Critical analysis of Pride and Prejudice

1. Jane Austen

4.  It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a
single man in possession of a good fortune,
must be in want of a wife.
 The first line of the novel.
 It sets the central idea.

5.  However little known the feelings or views of
such a man may be on his first entering a
neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in
the minds of the surrounding families, that
he is considered the rightful property of
some one or other of their daughters.

6.  Theme of marriage
 The main focus
 Finding out a suitable partner/perfect match
for grown up daughters.

7.  Some prejudices, pride, conflicts in mind,
 Some preconceived ideas
 Likes for some one else
 Forced meeting
 Has a different plan for future
 While talking about marriage what else come
in our mind?

8. Marriage
Money/
property
Class
Look of
the
person

9.  Class and money:
 Discrimination based on class. And money
defines class.
 Results in Mental pressure.

10.  “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a
single man in possession of a good fortune,
must be in want of a wife.”
 Uncertainty about the nature and authority of
the statement made.
 It arises questions:
 Whose voice and views are we listening to?
 What status or value should we grant them?
 What does Jane Austen think?

11.  The opening style of the novel is declarative.
 There is nothing like universal truth but it is
socially and historically specific set of
attitude.
 As the novel progresses her words suggest
satirical invocation of communal voice.
 This words are about the minds of characters
and surrounding families.

12.  “Oh, my dear Mr. Bennet,” as she entered the
room, “we have had a most delightful
evening, a most excellent ball. I wish you had
been there. Jane was so admired, nothing
could be like it. Everybody said how well she
looked; and Mr. Bingley thought her quite
beautiful, and danced with her twice! Only
think of that, my dear; he actually danced
with her twice! and she was the only creature
in the room that he asked a second time….

13.  First of all, he asked Miss Lucas. I was so
vexed to see him stand up with her! But,
however, he did not admire her at all; indeed,
nobody can, you know; and he seemed quite
struck with Jane as she was going down the
dance. So he inquired who she was, and got
introduced, and asked her for the two next.
Then the two third he danced with Miss King,
and the two fourth with Maria Lucas, and the
two fifth with Jane again, and the two sixth
with Lizzy, and the Boulanger—”

14.  The words mimic the thought and language
of this society – diminished thought and
impoverished language in which the petty,
self-interested assumptions of Mrs. Bennet
and her neighbors are casually dignified into
something more.

15.  “Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long
says that Netherfield is taken by a young man
of large fortune from the north of England;
that he came down on Monday in a chaise
and four to see the place, and was so much
delighted with it, that he agreed with Mr.
Morris immediately; that he is to take
possession before Michaelmas, and some of
his servants are to be in the house by the end
of next week.”

16.  Self-interested intention of Mrs. Bennet:
 “Oh! Single, my dear, to be sure! A single man
of large fortune; four or five thousand a year.
What a fine thing for our girls!”
 “My dear Mr. Bennet,” replied his wife, “how
can you be so tiresome! You must know that I
am thinking of his marrying one of them.”
 “Is that his design in settling here?”
 “Design! Nonsense, how can you talk so! But
it is very likely that he may fall in love with
one of them, and therefore you must visit him
as soon as he comes.
 Future action is deliberately planned.

17.  Through her narrative voice Austen tries to
access the consciousness and view points of
her characters directly.
 The narrative voice unfolds the inner lives of
characters as it shifts according to situations.
 In the narrative we see majority of women
talking about some or the other thing. It
helps us to understand the thinking capacity
of Austen women, of her age.
 What made them think in that particular way?
 Cultural background of her time.

18.  Pride and Prejudice manifests some of the
historical changes and continuities.
 They have economic attitude.
 The concern for money and its power is the
main focus.
 Characters view the world from the lens of
finance and inheritance custom.
 The novel can be read as the discussion as
the economic changes of late 18th and early
19th century affected lives and status of
people.

19.  The novel displays life of upper class people
and the effect of fluctuating amount of
money on their life and status.
 Austen shows money, social position and
hierarchical value of lives of her characters.
 The novel is divided between houses and
grounds, focusing on the class and property
on one hand and landscape on the other
hand.
 In the ball when people meet Darcy, all are
impressed by his young and gallant style.
 He becomes the “attention of the room” in a
five minutes when people come to know …

20.  That he is worth $10,000 a year. We hear
voices talking about him and mostly of
women.
 Property, in Austen’s time, came with some
legal rights.
 Even characters view themselves from the
point of view of money and inheritance law.
 Even there is a gap between upper class
people because of property and increasing
position.
 It was the time when the British Government
started tax on the property and income as
they had to manage war against France.

21.  Dowry was given importance in a household
where they have many people to be feed.
 It was the time when, for a woman, to
become wealthy and increase her social
status, marriage was the only option.
 For Bennet daughters marrying a rich man is
must as they don’t have a brother and the
estate of their father is going to be inherited
by Mr. Collins.
 The case of Mr. Wickham is one more
example which proves importance of money
over relationship.
 He is like a villain who brings troubles in the
Bennet family.

22.  Mr. Wickham persuades the youngest
daughter of Mr. Bennet, Lydia.
 Mr. Wickham is a gambler. He does not have
a sense of economy. He appears, at first, as a
gentleman but then turns out to be a liar. By
telling lie he wins Elizabeth’s sympathy.
 He runs away with Lydia and after marriage
demand money from Mr.Bennet to avoid
notoriety to the Bennet family.
 Darcy interferes into the relationship of Jane
and Bigley as he thinks that Jane is after
money. Later on things are resolved.

23.  When there is no contact between Jane and
Bingley, Mrs. Bennet is depressed. The
ultimate aim of her life is the successful
marriage of her daughters.
 The possible reason is that the estate is going
to be inherited by Mr. Collins.
 “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a
single man in possession of a good fortune
must be in want of a wife.” and
 “A single woman in search of a good fortune
must equally be in want of a husband who
has one!”
 This lines are true for all characters.

24.  Think of the opposites in the novel:
 Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy is not rich.
 How would be the attitude of Mrs. Bennet
towards Mr. Bingley?
 Would Jane try to court him?
 Do you think the marriage would be possible
if both of them don’t have estate?
 Do you think Darcy and Bingley would agree
as a rich man to marry Bennet daughters if
they do not have money?
 On what basis attention and respect is given
to characters?

25.  Written by ‘the author of Sense and
Sensibility’. This shows gender politics in the
society.
 Austen tries to see the world and characters
from the perspectives of young and beautiful
girls.
 She observes the culture of her time very
minutely and writes about very ordinary but
very important issues of her time. She tries to
study women’s social status in her society.
 She talks about marriage and courtship.

26.  She tries to understand human behavior.
 She tries to break the so called belief that a
man is the hero and a woman is dependent
upon man. Her portrayal of the character of
Elizabeth is feminist in isolation as she is an
example of an independent character.
 Like other women she does not bent down to
the expectations of society/male. She never
tried to impress Mr. Darcy. She never
changed herself/her behavior to win Darcy
but she has changed him.
 Like other women she never saw marriage as
a way of getting wealth and economic
stability.

27.  Normally in a patriarchal society a woman is
always observed. She is never an observing
eye. Austen shows both sides of a woman’s
life as she is both observed and an observing
eye.
 This is for all women characters. Sometimes
they willingly accept the subordinate role.
Some of them are expressive and strong
headed.
 Some are involved in gossiping and some are
intellectual. Their intellectuality draws a line
of difference between them and women in
general.

28.  One should not criticize women in general as
they are conditioned by patriarchal society.
They are so deeply influenced by patriarchal
ideology that they delimit themselves from
the male perspective. They objectify
themselves and they are not aware about it.
 In Pride and Prejudice it is possible to know
about such characters because Austen’s
characters are focused internally and
externally.
 As a way of a woman’s writing Austen’s focus
is on lives of women but she talks about
violence done against women.

29.  Violence is cannot be physical always.
 Legal violence, verbal violence etc…
 “Happiness in marriage is a matter of chance”
– Elizabeth
 To understand the encoded message we can
apply this to different texts. For ex. Happy
Marriage, a poem by Taslima Nasrin, Doll’s
House by Ibsen, The Yellow Wallpaper etc.
 Why should we read the above sentence in
the context of these works? Because marriage
comes with other problems……
 Austen has not written about the problems
after marriage.

30.  “Oh! certainly,” cried his faithful assistant, “no
one can be really esteemed accomplished
who does not greatly surpass what is usually
met with. A woman must have a thorough
knowledge of music, singing, drawing,
dancing, and the modern languages, to
deserve the word; and besides all this, she
must possess a certain something in her air
and manner of walking, the tone of her voice,
her address and expressions, or the word will
be but half-deserved.”

31.  “I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not
mortified mine.” Chapter-5
 “I am the happiest creature in the world.
Perhaps other people have said so before, but
not one with such justice. I am happier even
than Jane; she only smiles, I laugh.”
 Happy for all her maternal feelings was the
day on which Mrs. Bennet got rid of her two
most deserving daughters. Cha-61
 “To be fond of dancing was a certain step
towards falling in love” Cha-3

32.  A very good beginning which states future
actions of the novel. It gives us hints about
the subject matter of the novel.
 It emphasis on the main plot – relationship
between the eligible bachelor and a graceful
girl.
 There are many obstacles to this union.
 Both external and internal

33.  Economic status of families involved in
relationship.
 Elopement of Lydia with Wickham
 Darcy’s attempt to keep Bingley away from Jane.
 Criticism Elizabeth receives from Bingley
daughters/other ladies.
 Wickham’s lie.
 These are the hindrances which create tension
in the plot of the novel.

34.  Prejudices of characters
 Nature of characters
 Economic perspective
 Tension is resolved when characters do away
their false pride and prejudice.
 When they are open minded.
 The novel ends with happy union of lovers.

35.  The design of the novel: it begins with news
of someone’s arrival, meeting, affection,
separation, and finally union.
 The novel takes a ‘U’ turn when Elizabeth
receives a letter from Darcy.
 The letter is very important as it reveal a
change in Darcy’s nature. Elizabeth comes to
know about the real intention of Darcy in the
case of Jane and Bingley. Wickham’s lie is
caught. The letter helps Elizabeth to get free
from her prejudices.
 The plot is very simple, neat and clear.

36.  https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1342/1342
-h/1342-h.htm
 Todd, Janet. The Cambride Companion to
Pride and Prejudice. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2013.