Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
An Introduction to Austen, the novel,
and the time period in which the
novel takes place.
Jane Austen
• Jane Austen was born December 16th, 1775 at
Steventon, Hampshire, England to Rev. George
Austen, (the local rector, or Church of England
clergyman), and his wife Cassandra
Austen’s Education
• 1783: Jane and her older sister were taught by
Mrs. Crawley, who was a sister of one of their
uncles.
• 1785-1786: Jane and Cassandra attended
Abbey Boarding School
– Jane was almost too young to benefit from this.
• Learned piano, how to draw, etc. from family
• Read novels all the time
– Her father had over 500 in 1801.
Early Adulthood
• Austen enjoyed attending social events
(dances and parties) and visiting London,
Bath, Southampton, etc. where she attended
plays.
• 1801: family moves to Bath
• This is a photograph of
a coat worn by Jane
Austen.
• It gives an idea of the
type of clothes worn by
young ladies of the
time.
5
Georgian Writer
• Because of the charm of her plots, their setting in
merry old England, and the Victorian-styled
costumes and 1850 setting used in the first film
adaptation of Pride and Prejudice in 1940), you may
view Austen as Victorian. (This isn't your fault . . . the
1940 film misled you!) But Jane Austen lived
between 1775 and 1817, and her novels came out
between 1813 and 1818, the year after her death,
which places her and her work in the Georgian
period of English history.
6
The Regency Period
• The Regency period in the United Kingdom is the
period between 1811 and 1820, when King George III
was deemed unfit to rule and his son, later George
IV, was instated to be his proxy as Prince Regent. The
term is often expanded to apply to the years
between 1795 and 1837, a time characterised by
distinctive fashions, politics and culture. In this
sense, it can be considered to be a transitional
period between "Georgian" and "Victorian" eras. The
era was distinctive for its architecture, literature,
fashions, and politics.
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Jane Austen Quotes.
• “A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration
to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.”
•
“A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard
of.”
•
“An engaged woman is always more agreeable than a
disengaged. She is satisfied with herself. Her cares are over,
and she feels that she may exert all her powers of pleasing
without suspicion. All is safe with a lady engaged; no harm can
be done.”
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Social Customs
• Dances figure prominently in Jane
Austen’s novels. Whether
performed in public assembly
rooms in Meryton or in private at
the Netherfield Ball, dances
offered social opportunities for
young people to mix and mingle
and converse in an acceptable
fashion. In an era when a young
lady of good breeding was strictly
chaperoned and escorted
everywhere she went, she would
find it difficult during a routine
day to meet privately with a single
gentleman, even one who was
courting her.
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• Since a dance would often last for half an hour, the
dancers had ample time to converse, flirt, and even
touch one another in an accepted manner. A
gentleman would, of course, never ask a young lady
to dance unless he was first introduced to her. During
this era people were often judged for their ability to
dance skilfully, and a gentleman was pressured to cut
a fine figure on the dance floor. Look out for Mr
Collins’ dancing technique in the novel!
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• Regency social manners were all politeness and gentility.
There was protocol for every social interaction; down to the
way a woman holds her fan to indicate her interest in a
gentleman. The social hierarchy was the core of everything,
and everyone knew their place, whether they agreed with it
or not. Women largely did not inherit wealth, nor were they
openly allowed to find their own means; so marriage was one
of the few options she had to secure a comfortable future. A
marriage based on love was rarely an option for a Regency
woman, income was the first consideration. It is probably
why this period yielded some of the best literary romance
available today.
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Austen’s Love Life
• 1795-1796: brief fling with Thomas Lefroy
– He couldn’t afford to marry her.
• Possible serious relationship with a nameless
man in Devonshire. All we have are
Cassandra’s accounts of their relationship.
– This suitor died unexpectedly.
• 1802: Harris Bigg-Wither proposed
– He was 6 years younger.
– She said yes but then backed out the next day
Austen’s Adulthood
• 1805: her father died and income was reduced
• Moved around to many cities including,
Winchester, Southampton, etc. for a few
years.
• 1810 (Hampshire)- began writing again
• 1816- became ill
• July 18th 1817: death at age 41
– Buried at Winchester Cathedral
– Women not allowed to attend funerals at this time
Austen’s Gravestone: What’s missing?
• In memory of JANE AUSTEN, youngest daughter of the late
Revd. GEORGE AUSTEN, formerly Rector of Steventon in this
County. She departed this Life on the 18th July 1817, aged 41,
after a long illness supported with the patience and the hopes
of a Christian. The benevolence of her heart, the sweetness
of her temper, and the extraordinary endowments of her
mind obtained the regard of all who knew her, and the
warmest love of her intimate connections. Their grief is in
proportion to their affection they know their loss to be
irreparable, but in the deepest affliction they are consoled by
a firm though humble hope that her charity, devotion, faith
and purity have rendered her soul acceptable in the sight of
her REDEEMER.
Addition to the Gravestone
• JANE AUSTEN known to many by her writings,
endeared to her family by the varied charms of her
Character and ennobled by Christian faith and piety,
was born at Steventon in the County of Hants Dec.
XVI MDCCLXXV, and buried in this Cathedral July
XXIV MDCCCXVII. "She opened her mouth with
wisdom and in her tongue is the law of kindness.”
Austen’s Literary Works
• 1787-1793: Juvenilla
• 1795-1799: began Sense and Sensibility, Pride
and Prejudice, and Northanger Abbey
– Working titles: Elinor and Marianne, First
Impressions, and Susan.
•
•
•
•
•
1803: began The Watsons (never finished)
1812: began Mansfield Park
1814 began Emma
1815- began Persuasion
1817- began Sanditon (never finished)
Reputation
• Reputation is everything, especially to
women.
– Elizabeth walks to Bingley’s
– Mrs. Bennett’s ridiculous behavior
– Lydia’s relationship with Wickham
– Darcy’s intervention
• Without it, would Elizabeth and Darcy still get married?
Class
• Lower class?
• Life for the middle and upper class was strictly
regulated
– Bennett’s associated with Bingley’s
– Mr. Collins actions around Lady Catherine
– Darcy and Elizabeth/ Jane and Bingley marriages
• Can love and happiness overcome class?
Education
• No organized education; local charity or
church-run schools were popular.
• “Genteel” social levels, like those in Pride and
Prejudice, did not attend these schools.
– They would be taught by parents, a tutor, or be
sent away to live with a tutor when young.
• Some grammar schools existed but were only
for males.
Education cont.
• The prime symbol of academic knowledge,
and masculine educational attainments, was
the Classical languages Greek and Latin, to
which a great deal of time was devoted in
"genteel" boys' education, but which few
women studied.
Women’s Education
• As for domestic training,a relatively large
amount of girls' and women's time was spent
on sewing or needlework
• For women of the "genteel" classes the goal of
non-domestic education was thus often the
acquisition of "accomplishments", such as the
ability to draw, sing, play music, or speak
modern languages (generally French and
Italian).
– Generally just done to attract men.
Gender Differences
• Men had greater power and contribution to
society as a whole
• Women were viewed more as reserved,
gossipy, and highly held by reputation.
• Women were expected appear and behave
with a certain manner, and easily became a
social outcast if any societal deviance was
displayed
Gender Differences: Men
•
•
•
•
•
•
man’s primary role is to be the provider:
work,
propose an engagement for a wife,
earn the family’s only income,
make final decisions,
physically and fiscally support and protect the
family, and
• provide a home, food, and clothing.
Gender Differences: Women
• During this time period, it was unacceptable
for women, or a woman, to travel alone.
• Women were to:
– tend to the children,
– cook the meals,
– do the shopping and sewing, and
– uphold the daily routines for the family, primarily
tending to the husband’s needs.