Q. Can we call Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ a comedy of manners? Give reasons for your answer.
The comedy of manners became popular in the 18th century. It is a type of comedy that satirizes extremes of fashions and manners and exposes the follies of a sophisticated society. The fashionable vices of the elegant aristocracy are also projected in it. The comedy of manners provides a social satire and we find in it witty female characters. Intelligent and brilliant conversations are also an important aspect of this form of comedy. Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ deals with the life of the rural gentry of the 18th century England. Most of the families presented in the novel have their own county estates – large or mediocre. They are all well-to-do, although the financial position of Mr. Bennet is not as sound as that of Mr. Darcy. On an average basis, all of these families enjoy a steady source of income from their estates and are therefore force from the hard struggles which are a common lot for many of the characters in Dickens’ novels.
The social and economic life of the period finds mention in Austen’s novels but not political or international events though so much was happening in her own life-time. The landed gentry of England led a life of ease and comfort: the male members did not work to earn. They lived on the income of their land: Hunting, visiting friends and relatives, going on tours, participating in balls and theatres etc. constituted their activities. Girls were educated but did no work. For them also the social activities of balls, theatres, visits, needle work etc. were the only activities. Since the ladies did not work, the security of a married life was very much important for women. Most of the girls were busy in the all important work of finding rich and young husbands and in this they were helped and encouraged by their mothers and aunts. ‘Pride and Prejudice’ depicts these manners of the life of that period in an admirable way. The marriage-mongering, love and flirtation, the pride and prejudices on account of wealth and social rank are all depicted in an interesting manner in the novel.
In ‘Pride and Prejudice’ it is an upper-middle class society which is represented by such families as the Bennets, the Bingleys, the Lucases, the Darcies and the Gardiners. These families apparently enjoy a peaceful, comfortable and opulent life. In a life such as this, marriage is the only exciting occasion and the property inherited is the only source of income. In most of the families there are marriageable daughters. The greater part of the action in the novel is confined to Hampshire. The Bennets live in Longbourn; the family has five unmarried girls. The youngest three – Catherine, Mary and Lydia – are thoughtlessly crazy about young army officers at Meryton. Even Elizabeth Bennet falls a prey to the charming appearance of Wickham. Mrs. Bennet is over-enthusiastic about the marriage of her daughters. Bingley’s arrival at Netherfield Park kindles up her imagination and she begins to think about a possible match between Bingley and Jane. His annual income of eight thousand pound makes him a worthy suitor. In her novel Jane Austen presents to us a society in which fashion, affluence and family status are of great importance. Bingley and Darcy attract the attention of the girls at Longbourn because they are fashionable in their appearance and life-style. But Darcy’s habit of uttering unpleasant truth makes him soon unpopular. We find that Darcy is very much conscious of his family status. The vulgarity of Mrs. Bennet and her younger daughters makes him think that it will be impudent for Bingley to marry Jane.
Mr. William Lucas is a country gentleman and he serves as a foil to Mr. Bennet. While Mr. Bennet is cynical, witty and impractical, Mr. Lucas is down-to-earth, practical and opportunistic. Mr. Lucas readily approves the match between Charlotte and Mr. Collins, once his daughter agrees to it. As for Charlotte, she grabs the opportunity discarded by Elizabeth. Elizabeth wants a sensible husband, while Charlotte attaches importance to secure home and domestic comfort. Mrs. Bennet, too, is more interested in financial security than in emotional tie. In this way Jane Austen presents the manners and conventions, the daily routine, the intrigues and jealousies of the small circle of upper middle-class people. The ball-dance parties at Meryton and Netherfield, dinners at Longbourn and Rosings, delightful tours to Derbyshire or Lake District provide a clean picture of the quiet life of these well-to-do people.
Satiric treatment of the follies of the individuals is an important attribute of comedy of manners. In ‘Pride and Prejudice’ Austen satirizes the fashionable vices of the characters as well as of the society. In Mr. Collins we find the representative of the social parasites who earn their livelihood through flattery. A dogged pursuit of material prosperity characterizes him. Lady Catherine de Bourgh represents the strong-headed, aristocratic people who fondly think that their power and position can procure anything for them. A kind of heartlessness can be observed in such characters as Mr. Collins, Lady Catherine, Mr. Hurst, Caroline Bingley etc. Jane Austen has also criticized in her novel the law of heredity prevalent in England in those days. It seems hardly justifiable that daughters cannot inherit the property of their father. But that is what happens to the Bennet sisters in ‘Pride and Prejudice’. With all these elements, Jane Austen’s novel provides entertainment to us as a comedy of manners.
Q. Analyze the character of Elizabeth Bennet in Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’.
Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ (1813) manifests a challenge that feeling and imaginative energy throw to moral authority. This challenge is particularly persistent and problematic for it is posed by the heroine – Elizabeth Bennet. ‘Pride and Prejudice’ is vividly brought to life by a gallery of different and contrasting characters, most of whom are readily identifiable from their speech alone. The plot of the novel lies more in the psychology of the characters than in external events. This is particularly true is respect of Elizabeth Bennet. Elizabeth was her creator’s special favourite and as a favourite Elizabeth is richly rewarded. Her triumph signals the achievement of the balance that characterizes Austen’s mature novels, for it is the result, on the one hand, of the gradual transformation of social and psychological realism into romance and, on the other hand, of a redefinition of romance.
It is undoubtedly true that Elizabeth is the key to ‘Pride and Prejudice’, both for the personality Austen gives her and the way she uses it. Whereas all the other characters contribute to the book, she is the reason for its existence. Her personality, her attitudes and her development bring together the story and all the characters. Her basic character is clear : she is a woman with an attractive personality. She is also clever, quick, lively and with an ability not only to see humour in people and events but also to laugh at herself.
She shines out in her independence and more importantly, in her self-sufficiency. Her faith in her ability to correctly judge others is at once her basic strength and weakness. To offset this formidable strength she is also made emotional. Her love for Jane and other sisters, concern for her father makes her warm hearted in the active sense. Her independence and lack of concern for the opinion of others lead her to a conflict with social norms. Yet it gives her a superiority over others.
Her way of coping is to laugh at whatever she cannot accept or whatever threatens her. She laughs at adversity while Darcy takes shelter in his pride and Jane relapses into despondency. Still her way is fraught with dangers. In her effort to laugh away everything that threatens her she also laugh at what is “wise and good”. She mocks Darcy but ignores the real man who lies beyond the superficial manners. It happens because she is easily prejudiced. She may judge for herself but unfortunately these judgements are often based on appearances rather than on reality – on emotions and rarely on rationality.
Her ‘lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous’ makes her attractive, well liked by women and much admired by men. Her discernment is not always as acute as she imagines it, and once her pride is hurt, as it is by Darcy’s cutting remarks at the Meryton ball, it is badly clouded by prejudice in which she stubbornly persists, in the belief that she is being ‘uncommonly clever’. Disregarding all evidence to the contrary, she is determined to believe the worst of Darcy and is completely taken in by appearances – most notably, by the handsome and plausible Wickham. The significant and betraying thing about her more superficially ‘romantic’ attachment to Wickham and Colonel Fitzwilliam is the way in which she is most serious and intimate with them to talk about Darcy.
But Darcy’s letter opens her eyes to the truth. With the cobwebs of doubts removed she starts to appreciate his moral integrity. And from this point, her character manifests a positive, forward motion. It propels a realization that she is also, like Darcy, guilty of harbouring pride. Darcy helps her to take a more open view of life.
With this development, her view on love and marriage also undergo changes. She knows clearly what to expect from an ideal relationship. She tells Charlotte that she wants understanding and not either absurd romanticism or crass materialism in marriage. Her idea of marriage finds fruition in her union with Darcy though Charlotte’s marriage and Lydia’s elopement help her to be realistic. Her eventual love for Darcy is legitimate because it springs not from the vanity but from the mortification of pride. Yet because she only belatedly realizes her love for him, her humbling does not entail a rejection of romantic love.
However, the appreciation of Darcy’s image in Elizabeth’s eyes does not take place until her visit to Pemberley although her dislike and provocative remarks made in the early part of the narrative may have been seen as clues to his attractiveness. With his change of heart she feels his attraction spreading on her and her views of marriage changing. The inequalities – social and psychological – do not hinder a communion of the lovers and it brings the novel to a romantic conclusion.
This conclusion effectively dismisses the social and psychological realism with which the novel began. Austen used Elizabeth’s social vulnerability in the opening pages to strike a relationship between social causes and psychological effects. Despite her youth, Elizabeth refuses to defer to Lady Catherine’s rank, since it is unsupported by individual merit. Far from being brow-beaten by her into renouncing any claim to Darcy, she has enough sharp wit to out-argue her, and the moral courage to defy her. Certainly Elizabeth has faults, but they are, properly understood, faults of impulsive generosity, not meanness of spirit. With typical fair-mindedness, she admits her errors and struggles towards a mature self-knowledge that she acquires only towards the end of the novel.
Hence it would not be wrong to call Elizabeth the author’s eyes. She helps Austen to express her views about the society and its members.
Q. Write a critical note on the comic characters of ‘Pride and Prejudice’.
‘Pride and Prejudice’ is brought vividly to life by a gallery of different and contrasting characters, most of whom are readily identifiable from their speech alone. There are several comic characters, varying in intricacy and interest, but all essentially presented within a naturalistic tradition. Austen’s comic characters are all vicious people. For example, Mrs. Bennet is not a villainous character, but her vulgarity and her over-enthusiastic attitude are definitely her limitations. As a result she becomes an object of ridicule in the novel.
Comic characters in a novel are those who because of some inherent folly or idiosyncrasy in their nature become the object of laughter. The novelist sometimes satirizes them or shows them as they are and allows the readers to form their own opinion of them. Often the fault in such characters is not a social vice, but a look of wit or balanced attitude to life.
Jane Austen was a minute observer and her keen and cultured sense of humour touches and illuminates her best characters even the vulgar fools and bores are transported into amusing characters. Austen’s minor and comic characters are flat. In ‘Pride and Prejudice’ we find quite a number of comic characters. Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Collins, Caroline Bingley, Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Lydia are comic in the sense that they lack balance in their inter-action with the other social beings. Like a true humourist, Austen takes delight in ridiculing the absurd aspects of these characters.
In William Collins we get the caricature of a worldly clergyman. A flatterer at Rosings, he brings a breathtaking conceit and pompousness to Longbourn, together with the offer of his hand. The fact is, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, on whom he pins his hopes for advancement, has condescended to tell him he must marry, and he cannot but be too quick in pleasing her by doing so. His style, in conversation and in letters, exposes him as a pretentious, hypocritical fool, who delights us by combining an extravagant sycophancy towards Lady Catherine with supreme egoism. Although he is a Christian clergyman, Collins has neither charity nor compassion. When Lydia elopes, he writes a condescending letter of apparent consolation to Mr. Bennet in terms that parody the parable of the prodigal son: ‘throw off your unworthy child from your affection for ever’. He is a comic character serving a very significant purpose in the novel by providing comic relief through the Charlotte Lucas affair and also more significantly to show by contrast why Darcy’s goodness makes him, not Collins, the right partner for Elizabeth.
Mrs. Bennet is also an interesting comic character in the novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’. She is more of a caricature than a rounded character. Her lack of sophistication and culture puts the sensitive members of her family to shame. She is too stupid to realize that her husband baits her contemptuously, that successful marriage is more than pin money, jewels and carriages, and that her rudeness and opinionated vulgarity torture Elizabeth with embarrassment. The only thing Mrs. Bennet cares for is domestic comfort and property. Her motive and action often become too obvious and therefore seem vulgar. Jane Austen makes her object of laughter and thereby criticizes the folly of inarticulate manners.
Mr. Bennet collapses in hysterics when Lydia elopes, but recovers immediately at the news of the arranged marriage, treating it as a triumph, boasting of it to the neighbours, though to anyone of good sense it is obviously doomed to failure. Mrs. Bennet is comic in conception with her ‘mean understanding, little information and uncertain temper’. Lacking any moral awareness, she is childish, self-centered, hypochondriacal and uncharitable in her judgement of everybody outside her family. Her efforts for matchmaking are melodramatic and grotesque.
In portraying the characters of Mr. Bennet and Mr. Collins, Austen has displayed a strong sense of realism and profound understanding of human nature. We do not come across rip-roaring or boisterous laughter but a gentle rippling sense of pleasure which is more lasting. The plot of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ lies more in the psychology of the characters than in external events. Austen’s humour is quiet, delicate and ironical and through the comic characters she satirizes the social follies of the 19th century English society, particularly in the countryside. She makes an appeal to good-sense by exposing the peculiarities and limitations of these characters.
Q. Trace the significance of the title of Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’.
Jane Austen started writing ‘Pride and Prejudice’ in October 1796 and finished it in August 1797. At first she gave the novel a simple title ‘First Impressions’. Later, when the novel was published in 1813, ‘First Impressions’ was replaced by ‘Pride and Prejudice’. The original title ‘First Impressions’ bears an ironic message of the novelist; it says that we should not depend too much on our first impressions. It is very difficult to judge human nature in its proper perspective from the initial impressions since it is a bundle of contradictions. So it is hardly possible to size up a man at first sight. The complicacy in the relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy arises mostly due to their over-dependence on the initial impressions that they received of each other. Austen preferred ‘Pride and Prejudice’ probably because it sounded more artistic and more figurative in expression than the earlier one. The novelist might have pondered over the fact that the title should have a clear reference to the human follies that are responsible for their suffering.
The hero and the heroine of the novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’ are Darcy and Elizabeth. Darcy is an intelligent young man with a fortune of ten thousand pound a year. He is proud of his family background and social position. Though he is at heart kind and considerate, he looks outwardly grave. Elizabeth finds him haughty and offensive in his attitude, at least in the initial part of the novel, because he lacks the art of expressing his opinion in a pleasant and polite manner. He has so much confidence in his own observation and judgement that he dose not care for people’s feelings and intentions. Elizabeth feels insulted when Darcy refuses to dance with her at an assembly in Netherfield on the ground that she is not handsome enough to tempt him. At that moment Darcy looks upon her as one of those frivolous girls who are only too willing to dance with him. He does not expect that Elizabeth will be hurt by his comment, which is, of course, overheard by her. Elizabeth comes to the conclusion that Darcy is an ill-mannered person who finds particular delight in finding faults with other people. She gets prejudiced against the young man.
In the novel, we find that both Elizabeth and Darcy misunderstand each other. The novel makes it clear that Darcy’s snobbery or pride of birth and fortune stirs up a strong prejudice against him in Elizabeth’s mind. ‘Pride’ and ‘prejudice’ are apparently thought to be two vices, which mar the happiness of this couple. Elizabeth thinks that Darcy is not only proud but is also a man who does not wish well of the Bennets. During Jane’s illness Elizabeth has to stay in the Netherfield Park for some days. She behaves coldly with Darcy, although the later tries to be intimate with her and looks upon her with admiration. In chapter IX of the novel Darcy speaks of his high notion of an accomplished woman. In reply to this Elizabeth remarks that Darcy cannot find even a single woman accomplished by his own standard. When Darcy requests her to dance a bit, she turns down the proposal by saying that she will not give him a chance to despise her taste. Elizabeth expects that Mr. Bingley and Jane will come close to each other gradually. But to her surprise, Mr. Bingley goes to London because of some business and does not come back for several months. Elizabeth suspects that Darcy has played a role in diverting Bingley’s attention from Jane. Her mind was further vitiated against Darcy by the slanders spread by Wickham. Wickham is a fickle minded, capricious and worthless fellow. His sole business is to cheat people by his handsome appearance. Even Elizabeth falls a prey to his physical charm. Wickham spins out a cock and bull story against Darcy accusing that he has not carried out a provision in his father’s will where it is stated that a vacant dwelling place should be offered to Wickham in the Pemberley House. Elizabeth believes that Darcy has deceived Wickham of his legitimate due.
Studying the character of Darcy we find that he learns from his mistakes. After slighting Elizabeth in the assembly he realized that he had hurt the feelings of the young lady. So when Elizabeth comes to Netherfield Park to visit her sick sister, he pays additional attention to her. But as Elizabeth is prejudiced against him, she mistakes his enthusiasm to be a zeal for criticizing her. So when Darcy proposes to her, she refuses him politely. She, of course, does not fail to mention that Darcy’s insolent manners and mean-minded treatment of Wickham have compelled her to discard him. As Darcy explains everything in a long letter, Elizabeth understands that she has been unjustly prejudiced against her admirer. She realizes her mistakes more accurately when Wickham elopes with Lydia. It is, however, Darcy who finds out the couple in London and puts pressure of Wickham to marry Lydia and also fulfils his financial demand. In Darcy, ‘pride’ is both positive and negative, both a proper justified pride in the history of his family and an offensive, wounding pride of snobbery that renders him so violently prejudiced against the ‘lowly connexions’ of the Bennets. Similarly, Elizabeth’s ‘prejudice’ is the negative aspect of something positive, her high spirits and high intelligence. In this way, Darcy’s ‘pride’ and Elizabeth’s ‘prejudice’ cause a lot complications in the plot of the novel. So the title ‘Pride and Prejudice’ is aptly suited to the novel of Jane Austen.
Q. How does Jane Austen treat the theme of money and marriage in her novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’? Answer with suitable illustrations.
The dominant theme in ‘Pride and Prejudice’, as in other of Austen’s novels is money and marriage. “It is a truth universally acknowledged”, says the famous opening sentence of the novel, “that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”. Marriage in Jane Austen is closely bound with money. It could not mean, to a reader in Jane Austen’s own time, what it means to a reader today. Austen’s own attitude to money and marriage should be clear to any intelligent reader, being voiced through her heroines, particularly Elinor Dashwood and Elizabeth Bennet.
One model of marriage in Austen’s time was that of a business contract, joining and strengthening families’ wealth and status, linking estates, providing heirs, giving women financial security. At the centre of ‘Pride and Prejudice’, we have the Bennet family, in which there are five unmarried, grown-up girls. Mrs. Bennet, their mother, is always looking for an opportunity to marry them off. Mr. Bennet, the father, is also concerned about the marriage of his daughters, but he is not ready unlike his wife, to display vulgar taste in arranging the marriages. Despite his perverse teasing, Mr. Bennet shares his wife’s concern to find husbands for their daughters, since the girls are without fortune or security, and marriage is the only hope for their future. The young characters, found in this novel, are mostly of the opinion that love should be the basis of marriage but other considerations like family background, source of income, personal charm, taste, culture, education etc. are also essential requirements. For the young ladies, belonging to the middle and upper-middle class families, marriage is no doubt a social security, while for the young gentlemen it means domestic comfort.
Bingley’s arrival at Netherfield Park stimulates Mrs. Bennet to have him as the bridegroom for her eldest daughter, Jane; she forces her husband to call on the young bachelor and invite him to their house. At the ball at Longbourn, Bingley dances twice with Jane, much to the satisfaction of Mrs. Bennet. When Caroline Bingley invites Jane to a dinner at Netherfield, the enthusiastic mother allows her readily to go there in rain on horseback so that she may get an opportunity to stay overnight there because Bingley is to return at nightfall. From all these, we understand that Mrs. Bennet desires that a love affair should develop between Bingley and Jane leading ultimately to the marriage of the couple. Bingley’s wealth and social position is undoubtedly a factor behind this desire of Mrs. Bennet.
Elizabeth also wishes that Jane should marry Bingley, though she is not over-enthusiastic regarding this like her mother. She has an ability to judge people from their manners and attitudes. She makes a correct evaluation of the Bingley sisters, Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine. She is not opposed to the idea of getting married herself to a suitable person, but she is not ready to sacrifice her personal dignity either for love or for marriage. Elizabeth sees neither marriage for security alone, nor marriage based on physical attraction alone, can hold out any possibility of success; nor does she have the least respect for the old, aristocratic convention whereby marriages are to be arranged, not with regard to the individuals involved, but for the sake of promoting the material prosperity of their families.
Concern for money and quest for marital bliss is a major thing in ‘Pride and Prejudice’. Elizabeth considers Mr. Collins to be a moron and arrogant person who wishes shamelessly to inherit the property of Mr. Bennet by way of an entail and rejects his proposal in spite of her mother’s eagerness of arranging the marriage. As Collins is rejected by Elizabeth, Charlotte Lucas takes interest in him and the finalization of her marriage with Collins comes as a great relief for the Lucas family.
Thus we find that different characters have different attitudes to marriage and marital prosperity. Wickham, a handsome youth, seeks wealth through marriage. He makes an attempt to marry Miss. Darcy in order to exploit her brother financially and also casts a spell on Elizabeth. But as Elizabeth remains on her guard at the advice of Mrs. Gardiner, Wickham elopes with Lydia to exploit the Bennets and marries the young lady only after Darcy has fulfilled his demand. Miss. Caroline Bingley tries her best to draw Darcy’s attention towards her; Darcy’s estate at Pemberley is the prime attraction for her. Lady Catherine too makes a plot to have Darcy engaged to Miss. De Bourgh. But Darcy finally marries Elizabeth putting an end to all speculations.
In this way, it is found that concern for marriage is an important issue in ‘Pride and Prejudice’, because of the Property Act prevalent in those days in England, the young ladies of that time looked upon marriage as the only passport to happiness or fulfillment in life. Most of the major characters in Austen’s novel are found making endeavours or manipulating situations to achieve the goal of marriage and material prosperity as far as possible. The novelist has focused on many complications in the process of the accomplishment of such goals, but she has handled them with artistic nicety and deep insight.
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