1.主题(Theme)
-----Theme of Love
In Pride and Prejudice, love is not a necessary component of marriage.At the same time, it is shown to be a completely special emotion that is available only for intelligent, mature adults. ------Theme of Marriage
The novel shows us the miserable marriage of the Bennets and mercenary marriages of Charlotte and Lydia, And with the marriages of Jane and Elizabeth front and center, the novel does allow room for good partnership as well.
------Theme of Wealth
Wealth is crucially important in Pride and Prejudice. There is almost no conversation about potential spouses that doesn't also calculate the annual income that the pair might have to live on. ------Theme of Society and Class
Darcy's character arc is to become the ultimate gentleman – he starts out wealthy, aristocratic, and good-hearted. Conversely, although Wickham seems to have the outer polish of an aristocrat, he is proven to be thoroughly ungentlemanly.
------Theme of Women and Femininity
The novel is actually concerned with the plight of the middle-class, single woman. Most of the women we see here are caught in a bind.
Pride and Prejudice offers us a look into this rather intensely feminine world of courting, marriage decisions, and social realities.
------Theme of Family
We all have families that embarrass us to some extent, but the Bennet family takes it to a whole new level, creating endless problems for the two eldest Bennet daughters.
the joy and pain of love, the pursuit of happiness and the infulence of social opinion.
The main themes of pride and prejudice: love, reputation, class, courtship and pride. the last part of the paper shows that this great novel not only attracted thousands of readers in austen’s time, but also gave a special feeling to today’s people.
1. love between darcy and elizabeth
2. reputation--a woman’s reputation is of the utmost important
3.class boundaries and prejudice
4.courtship --those between darcy and elizabeth and between bingley and jane
5. two ways of pride: positive and negative
2.情节
Pride and Prejudice is one of the representative works of Jane Austen, first published in 1813. Though the story's setting is characteristically turn-of-the-19th-century, it retains a fascination for modern readers, continuing near the top of lists of 'most loved books.
Pride and Prejudice is Austen’s masterpiece. The story is mainly about Mrs. Bennet’s four daughters’ marriage. Elizabeth, the second oldest daughter and Darcy’s love is used as the main plotline and the other three daughters’ marriage as the subordinate plot. In the story, Charlotte
and Mr. Collins marry for material wealth and social position. Lydia and Wickham marry for passion. While, Elizabeth and Darcy, Jane and Bingley marry for true love. The gallery of woman here is simply glittering. It is the panorama view of the female gender in the world of men. Austen uses love and marriage as the subject matter, and dedicatedly describes the middle class and upper class’s life during late 18th to early 19th century. The theme of the story is that maturity is achieved through the loss of illusions.
Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education, and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England. Elizabeth is the second of five daughters of a country gentleman living near the fictional town of Meryton in Hertfordshire, near London. 3.文学地位
---------Pride and Prejudice is a representative masterpiece written by Jane Austen. This fiction with social scenic style not only attracted vast readers long ago, but also brings with a unique artistic taste even by today. The application of irony is one of characteristics in the fiction. The author has vividly described five different kinds of loves and marriages by skillfully using irony and his witty and humorous language. Moreover, for the first time throughout the history of English literature, Jane Austen has completely researched and discussed about the issue of women’s circumstance and social status. She proposed and insisted that women should fight for their independent dignity and equal rights. It represents an advanced thinking of feminine consciousness. Jane Austen has displayed her marriage value by describing five different kinds of marriages.In her eyes, a happy marriage should be combined with material, morality, sense and sensibility. All of them constitute perfect love and marriage.
In Pride and Prejudice, for the first time in the history of English Literature, Jane Austen has made a breakthrough to shout out her own voice to the world for women. While amusing but significant irony being felt in the work, helplessness and sigh were lying everywhere in it, ringing out unique notes of women. She cared about inner world of women, brought out and insisted on women independence. Feminine consciousness is represented deeply in this work.
-------Pride and Prejudice is a representative masterpiece written by Jane Austen. This fiction with social scenic style not only attracted vast readers long ago, but also brings with a unique artistic taste even by today. The application of irony is one of characteristics in the fiction. The author has vividly described five different kinds of loves and marriages by skillfully using irony and his witty and humorous language. Moreover, for the first time throughout the history of English literature, Jane Austen has completely researched and discussed about the issue of women’s circumstance and social status. She proposed and insisted that women should fight for their independent dignity and equal rights. It represents an advanced thinking of feminine consciousness.
4.作者
Jane Austen (1775-1817) is a famous English female writer. She is the first mature novelist. Although she was born in the romantic period, she is not a romantic writer. She tends to be
realistic, but is influenced by romanticism in some ways. Austen came from a well-cultured country family. As she published her novels anonymously, she was not famous in her lifetime. Scott admired her talent for portraying ordinary life in a wonderful way. Among her numerous strengths are her exquisite, compact prose, her moral judgment, her wit, and her vivid character portrayal. She was not married in her lifetime.
Jane Austen，English writer, who first gave the novel its modern character through the treatment of everyday life. Although Austen was widely read in her lifetime, she published her works anonymously. The most urgent preoccupation of her bright, young heroines is courtship and finally marriage. Austen herself never married. Her best-known books include PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1813) and EMMA (1816). Virginia Woolf called Austen "the most perfect artist among women."
作者的写作特点
One thing to note about her fiction is its limited subject. She wrote her novels for her own family circle. Austen’s writing feature is unifying the realistic and detailed portrayal of outward manners and behaviors combined with inward psychological exploration. Other features of her writing are the complex and subtle portrayal of characters, a classic precision of structure, a vivid and humorous dialogue, her quiet irony and her simple delicate analysis of character. Austen is the founder of the novel dealing with unimportant middle-class people. Her writing style is easy and effortless.
作者作品
Novel: Sense and Sensibility 《理智与情感》； Emma 《爱玛》Persuasion 《劝告》The Watsons 《沃特生》Fragment of a Novel 《小说片段》Plan of a Novel 《小说的安排》
Pride and Prejudice；《傲慢与偏见》 (the most popular) Northanger Abbey 《诺桑觉寺》 Mansfield Park .《曼斯菲尔德花园》
5.人物性格特点
(1)Mr. Bennett
Shrewd, witty, and learned and detached ，regrets his marriage to an intellectual and social inferior，holds his wife up to subtle ridicule ，fails his station in terms of the 18th century，Fails to provide a male heir or provision for his daughters ，fails to govern his family，allows others to assume his responsibilities and duties
(2)Mrs. Bennett
Comic creation，suffers from “nerves”，refuses to accept her role as wife or competent mother unintelligent, generally concerned with superficial matters ，Loud, overbearing and obnoxious(令人非常不快地;引起反感地) lacks any “gentility”，questing to get her five daughters married ，materialistic
(3)Elizabeth Bennett
Intelligent，lively and animated，opinionated and staunch，demonstrates an acceptable revolt against conventions of society，Called “the most delightful a creature that ever appeared in print，sets the action in the novel，personifies the prejudice in the title of the novel
(4)Darcy
Arrogant about his position in society，tied to conventional wisdom about marriage partnerships claims to be shy ，Opinionated，Capable of growing and adjusting his value system，follows the noblesse(贵族阶级) oblige code，underestimated by Elizabeth
(5)George Wickham，Villian of the novel，carries the theme of appearance vs reality-- he has all
the appearance of goodness，Must marry for money to maintain his lifestyle，acts as a foil to Darcy ，acts as a moral lesson to Elizabeth
(6)Lydia Bennett
Child of nature，animal-like in appetites and desires，similar to her mother，mother’s favorite Selfish，Demands instant gratification，behavior indicates that she cares very little for societal conventions，vain
(7)Mary Bennett
Is emblematic of the “blue stocking” the woman who wants to be intellectual，intent is in affectation rather than genuine attraction to academia，E.g. her musical talent is forced and artificial，Vain about her imagined talents and intellects
(8)Charlotte Lucas
Elizabeth’s best friend, discounting Jane，older, unmarried，practical according to society’s standards，believes that any couple can be happy enough，Doesn’t want to know potential spouse well，marries for economic security and position，gains Elizabeth’s disapproval for her choice
(9)Mr. Collins
Comic character
Pompous(自负的;夸张的) and officious(过分殷勤的;爱管闲事的;爱显示权力的)，position is due to awards of the church financed by rich people，Regards the upper classes with too much awe and lowers his own worth，Parody（滑稽地模仿, 拙劣地模仿）of the extremes of “gentility and manners”
(10)Lady Catherine de Bourgh
As ill bred and rude as Mrs. Bennett，deserves no special recognition based on her own abilities enjoys dictating to others，Continues the play on the word, “accomplishment”，emphasizes that gentility and good breeding are not solely based on wealth and privilege
(11)Mr and Mrs Gardner
Point out that gentility is not necessarily apportioned to the upper classes，exhibit easy and admirable manners and decorum，Act as the parents that Elizabeth should have had，appear to “validate’ the new observations of Elizabeth
(12)Jane Bennett
Naïve and gullible，insists on believing the best about everyone，is 18th century epitome of beauty and femininity，reserved and conventional in her manner，Slightly insipid，lacks animation
6.人物的爱情观
(1) Love of Blindness:
Marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Bennett is the result of Mr. Bennett’s feeling and action on impulse. He is just captivated by the beautiful appearance of Mrs. Bennett. If they do have love, this kind of love shall be ephemeral and unable to bear tests. The reason that he marry this woman is that he is misled by her submissive image under her beauty, therefore, all so-call true love for her do not exist any longer after their marriage. On their marriage, impulse is over sense, beauty considering is over than characteristics judging. Their marriage is an outcome of an unwise choice of Mr. Bennett. This kind of love and marriage produced under imprudent conditions leads to not only unhappiness of marriage itself .
(2) Love of Common Customs:
Love between Jane and Bingley is the ordinary type of “Talented guy and beautiful lady” or “Gifted scholar and beautiful lady”,they can hold hands of each other and live together in their
entire lives. They will respect each other like guests, treat each other with courtesy .
Marriage of Jane and Bingley is a combination of sense and sensibility. From the very beginning, they are just attracted by each other on sense, but when Bingley finally decides to marry Jane in despite of her indifferent family background and her vulgar mother, their marriage has reached to the high degree of unity of sense and sensibility.
(3) Love of Fleshliness:
Relationship between Lydia and Wickham can just be called as “Love of Fleshliness”. These two people is the targets that being criticized by the author. The author states out a view of her own through them, that is, simply seeking for sex would undoubtedly bring themselves and their families with troubles.
Therefore, the marriage of these two people would not be happy at all. This also represents a view of the author.From the point of the author’s view, a marriage should be a combination of sense, sensibility and morality. However, Lydia and Wickham possess none of them. Therefore, their marriage is doomed to be a failure from the very beginning.
(4) Love of Sense:
Love of sense between Collins and Charlotte is based on considering and weighing the economic interests.
Collins not only has no any personality charm at all, but also stupid and foolish,he is humble and submits himself to Mrs. Catherine. Charlotte treats marriage as the only choice of those ladies with little property while being educated well, and also their most pleased refuge that protect them from poverty. She considers marriage totally from the point of view of economic interests.
(5) Love of True Love:
True love is not superficially founded on the universally temporal love that “judged by appearance”. On the contrary, they reject each other from the very beginning when they just get to know each other, however, they gradually feel souls of each other and realize shortcomings of themselves when they constantly affiliate with each other.
From the pride of Darcy and prejudice of Elizabeth at the beginning gradually to the inter-attraction, then to falling in love with each other, this way of falling in love is no doubt what the author Jane Austen appreciates and praises. As a matter of fact, she has spared no effort to describe these two characteristics, and Elizabeth is her favorite hostess in all novels written by herself.
(6) Brief Summary:（作者的观点）
From the several different marriages mentioned above, we can conclude out and marriage, that is, a perfect marriage should be combined with morality, material, sense and sensibility and consideration of economic interests to some extent, however, the author holds the view that too much consideration of economy is harmful.
总的结果如下（照抄）：
1-Marriage of Couple Bennett is result of Mr. Bennett’s emotional impulse and Mrs. Bennett’s consideration of economic interests;
2-love and marriage of Jane and Bingley is based on sense and sensibility;
3-marriage of Lydia and Wickham is completely founded on fleshliness, they completely ignore social morality and the need of sense and sensibility, they are the targets that be looked down on;
4-marriage of Collins and Charlotte is based on Charlotte’s consideration of
economic interests, it is actually a loss of morality that she completely equates marriage with economic gain or loss;
5-marriage of Elizabeth and Darcy is really founded on a combination of sense and sensibility, with the emergence and disappearance of contradiction, they finally reach a consensus which leads to the morality sublimation of their marriage, since Darcy eliminate his pride and Elizabeth takes away her prejudice.
Among these five marriages, only marriage of Elizabeth and Darcy suits the standards that kept in the author’s mind. Their marriage is the most perfect and successful.
7. 个人观点（爱情）
In my view, the marriage bases on social position and money can’t bring happiness in life. Aimless marriage and love are unpractical. Happiness needs to be managed by ourselves. No matter which person you choose out of whatever reasons, you should be keen to him/her and make life more colorful. Believe it or not, it's not use to crying for the split milk, so you should take responsibility of your own choice.