Final part 2
Autumn Houser
Biography
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Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 in Steventon, Hampshire,
England. Out of eight children she was the seventh child. As a child she was
sent to a school with her sister in Oxford and Southampton. She started writing
novels at a young age. Jane Austen had begun to write poems and short
stories in 1787. Later these stories are referred to as the Juvenilia and include
three notebooks of writing. Austen started writing her first novel in 1790 at the
age of 14. She titles her writing Love and Friendship and says her work was
inspired by her cousin Eliza. She uses her writing experience to choose
professional writing as her occupation. In 1795 she wrote a story called Elinor
and Marianne which are now know as the main characters in her story Sense
and Sensibility.
In 1801 her family moves to Bath where Jane did not like her new surroundings.
A man she had met named Harris Bigg-Wither proposed to her and she
accepted. After a night of thinking about her decision, the next morning she
decided to take back the acceptance and reject his proposal. A few years
later Jane started working on a story called The Watsons.She had stopped
working on the novel when he father died suddenly in 1805 and surprised
everyone. After the death of her father Jane Austen and her sisters were
forced to rent living spaces.
In 1811 Sense and Sensibility is finally published by Thomas Egerton, with Jane
Austen as a literary agent. The novel is favorable for reviews. Also in 1813 Pride
and Prejudice is published again by Thomas Egerton and Jane Austen being
the literary agent. The novel becomes a success instantly.Jane had become ill
in 1816. She had a disease called Addison’s disease, which was a fatal illness.
This disease led her to her death a year later in 1817 where she is buried at the
Winchester Cathedral in Winchester, England. Jane Austen’s novel included,
Sense & Sensibility (1811), Pride & Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814),
Emma (1815), Persuasion (1817) and Northanger Abbey (1817). The later of the
two novels were published after Jane Austen's death. These books are what
inspired Jane’s readers to keep reading her stories.
Book Synopsis
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Emma sees herself as a self-proclaimed matchmaker. The only matches she seems
to make are bad ones. Again and again she butts head with her brother-in-law, Mr.
Knightley. She takes a young Harriet Smith and starts on finding her a match.
Northanger Abbey is one of Jane Austen's first big novels. It was written in 1798-99,
when Austen was around her twenties. Northanger Abbey is a comic love story set
in a town named Bath about someone trying to separate fantasy from reality. Jane
Austen sold the novel which was renamed Susan in 1803. The story was never
published though so she bought it back. Henry Austen, her brother published the
novel as its original title Northanger Abbey after Jane Austen had passed away in
1817.
Mansfield Park is about a poor and unloved cousin named Fanny Price living with
wealthy relatives. She sets relationships straight through her passive devotion to
honor and duty.
Persuasion is about the regret and loneliness of Anne Elliot. She rejected a proposal
of marriage from the one man she truly loved. It is less than 10 years after the
proposal, after her anxiousness and dread of the rejected lover's return to the town.
She stresses the reasons for the old rejection and the hope that their love had
recovered.
Sense and Sensibility is one story to be published out of all of Jane Austen’s novels.
She started around 1797, and after many hours of work before having it published
in 1811. It says inside the cover, written "By a Lady", so that only her family knew that
Jane Austen was the author. The story is about Marianne Dashwood’s happily ever
after romance that goes bad, while her older sister Elinor deals with the family's
money issues while having her own relationship problems.
Foreshadowing
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“To foreshadow means to indicate or suggest something that is going to
happen later, either good or
bad”(http://www.foreshadowing.org/definition.html). Foreshadowing is
important because “Authors weave this technique into their craft - whether in
dialogue, description, or the attitudes and reactions of the characters -- to
build tension and suspense to keep their readers engaged until the conflict is
revealed. The ultimate goal of this device is to enhance the emotional
gratification the reader or audience feels at the end of a story. Good use of
this literary tool ties the beginning of the story to the end producing structural
and thematic
unity”(http://www.foreshadowing.org/definition.html).Foreshadowing is used
in the story when Elizabeth takes a trip to see Mr. Darcy’s hometown. She falls
in love with the surroundings and sights that she can see there. It makes her
realize that her love for the area is like her love for Mr. Darcy. An example of
foreshadowing in the story is the quote, “Elizabeth’s mind was too full for
conversation, but she saw and admired every remarkable spot and point of
view” (Pride and Prejudice 219). Foreshadowing is important because it shows
how one thing can make you realize what something is going to be like in the
future.
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Symbolism
Symbolism is “the art or practice of using symbols especially by
investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the invisible
or intangible by means of visible or sensuous representations: as”
(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/symbolism). An
example of this in the story would be wealth and rain. Money is a big
part in everyone’s lives throughout this story. Mr. Dashwood is greedy
and money hungry and it shows that people will marry for money
over the people they truly love. Willoughby breaks off his relationship
with Marianne, the woman he loves deeply for a woman with lots of
money. Nature’s part in this symbolizes a circle of relationships. It is
pouring outside the day Marianna meets Willoughby and falls in love.
As their relationship continues they become distant and end their
relationship and Marianne becomes heartbroken and depressed.
While she is recovering from her breakup, she still is feeling depressed
and gets caught in the rain, which leads her to her deathly illness.
Symbolism is “the art or practice of using symbols especially by
investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the invisible
or intangible by means of visible or sensuous representations: as”
(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/symbolism). In the
story the example of symbolism would be when Elizabeth visited
Pemberley. “Their eyes instantly met, and the cheeks of each were
overspread with the deepest blush” (Pride and Prejudice 225) which
symbolizes that they had felt something for each other without just
coming out and telling you.
Tone
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Tone is “The writer's attitude toward the material and/or readers. Tone may be playful,
formal, intimate, angry, serious, ironic, outraged, baffled, tender, serene, depressed, etc”
(http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/lit_term.html). The tone in the story is
tender because throughout the story there was a sense of being unsure about things.
Elizabeth was unsure about if she wanted to be with Mr. Darcy because she didn’t know
what sort of man he was until she after she visited his home town. “Elizabeth had not
heard a word, and wholly was overpowered by her own feelings” (Pride and Prejudice
225). This example shows how her family had questioned her about her conversation with
Mr. Darcy but didn’t want to push her into telling them. It’s tender because she was
wrapped up in her own feelings and wasn’t sure on how to react to what Mr. Darcy had
said to her.
Tone is “The writer's attitude toward the material and/or readers. Tone may be playful,
formal, intimate, angry, serious, ironic, outraged, baffled, tender, serene, depressed, etc”
(http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/lit_term.html). The tone in this novel
is very upbeat and eventful. Examples of tone in the story would be how the story goes
from being calm and everything is serene and then it goes into being crazy and stressful.
Irony
• “Irony is the discrepancy between what is said and what
is meant, what is said and what is done, what is
expected or intended and what happens, what is
meant or said and what others understand”
(http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/lit_t
erm.html). Irony is used in the story when Willoughby
breaks up with Marianne because he wants to marry
someone who is rich. He is telling her he doesn’t want to
be with her, which makes her think he isn’t interested in
her. In reality he is deeply in love with her and wants to
be with her but the money of the other woman is holding
her back. The quote “That I should ever have meant
more you will allow to be impossible, when you
understand that my actions have been long engaged
elsewhere..” (Sense and Sensibility 123).
Pride & Prejudice Summary
In the story Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. She a
child of five and out of all of the children her father favors her the most. She is a lot different from
her other siblings by the way she kept a head on her shoulders and didn’t focus on the
unimportant things in life like her sisters. Elizabeth’s mother wanted the best for her daughters,
and wanted them to grow into ladies and settle down with fine men. She became anxious
when a young man moved down the road from them and right away saw a match for
Elizabeth’s oldest sister Jane.One night they had in some ways you could call a Cinderella
moment. They all arrived to a dance where Mr. Bingley, the man from down the road danced
with Jane for most of the night. His friend Mr. Darcy was unhappy with the night and refused to
dance with Elizabeth. As weeks go by since the dance Mr. Darcy becomes more curious about
Elizabeth and grows fond of her. Jane goes to visit Mr. Bingley one day but when arrives
becomes ill due to the weather on her trip there. Elizabeth goes to take care of her sister and
soon finds that Mr. Bingley’s sister does not care much for Jane. She becomes very jealous of
Elizabeth when she notices that the man she is aiming for, Mr. Darcy is giving Elizabeth more
attention then her. While visiting a friend Elizabeth plans on seeing Mr. Darcy during her visit as
well. Mr. Darcy had left the Netherfield and returned to London which made Jane upset. After
not seeing him the whole trip he appears and asks Elizabeth for her hand in marriage. She
refused and scolds him for being arrogant and selfish for persuading Mr. Bingley to leave her
sister and be as far away from her as possible. Mr. Darcy then writes her a letter telling her he
only did it because he felt as thought their love was not strong or real enough for their
relationship. Elizabeth decides to find out for herself what Mr. Darcy is like so she visits his home
town. While finding out good things about him she receives a letter saying her sister had gone
off with a man and are nowhere to be found. She is afraid they are together out of wedlock
and is upset that something like this would happen to her family. She returns home while her
father and uncle are out in search for her sister and have no luck. She soon gets a letter saying
that the man has agreed to marry her sister. They believe he was paid off by her uncle but
Elizabeth soon comes to know that it was Mr. Darcy who had paid him to marry her sister.Jane
and Mr. Bingley get married when he returns to her while Mr. Darcy’s aunt hears new on her
nephew wanting to propose to Elizabeth. She doesn’t think that someone like Elizabeth is good
enough to marry her nephew so she tells her to reject him when he proposes. One day they go
out for a walk and Jane thanks him for helping save his sister and making her happy. Mr. Darcy
explains how he feel about her and proposes. She accepts the proposal and now her and her
sister Jane are married.
Sense & Sensibility Summary
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The story begins with the Dashwood sister’s father becoming ill and dying. He leaves all of his
fortune to his wife’s son, John. He asks John to take care of his three daughters Elinor, Marianne,
and Margaret. John and his wife are extremely greedy and do nothing to help his step sisters so
they move away to a relative’s cottage. Elinor is hesitant when it comes to moving away, since
she had fallen in love with her sister-in-law’s brother Edward Ferrars. They move to their new
home and become acquainted with their new neighbors. A man named Colonel Brandon falls
in love with Marianne, but she has her eyes set on another man, Willoughby. Seeing the two
together everyone is just waiting for their announcement of engagement.
Willoughby leaves Marianne unannounced and doesn’t inform her to when he will be coming
back. She becomes very depressed and upset that he had left and not told her. While he is
away there are visitors and Marianne hope to hear news about Willoughby but unfortunately no
one can relieve her of her worries. Elinor finds out that a woman named Lucy Steele is engaged
to the man of her dreams and she becomes overwhelmed with sadness. The sisters are both
feeling down and depressed and are offered to stay with Mrs. Jennings in London. Marianne
runs into Willoughby unexpectedly and he ignores her. He send her a letter a couple days later
harshly breaking up with her. She finds out that he had gotten another woman pregnant and is
now engaged to a rich woman instead of Marianne herself.
The families go through some troubles along the way but end up at the Palmer’s country house
in Cleveland. Marianne can’t help herself but think about Willoughby since they are living so
close to his family home and becomes dangerously ill on a walk in the rain. Everyone is worried
about her, even Willoughby. When he goes to see Marianne he sees how close to death she is
and confesses how he regrets marrying another woman instead of her and that it was only for
the money. Eleanor decides that hearing Willoughy’s story might make her sister feel better.
Elinor and Marianne’s mother arrive to see her and they have news of their own. Colonel
Brandon has confessed his love for Marianne as well and Mrs. Dashwood feels as though their
engagement will settle it all. Marianne gets better and they return home where Elinor, still upset
that her dream man had married someone else understands that there was a
miscommunication and Mr. Ferrars soon arrives to ask her for her hand in marriage. Lucy
becomes married to a rich man, Elinor is united with the man of her dreams, and Marianne and
Colonel Brandon fall in love and get married. Everyone ends with their happy ending.
Work Cited
• "Foreshadowing Definition." & Examples. Web. 04 May
2012. <http://www.foreshadowing.org/definition.html>.
• "The Jane Austen Society of North America." - About
Jane Austen. Web. 11 May 2012.
<http://www.jasna.org/info/about_austen.html>.
• "Jane Austen Timeline." Jane Austen Life and Works
Timeline. Web. 11 May 2012.
<http://www.janeausten.org/jane-austen-timeline.asp>.
• "Literary Terms." Literary Terms. Web. 11 May 2012.
<http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/lit_
term.html>.
• "Symbolism." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Web.
11 May 2012. <http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/symbolism>.