Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility

1. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility

2. Jane Austen’s Bio Jane Austen was born on December 16th, 1775. Jane was born to George and Cassandra Austen in a village called Steventon. She was the seventh child, but their second daughter. In birth order their children were: James, Edward, Henry, Cassandra, Francis, George, Jane, and Charles. Jane Austen was very close to her brother Henry Austen and also to her father George Austen. In 1783, when Jane Austen was eight, she and her sister Cassandra Austen were sent off to boarding school for formal education. Much of what Jane Austen learned was from her father and brother, and from reading on her own. Jane’s father was constantly encouraging her to explore her creative side. Overall, Jane Austen’s home was casual, filled with humor, and debates. The family created productions of plays, writing, and acted out their own creations. Through all of this, Jane’s talent started to shine through. Jane Austen was encouraged by her family to write, especially by her father, although it was not a recognized profession for women at that time. By the age of fifteen, Jane Austen started to write. Before the age of twenty-three, Jane Austen had finished Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice. Although these titles were not the original titles, they changed during revisions. Many of the novels she wrote were based off of her personal experiences in life and family history. Jane Austen had fallen in love with Mr. Tom LeFory, but at the time, he was in school and was preparing to open his own practice. Jane Austen’s family believed she no longer had anything to offer him. Another experience which became the topic Jane Austen based books off of occurred in December of 1802; Jane Austen received her only known proposal from Mr. Harris Bigg – Wither, a childhood friend. Jane Austen accepted. At about the same time Mr. Bigg – Wither was about to inherit a nice amount of real estate. The downfall for Jane Austen was that she was not really in love with him. The reason she had accepted the offer was because she wanted her family to be well off, but because Jane Austen did not love Mr. Bigg – Withers, she withdrew the proposal the next day.

3. Bio (continued) In December of 1800, Jane Austen’s father, announced his retirement from the clergy which shocked the whole family. The family decided to move from Steventon to Bath for retirement. Mr. Austen loved his daughter and wanted her to succeed in life, so he did her a favor; he attempted to get one of her writings published; it is believed that she did not know of this attempt. George sent the piece to Mr. Thomas Cadell, but he refused to even open the package. In 1805, Mr. George Austen died. This devastated Jane Austen especially since she loved her father dearly. Jane Austen, her mom, and her sister, Cassandra were forced to move to a small house provided by Edward in the village of Chawton. Twelve short years later, Jane Austen died on July 18, at the age of forty-one. Although, publishers were reluctant to publish Jane Austen’s pieces, Pride and Prejudice is her most popular and durable piece she had written. Today, many people have read Jane Austen’s novels, and classical literature in classrooms. Even though Jane Austen was a writer, she never sat for an interview, wrote memoirs about herself, or shared her joys, heartaches, and disappointments of love and her own life. All she ever said about love was the advice given to her niece; about not to get married if affection is not there. This advice alone gave insight into Jane Austen’s thoughts about love and marriage.

4. JANE AUSTEN

5. Jane Austen’s Novels and Synopsis • Sense and Sensibility is about Marianne Dashwood who fell head over heels for Wickham and fell apart when he left her. All the while, her sister Elinor tried to hold the family together since her father died and then her love life also started to fall apart. • Pride and Prejudice is about the building relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. They were judgmental when they first met, but when they look beyond first impressions they see they could be a good fit for each other. Not only does Mrs. Bennet want Elizabeth to marry she wanted all of her daughters married as soon as possible. • Mansfield Park is about Fanny Price and her life as she was brought up with wealthy relatives. Throughout the novel, there were reoccurring issues, such as acting in a play, marrying someone for money alone, and the misbehaviors of Fanny. • Emma is about Emma Woodhouse and how she was growing into adulthood. It focuses some of the bumps she ran into and the troubles she created. • Northanger Abbey is about Catherine Morland, a fan of Gothic Novels, who ended up falling in love with Henry Tilney and lived in a Gothic home. This made Catherine happy. Jane Austen talked of the Gothic Novels, which were popular when she was writing Northanger Abbey. • Persuasion is all about second chances, love, and the expectations of society. Annie Elliot and Captain Wentworth fell in love but, decide not to act on it. Then, eight years later their paths crossed again. They realized they loved one another, although, throughout most of the novel, they acted as if they did not love each other at all.

6. Personal Reviews… Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility

7. Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice has never been taken off the shelves at bookstore. The novel is considered a classic; Pride and Prejudice focuses on a mother who wanted her unwed daughters to become married mainly for financial reasons, but also because it was socially expected. The story revolved around choosing whether to marry for love or to marry for money and security; ultimately the daughters decided who they wanted to marry. Mrs. Bennet wanted the daughters to be married no matter the person, on the other hand, Mr. Bennet was not pushing them into relationships they did not want to be in. Elizabeth and Jane experienced love, but not without heartache. This novel is good for those that like romantic stories with a twist of humor and wit. The wit and humor added to the ever developing story line. The novel itself was strong in the fact that it pulled the reader into the story. The plot made you want to read on, to find out who was going to end up with whom. A common theme throughout Pride and Prejudice was woman and marriage, a topic Jane Austin struggled with throughout her personal life. Jane Austen let her readers inside her characters thoughts, perhaps her own thoughts, allowing the reader to connect with individual characters. Not only did she present a variety of information relative to a character, she created multiple characters of varying personalities, so the same character personality is not presented twice. Before reading Pride and Prejudice, be sure to be prepared for her humor and wit as she presents a serious topic of her time, her books would not be the same without it.

8. Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen’s novel Sense and Sensibility has been read by many, and will continue to be read for decades to come. The general story line of Sense and Sensibility revolved around two sisters, Elinor and Marianne, and their love life. The story dealt with Marianne who fell apart whenever a man broke her heart. She was a pessimist, while Elinor thought more optimistically when she had men who broke up with her. Elinor tried to continue on with life the same way and ignore the heartbreak she had felt inside. Ultimately, each sister will end up with a man, but the question remains; which man? Jane Austen was known for incorporating humor throughout her stories and this continues to be true with Sense and Sensibility. Sense and Sensibility involves more emotion than Pride and Prejudice. Marianne was almost always crying after a man broke her heart by denying he ever loved her. Elinor tried to hold the family together, while her mother and her sister were completely falling apart. A theme that ran throughout Sense and Sensibility was gender inequality. Gender inequality is when a sex is treated unfairly and inferior, and in most cases it is a woman. Gender inequality was common in Jane Austen’s time. The women were forced to find mates because they could not afford to live on their own after their fathers died. This was ultimately true for the woman of Sense and Sensibility. Besides, Marianne’s constant crying, the story was well written. The story pulled the reader in and pushed the reader to keep up with the story. Sense and Sensibility yet another glimpse into real life experience of Jane Austen.

9. Literary Devices In Pride and Prejudice

10. Characterization Characterization is “the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character” (Elements of Literature 1191). There were two types of characterization, direct and indirect. Direct characterization is “when a writer uses this method, we do not have to figure out what a character’s personality is like” (Elements of Literature 1191). Indirect characterization has individuals use “own judgment, putting clues together to figure out what a character is like” (Elements of Literature 1191). In Pride and Prejudice, characterization was used quite often. In order to connect with characters as the reader, both types of characterizations should be used. Austen shared information about each characters personality. Characterization was used in Pride and Prejudice to enhance the characters. There are many examples of characterizations throughout Pride and Prejudice. Right from the beginning of the novel, Austen shared information with the readers about Mr. Bennet, “Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humor, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three and twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character” (Pride and Prejudice 3). This quoted stated that Mr. Bennet was sarcastic, reserved and the complete opposite of his wife. Although they are married and opposite, Mrs. Bennet was said to have an unpredictable temper, and the main goal in her life was to get her daughters married. By giving the reader this information, it can be predicted that both Mr. and Mrs. Bennet will battle against one another throughout the novel. Another example of direct characterization was telling the reader what Mr. Bingley was like. Mr. Bingley was a social butterfly, who was content and far from conservative. Mr. Bingley was also said to be good natured, full of humor, and great mannered. Austen used more direct characterization over indirect characterization, throughout the novel; Austen put out what each character was and often times how they looked. Overall, when an author like Austen, uses characterization, it allowed the reader to connect with some of the characters, so they will want to continue reading.

11. Conflict Conflict is “a struggle or clash between opposing characters, forces, or emotions” (Elements of Literature 1192). A conflict can be either external or an internal conflict; “In an external conflict, a character struggles against some outside force: another character, society as a whole, or some natural force” (Elements of Literature 1192) and “an internal conflict, on the other hand, is a struggle between opposing needs, desires, or emotions within a single character” (Elements of Literature 1192). The main conflict throughout the novel was between Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet and how they disagreed on almost every issue presented to them. Since Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Bennet do not agree on very much in the novel it led to major conflicts throughout the novel. The major conflict was when Elizabeth was given the choice to either marry Mr. Collins or not, and by choosing an option would lead to one of her parents not talking to her; “An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. – Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do” (Pride and Prejudice 77). After Lydia was located and the family found out that Wickham wanted to marry her, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet disagree yet again. Mr. Bennet wanted Lydia and Wickham to be married in London, so the family would not gain a bad reputation, while Mrs. Bennet, wanted them to come home to get married. The Bennets had different thinking on how to act; Mr. Bennet acted angrily and frigidly toward Lydia when she did come home with Wickham, while Mrs. Bennet was welcoming and friendly. Due to the conflicts throughout the novel between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet the story was able to become more developed and the choices the individuals made were based on who was liked by which parent. 

12. Imagery Imagery is “language that appeals to the senses” (Elements of Literature 1194). Imagery was consistently visible throughout Pride and Prejudice. The novel was more developed since imagery added to the readers’ chance to visualize what is happening and the surroundings in the story. Imagery was used to tell us how Elizabeth had looked after she had ran through puddles to get to her sister who was at Bingley’s place; “weary ankles, dirty stockings, and a face glowing with the warmth of exercise” (Pride and Prejudice 21). Another example of imagery in the novel was when Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth’s eyes met; “Their eyes instantly met, and the cheeks of each were overspread with deepest blush.” (Pride and Prejudice 213) the novel, gave very detailed imagery for the reader to see that they were in love by the way each of the way they blushed. This allowed the reader to visualize the amount of love between Darcy and Elizabeth. Lastly, imagery is used to describe where and who Mr. Darcy really was. Darcy’s estate is called Permberley, and the location was very natural. The reader was able to relate the type of environment that Darcy lived in, directly to his personality. Darcy’s estate was filled with nature and therefore demonstrated his simplistic lifestyle. All throughout Pride and Prejudice, imagery was present and it allowed the development of visualization to be used to relate to the novel.

13. Literary Devices In Sense and Sensibility

14. Characterization Throughout Sense and Sensibility, characterization was evident. Characterization, as defined above, allowed the reader to receive either direct information about the character, or indirectly told about the character. Austen described Colonel Brandon as, “He was silent and grave. His appearance however was not unpleasing, in spite of his being in the opinion of Marianne and Margaret an absolute old bachelor, for he was on the wrong side of five and thirty; but though his face was not handsome his countenance was sensible, and he address was particularly gentlemanlike” (Sense and Sensibility 22). This described Colonel Brandon as kind and simple. Austen also used more indirect characterization in Sense and Sensibility than in Pride and Prejudice. Marianne was constantly talking about her life and how bad it was. Therefore, readers could conclude that she did not like to hide what she was feeling or thinking. Marianne was melodramatic about her life. Austen also, was careful when she gave each of her characters names. Although not all of them have an appeal when the name was said, when ‘Dashwood’ was said, it left a calm feeling, while ‘Lucy Steele’ was a harsh name just as she was pretty harsh herself. By looking just at the names of her characters, readers would know a little about each one. Characterization was used to enhance the characters, and allowed the reader to connect them to themselves.

15. Conflict No matter what piece of work it was, conflicts exist; without conflicts the story would be dull and uninvolved. A major conflict throughout the novel dealt with Elinor. Elinor had gone through a lot, but never once did she leave her guard down. She put up a front and acted like everything was okay, when in reality she battled against her own heart and mind, and was constantly trying to figure out what to do. Inside of her body there was a raging war, while externally, she acted like she had it all together. For example, Elinor was told that Mr. Edward Ferrars was already engaged to Lucy, when Elinor really wanted him. “Mr. Edward Ferrars, it seems has been engaged above this twelvemonth to my cousin Lucy” (Sense and Sensibility 176). Elinor was devastated, but did not really show much emotion and did not go all around sharing her problems. Although Elinor tried to keep it together through all her conflicts, Marianne, on the other hand, shared all her conflicts and allowed the world to see what was going on in her life. Marianne had conflicts involving Willoughby. Marianne fell in love with Willoughby, and when he went off to London for business, she was absolutely devastated. Conflict was internally happening Marianne was not sure if she would survive without her love. Conflicting feelings were occurring throughout the story in how she should react and feel towards him. Later on, she discovers that although she had loved Willoughby at one time, she no longer cared about him. This was a resolution for the internal conflicts she was dealing with.

16. Figurative Language Throughout Sense and Sensibility, figurative language was apparent: including symbols and metaphors. Symbols are “a person, place, thing, or event that stands both for itself and for something beyond itself” (Elements of Literature 1202). By looking just at the title of Austen’s work, there was a symbol. Elinor was considered to be the sensible one in Sense and Sensibility. Sensibility represents Marianne because she is full of emotional response, also known as sensibility. In the long run, once Marianne came to her senses, she would receive a husband who would be a compatible match for her. A metaphor “makes a comparison between two seemingly unlike things without using a connective word like, as, than, or resembles” (Elements of Literature 1196). Metaphors in Sense and Sensibility deals with Mr. Willoughby, who saved Marianne; “A gentleman carrying a gun, with two pointers playing round him, was passing up the hill and within a few yards of Marianne, when her accident happened” (Sense and Sensibility 27). Mr. Willoughby was like a hunter and he was hunting Marianne. Also, because he was hunting Marianne, and usually hunters hurt who they hunt, Mr. Willoughby would eventually hurt Marianne and she would take a while to recover from the heartbreak Willoughby put her through. Lastly, Mr. Willoughby tried to give Marianne a horse to show his affections for her, but in reality, only a valuable gift should and would be given to his wife if he was a true man. Although, he was so willing to give the horse to Marianne, Elinor stopped that from occurring. Symbols, in general, make the reader think and analyze the story even more than they typically would.

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