want" (XXII). For them, marriage is a market place where they must strive to make the best bargain they can in order to conserve or improve their status in life. "A single man of large fortune" is a piece of "property" (I). This attitude is only a perversion of common sense. Even Elizabeth and Mrs. Gardiner speak of a marriage to Wickham as "imprudent as to fortune" (XXVI, XXXIX). It is irrational and impulsive to ignore the economic facts of life, to think that the level of living and leisure to which one has been accustomed is not important enough to prevent a marriage. What Elizabeth and Jane maintain ("Do anything rather than marry without affection" [LIX] is that economic considerations alone are insufficient to cause a marriage. (Recall Mr. Bennet's remarks to Elizabeth [LIX].) It may sometimes be difficult to distinguish between "the mercenary and the prudent motives" (XXVII), but if one is to retain an integrity of thought and feeling one must stand ready to sacrifice "worldly advantage" (XXII). Charlotte, though "prudent" (XXXIII) has "disgraced" herself. Wickham is much worse, for (as a man) he has had the chance to make his way in the world and women have become for him entirely a source of material advantage. Fitzwilliam is chided by Elizabeth (XXXIIII), but it might be expected that his choice will be motivated by both affection and "some attention to money." Thus, Jane Austin treats the economics of marriage with discrimination and common sense. Looked at from the point of view of the "sellers" - the Mrs. Bennets-marriage is an economic affair that elicits greed. But from the point of view of the "buyers," the main concerns are those of rank, social duty and status, level of culture, family tradition, and the like, with snobbery as the corresponding excess. It is perfectly just that care be taken to build a family that will maintain a level of achievement. It is only common sense to consider the influence that one family might have on another. (It cannot be denied that Wickham, Lydia, Mrs. Bennet, the Philipses are undesirable in-laws.) Darcy is the heir to old feudal estates that he must administer with justice and wisdom (XLIII, XLIV). He is a man of immense fortune - of social power - which carries correlative social duties. He has been educated in the subtle skills of his civilization, accustomed to a certain level of social intercourse. That he should be wary of allying himself with "inferior connections" is not mere snobbery, but an intelligent and normal concern with conserving his way of life. (The example of Mr. Bennet and the family he produced is there to attest to what can happen when a man marries beneath him.) Because education and refinement of manners require a certain leisure (therefore, a certain wealth), the coincidence of good breeding and class lines is readily (too readily) assumed. A businessman working all day for money or profit is inferior to a gentleman who spends his time cultivating the mental and social arts. This is the basis for all that Darcy says about "the inferiority of your connections . . . relations whose condition in life is so decidedly beneath my own" (XXXIV). No doubt he is excessively conscious of his own importance. He is something of a snob and deserves to be humbled. But there is a real risk in allying one's family with "an attorney in Meryton" and persons who live "near Cheapside" (VIII). It is the risk of introducing vulgarity and (what is worse) indiscipline into a family which has striven self-consciously to maintain standards of disciplined conduct. What Darcy learns (or decides) in the course of the story is that Elizabeth is worth the risk, that, furthermore, he must be less rigid in his judgments of the probable talents of the working middle class. (Here, no doubt, the Gardiners instruct him, and, partly, redeem the vulgarity of Elizabeth's family.) When Elizabeth rebukes Darcy for his bad manners, she reminds him that he falls short of his own standards of behavior (XXXIV, LVIII). Further, Darcy's aunt is, in her own way, as ill-bred as Mrs. Bennet (XXI, LVI). Georgiana, as well as Elizabeth, has been taken in by Wickham. Bingley's sisters are pretentious, proud, and, even vulgar (X). Mr. Collins is a bigger snob than anyone. Sir William Lucas competes with him in servility. Mr. Hurst is a lazy nonentity. The people of Meryton are petty, malicious, hypocritical, vulgar, superficial (XXIX, LVIII, LV). By overcoming his pride and marrying Elizabeth, Darcy acknowledges the lack of symmetry between good breeding and "good family." But it should be noted that the "code of civilized conduct" - good manners - to which everyone aspires is the same for the whole range of gentlemen, of the whole middle or "leisure" class. What is good behavior in Darcy's household is (or should be) good behavior in Elizabeth's. Everyone accepts the common standards of social intercourse, as they accept a common morality based on a Christian culture. The marriage of Elizabeth and Darcy, then, is the resolution of a social conflict that has proved superficial because a common recognition and achievement of civilized standards of intelligence, taste and manners are at the base of their mutual love. Although society has considerably changed since the early nineteenth century, we find small difficulty in comprehending the social context of Pride and Prejudice. This is partly because our education has made us aware of the nature of the society of one hundred fifty years ago, but mainly because social distinctions will never pass away. Society continues to provide the opportunity for human beings to display snobbery, pride, greed, and prejudice. Because her observation of human nature was so true, Jane Austen's characters and their problems remain recognizably human. 3. How does the author emphasize the characters' misapprehension of themselves and their experiences? Pride and Prejudice is a complex study of human deception and self-deception. Throughout the book, characters are deceived by appearances, fool themselves and others, pretend to be what they are not. Their expectations are mistaken; their actions grounded in false premises. The author reveals the motives and consequences of these failures in perception by having their false understanding culminate in actions whose effects are the opposite of what is intended. This sharp contrast between knowledge and truth, between what the characters understand and what the reader understands, between intention or expectation and fulfillment is called dramatic irony. Dramatic irony may have an objective or a subjective foundation, or both. Appearances may lie, may suggest the opposite of what actually is. Thus, Wickham's "appearance was greatly in his favor" (XV) and Darcy's proud bearing seems to imply a thoroughly bad character. But appearances are misleading: "One has got all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it" (XL). Jane's modesty belies her ardent love for Bingley (VI, XXXVI). Georgiana's shy demeanor conceals a surprising capacity for passionate impulse (XLIII). Charlotte's attentions to Collins seem to be only common courtesy (XVIII, XX, XXI) for which Elizabeth is grateful, but she is actually stalking a husband (XXII). Because of what she has said of him in the past, Elizabeth is thought to despise Darcy (LVII, LXIX), when actually she is in love with him. In each of these situations things are not as they would seem. Reality wears a mask that solicits mistaken judgments. But although there are objective occasions for superficial (and erroneous) opinion, a more cautious scrutiny of the facts would sometimes avoid this discrepancy between estimation and actuality. For example, Mr. Bennet is ignorant of Elizabeth's true feelings about Darcy. What he takes for the truth (that he will amuse Elizabeth with the absurdity of Collins's suggestion that she is engaged to a man she dislikes) is directly contrary to the truth (LVII). The source of her father's ironic error, however, lies in the circumstances rather than in himself. On the other hand, Elizabeth is wrong about Wickham and Darcy because she has disposed herself to be deceived. Her offended pride (V) has blinded her judgment (VI). Things are the opposite of what she supposes (not only does she misread their characters, but Darcy admires rather than dislikes her). The irony here is compounded because Elizabeth prides herself on her intelligence and perception. When ignorance thus pretends to knowledge, it is evidence of a moral failure. When Mr. Collins understands Elizabeth's refusal of his proposal as an encouragement of his pursuit - a convert acceptance (XIX) - his blindness to the plain reality is a comment on his egotism, his snobbish exaggeration of his social importance. In these last two cases, the irony is more emphatic because deception is self-deception. In order to dramatize comically the sham and pretense of many of the persons in her book, the author juxtaposes their interpretations of themselves and their actual behavior. Lady Catherine's pride in her social status is repeatedly shown by her petty mind and "ill-breeding" to be without foundation. Caroline Bingley implies that she is socially superior to the Bennet family, but her crude pursuit of Darcy exposes the flimsiness of her pretension to refinement. Mr. Collins continually announces his importance, and simultaneously betrays his moral, social, and intellectual unimportance. The pretensions of these characters are the inverse of what their behavior shows them really to be. Because characters take appearances for reality, deceive themselves or are deceived, they act on wrong premises, look forward in error. Things turn out contrary to their anticipations. Their actions produce effects opposite to those intended. Thus, Darcy seeks to prevent a connection with the Bennet family (he has misjudged the power of the girls' attractions), and he ends up marrying a Bennet himself. Lady Catherine acts to prevent a marriage and she becomes the cause of it (LX). Mr. Bennet permits his daughter to go to Brighton in order to keep peace in a family that he regards with ironical detachment. But this results in his greater involvement and in a disruption of the family peace. Caroline acts to arouse Darcy against Elizabeth, but succeeds only in reminding him of the intimacy they share (XLV). Misled by appearances to believe that Darcy dislikes her, prevented by her prejudice against him from seeing the truth, Elizabeth tries verbally to rebuke him; but in doing so she actually makes herself more attractive to him (VI, IX, X, XI, XVIII, XXXI, LX.) By allowing events directly to contradict the judgments, expectations, and intentions of her characters, the author clarifies their limitations. The reader (aware of the actual situation) is made to see reality mock and punish pride, vanity, and failures in awareness. Dramatic irony thus becomes a way of dealing out a kind of natural retribution and revealing the surprise and complexity of experience. 4. What does a study of the vocabulary of Pride and Prejudice reveal about its moral structure? Critics have suggested that the frequent occurrence of certain words - whatever their original or basic meaning - has an "economic" meaning, which tends to characterize the persons, their actions, and the social milieu. Establishment, settled, charge, worth, dear, prosperous, paid, mercenary, business, debt, interest, and other words covering meanings in trade, business, calculation, goods, and the like - all these tend in their cumulative effect to emphasize the materialistic venture that much of society has made out of marriage. Even when not used in an "economic" sense, the words might seem to hint at the economic motivations and facts of life that underlie social relations (e.g., "the business of love-making" [XXIII]). In order, however, to avoid hasty generalizations about "the materialistic values of the society," it is necessary also to note another prominent set of terms, the abstract nouns indicative of moral standards, of spiritual and ethical concerns: rational, pride, prejudice, principle, prudence, sense, truth, folly, falsehood, civility, propriety, conduct, reason, ignorance, shame, judgment, decorum, temptation, integrity, merit. These abstract terms recur frequently and can become charged with excitement because of the emotional contexts in which they appear. We thus have two sets of vocabularies that indicate the two sets of values that oppose each other in the book: that symbolized by Charlotte'se marriage to Mr. Collins and Mrs. Bennet's obscene talk about the income of her two sons-in-laws; the other steadfastly affirmed by Elizabeth. If the student should remark that, after all, one would expect the words to accord with the subject of the book and the basic concerns of the characters who speak them, and that this is nothing to be very surprised at, then he should quite properly forget about this question in favor of number two. 5. Collect several examples of rhetorical irony and distinguish the real and apparent meanings. 6. Make a list of the various obstacles to the union of Darcy and Elizabeth and show how they are resolved. 7. Discuss the mechanical (plot) and thematic functions of the three other young men in Elizabeth's life. 8. Make a list of every marriage in Pride and Prejudice and explain the thematic function of each. 9. Discuss Elizabeth's reply when asked how long she has loved Darcy: "I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley" (LIX, XLIII). 10. The term prudence is used very often throughout the book. Discuss the many meanings it takes on according to the contexts in which it is used. (Sometimes it means "cautious," or "mercenary," or "rational," or "shrewd," or "sensible," etc.) Be sure to note when it is used ironically (i.e., to mean "imprudent," or "designing," and the like). 11. Write a Comment for every chapter that does not have one.