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الآن راح ندخل في الأشياء المهمة
الى ننسئل فيها وقت الامتحان
من المكان و الزمان والشخصيات
الرئيسية و الثانوية وتحليل كل شخصية
و الصراع الى فى القصة و الحبكة و العقدة و الحل
وكمان عن التشبيهات الموجودة فى القصة
وآخر شي راح تلاقو شوية أسئلة
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SETTING
The novel is set in 19th century (1800's) England, principally in Longbourn, the Hertfordshire country town that is a mile from Meryton and twenty-four miles from London. It is a well-ordered, provincial town, filled with landed gentry and oblivious to the sweeping changes occurring outside the fringes of its narrow, circumscribed vision.
LIST OF CHARACTERS
Major Characters
Mrs. Bennet
The match-making mother of five daughters. The wife of Mr. Bennet and "a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper," who embarrasses her older daughters with her lack of class and entertains her husband with her ignorance.
Mr. Bennet
A country gentleman, who is the sometimes irresponsible father of five daughters and the husband of Mrs. Bennet. He is fond of books and can be witty and amusing.
Jane Bennet
The eldest daughter of the Bennets who is pretty, shy, calm, gentle and good-natured; she falls in love with and marries Mr. Bingley.
Elizabeth Bennet (Lizzy)
The second daughter of the Bennets who is lively, intelligent, witty and sensible; she at first strongly dislikes Mr. Darcy and then falls in love with him.
Marry Bennet
The third daughter, who is pedantic, tasteless, plain, vain, silly, and affected.
Catherine Bennet (Kitty)
The fourth daughter, who is almost a non-entity in the novel except for chasing soldiers.
Lydia Bennet
The youngest daughter who is silly, thoughtless, stupid, unprincipled, flirtatious, loud-mouthed and scatter brained; not surprisingly, she is Mrs. Bennet’s favorite daughter. She elopes with
George Wickham
A handsome, militia officer
Rev. Mr. Collins
Mr. Bennet’s cousin who is to inherit Mr. Bennet’s property. He is a pompous, undignified mixture of servility and self- importance.
Charles Bingley
A wealthy country gentleman who is kind and charming. He falls in love with and marries Jane Bennett and is Darcy’s best friend.
Fitzwilliam Darcy
The wealthy, best friend of Charles Bingley who at first is proud, rude, and unpleasant; after falling in love with Elizabeth, he is shown to be discreet, shrewd, generous, and magnanimous; in the end, he wins Elizabeth’s love.
Minor Characters
Georgiana Darcy
The younger sister of Fitzwilliam Darcy who is shy, reserved, and warm-hearted.
Mrs. Reynolds
The trusted housekeeper of Mr. Darcy.
Colonel Fitzwilliam
The cousin of Mr. Darcy who is handsome and well-mannered.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh
Mr. Darcy’s aunt who is arrogant, over-bearing, domineering, interfering, vulgar and affected; she cannot tolerate any opposition.
Ann de Bourgh
Lady Catherine’s daughter who is sickly and coddled by her mother and who has no mind of her own.
Mrs. Jenkinson
Ann de Bourgh’s teacher.
Caroline Bingley
Mr. Bingley’s unmarried sister, who is snobbish, conceited, scheming and jealous.
Mrs. Hurst
Bingley’s married sister who lives a lazy, purposeless life.
Mr. Hurst
Bingley’s brother-in-law, who is lazy and purposeless, like his wife.
George Wickham
A seemingly charming man with attractive manners, who is really selfish, unprincipled, extravagant and prone to gambling; he is the villain of the novel, who elopes with Lydia Bennet
Sir William and Lady Lucas
Neighbors and friends of the Bennet family and parents of Charlotte.
Charlotte Lucas
The eldest daughter in the Lucas family who is plain, practical, intelligent and absolutely unromantic; she is a very close friend of Elizabeth.
Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner
Mrs. Bennet’s brother and his wife who are sensible and refined; Mrs. Gardiner is a confidante of Jane and Elizabeth Bennet.
Mrs. Philips
Mrs. Bennet’s sister, who is as vulgar and ridiculous as her sister; her husband is an attorney.
Mary King
An acquaintance of the Bennet family.
CONFLICT
There are two major conflicts in the novel which develop the plot.
The first plot centers around Mrs. Bennet’s desperate attempts to find suitable husbands for her marriageable daughters.
Protagonist
The Protagonist is Mrs. Bennet, whose ‘business of life’ is to get her daughters married. To this end, she is assiduously devoted throughout the novel. She presses her husband to develop an acquaintance with Mr. Bingley (a promising catch); she encourages the sick Jane to prolong her stay at Netherfield; she is anxious that Elizabeth should consent to Mr. Collins’ proposal and is crestfallen when she does not; she promotes the flippancy of Lydia and Kitty and their red-coat chasing.
Antagonist
Mrs. Bennet’s antagonist is the problem she encounters in getting her daughters married, especially the eldest two. Bingley’s abrupt departure from Netherfield interrupts her plans. This and Elizabeth’s denial to marry the odious Mr. Collins seems to thwart her matrimonial scheme of things. Lydia’s elopement and the consequent stigma also strikes at the heart of her scheme; ironically, she does not comprehend its fatality.
Climax
The climax of this plot is the engagement of Elizabeth to Darcy. Lydia has already eloped with Wickham, and Jane has accepted Bingley’s proposal. All three of her eldest daughters are to be married.
Outcome
The outcome of the conflict is a happy one. Mrs. Bennet’s match-making problems are solved, for her eligible daughters are either engaged or married at the point of climax.
The second plot revolves around Darcy trying to win Elizabeth’s love.
Protagonist
Fitzwilliam Darcy, a handsome and proud aristocrat, falls in love with Elizabeth. He is attracted by her fine eyes, elegant figure, buoyancy of spirit, quick wit, and intelligence.
Antagonist
Darcy’s antagonist is the various ‘obstacles’ he has to overcome in order to win the love of Elizabeth, including her vulgar and indiscreet mother, Wickham’s false accounts of him, and Elizabeth’s own prejudice against him. Elizabeth finds him exceedingly proud and at first strongly dislikes him.
Climax
A high point in the rising action is Lydia’s elopement, for it threatens to thwart the relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth; but, on the contrary, it gives Darcy an opportunity to prove his love for Elizabeth by using his influence to get Wickham to marry Lydia. In turn, Elizabeth realizes the true worth of Darcy. When Darcy proposes to her a second time, he has lost his pride and she has given up her prejudice. The climax occurs when she eagerly accepts his proposal.
Outcome
This plot ends in comedy for Darcy accomplishes his goal, winning the love of Elizabeth and her hand in marriage.
SHORT PLOT SUMMARY (Synopsis)
Pride and Prejudice is the story of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their five unmarried daughters. They live in the estate of Longbourn in Hertfordshire, a rural district about thirty miles from London. The family is not rich. Their property is ‘entailed’ to pass to the nearest male heir in the family, in this case to Mr. Collins. The main concern of Mrs. Bennet’s life is to see that all her daughters are married, preferably to men with large fortunes. She sees an opportunity for her eldest daughter Jane when Mr. Charles Bingley, a wealthy gentlemen from the city, occupies the nearby estate of Netherfield Park. In her excitement, she urges her husband to visit Mr. Bingley on the very first day of his arrival, before any of the other neighbors. Mr. Bennet complies to his wife’s request and visits Mr. Bingley, but withholds information about his visit from the family.
At the next social gathering in Meryton, Bingley brings along his two sisters, Caroline Bingley and Louisa Hurst. But more importantly, he brings his closest friend, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Bingley, who is charming and social, is immediately attracted to the modest and gentle Jane Bennet. Darcy, in contrast to Bingley, is proud, rude, and disagreeable. When Bingley suggests that Darcy dance with Elizabeth Bennet, he refuses and negatively comments on her looks. Elizabeth overhears the comment and develops a strong prejudice against Darcy. At the next ball in Netherfield, Darcy feels an attraction for Elizabeth and asks her for a dance. She refuses to dance with him, thereby avenging the earlier insults.
Jane and Bingley continue to be attracted to one another. Caroline Bingley invites Jane to Netherfield for a visit. While at Netherfield, Jane falls ill and Elizabeth comes to look after her sister. While at Netherfield, Elizabeth is forced to confront Darcy. She approaches him with wit and sarcasm. Since Darcy has known only flattery from others, he is charmed by Elizabeth’s frankness. During her short stay at Netherfield, Elizabeth realizes Caroline is very contemptuous of her family, its social status, and Mrs. Bennet’s vulgarity. Elizabeth concludes that Caroline’s friendship and cordiality towards Jane is only a pretense.
The male relative to whom the Longbourn estate is ‘entailed’ is Rev. William Collins of Hunsfort. Mr. Collins pays a visit to Longbourn with the intention of proposing marriage to one of the Bennet daughters. His pompous manners and his bloated rhetoric disgust everyone, except Mrs. Bennet, who looks upon him as a prospective son-in-law. Collins is attracted to Jane, but Mrs. Bennet informs him that she is about to be engaged. He then turns his attention to Elizabeth and makes a ridiculous proposal of marriage to her. When Elizabeth rejects him, he proposes to her friend Charlotte Lucas, who, to everyone’s shock, accepts him. Mrs. Bennet is distressed by Elizabeth’s rejection of Mr. Collins because it is the one opportunity she has of keeping the Longbourn estate in the family.
Bingley and his companions soon depart for London. Both Bingley and Caroline write to Jane to say that they have closed Netherfield and have no plans of returning to it in the near future. Jane is very disappointed. As Jane feels frustration over Bingley, Elizabeth finds a new attraction. She meets Mr. Wickham and is foolishly and magnetically drawn to him. They have a friendly conversation in which she reveals her dislike of Darcy. Taking advantage of this information, Wickham concocts a story and tells Elizabeth that he has been cheated by Darcy. Elizabeth takes pity on him and almost falls in love. Mrs. Gardiner, however, warns Elizabeth about Wickham, who soon marries Miss King.
At the invitation of the Gardiners, Jane goes to London for some rest and change of air. She hopes that she sees Bingley, even accidentally. Jane makes many attempts to get in touch with him, but Caroline does not even inform her brother about Jane’s presence in London. Jane is heart broken, but grows to accept her rejection.
SHORT PLOT SUMMARY (Synopsis) (continued)
Elizabeth goes to Hunsford to visit Mr. Collins and his new wife Charlotte, who is Elizabeth’s dear friend. During Elizabeth’s stay in Hunsford, Darcy happens to visit his aunt, who also lives there, and attempts to build a relationship with Elizabeth. To her surprise, Darcy proposes marriage to her in a language so arrogant that Elizabeth turns him down indignantly. She asks him how he dares to propose to her after separating Jane and Bingley, who were in love with each other, and after victimizing Wickham. She ends her tirade by saying that she would not marry him even if he were the last man on the earth. Darcy is upset and leaves in a huff. The next morning he meets Elizabeth when she goes out for a walk and hands her a long letter that answers all her accusations. He explains to her that he did not believe that Jane was really in love with Bingley. He also tells her the truth about Wickham. Elizabeth is shocked by his answers.
There is also another shock awaiting her. Her youngest sister Lydia has been invited to Brighton by a young officer’s wife. Lydia is very excited about the trip; but Elizabeth knows how stupid, scatter brained, and flirtatious Lydia is. She tries to persuade her father not to allow Lydia to go to Brighton. Her father, however, dismisses Elizabeth’s fears.
Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner plan a tour of the Lake District and take Elizabeth with them. At the last minute, however, the tour is cut short and the Gardiners decide to restrict their trip to Derbyshire, where Darcy has his vast estate in Pemberley. Elizabeth makes sure that Darcy is away on business and then agrees to visit Pemberley, out of sheer curiosity. Pemberley is one of the most beautiful places she has ever visited, and Darcy’s elegant tastes are evident everywhere. To top it all, Ms. Reynolds, the housekeeper who has known Darcy since his childhood, speaks very highly of him, saying he is just and fair. Elizabeth cannot believe that she has made such a mistake in judging his character. As Elizabeth is looking over Pemberley’s lovely grounds, Darcy himself appears, returning a day before he is expected. He looks surprised to see Elizabeth, and she is intensely embarrassed. He is polite to her and the Gardiners, and Elizabeth notices that there is no trace of pride in him.
The following day, Bingley calls on Elizabeth, and his anxious inquiries about Jane indicate that he is still in love with her. Darcy and his beautiful sister, Georgiana, also call on Elizabeth at the inn to invite her and the Gardiners to dinner. Elizabeth accepts the dinner invitation. During the dinner, Caroline tries her best to destroy the friendly relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth by running down Elizabeth’s family, but she does not succeed. Darcy is fond of Elizabeth.
News comes that Lydia has eloped with Wickham, so Elizabeth leaves Derbyshire with the Gardiners to return home. All attempts at tracing the runaway couple have failed. Darcy, touched by Elizabeth’s distress over Lydia, seeks to find her and catches up with the couple in London. Darcy convinces Wickham to marry Lydia, gives him ten thousand pounds, pays up his debts, and persuades him to settle in the North of London. Darcy then requests that the Gardiners not reveal his help to the Bennet family. Elizabeth, however, finds out the truth about Darcy’s assistance. She is impressed with his kindness.
Bingley makes an unannounced reappearance at Netherfield Park, and renews his courtship of Jane. They are soon engaged. Lady Catherine also arrives unannounced and acts very haughty towards the Bennet family. She threatens Elizabeth with dire consequences if she marries Darcy, but Elizabeth refuses to promise that she will not accept a proposal from Darcy. A few days later, Darcy comes to visit and makes a second proposal of marriage to Elizabeth. This time she accepts wholeheartedly. He thanks Elizabeth for teaching him the lesson of humility.
The two couples, Jane and Bingley and Elizabeth and Darcy, are married on the same morning. Mrs. Bennet is overjoyed at having three of her daughters married, two of them to very rich young men. After a year’s stay at Netherfield Park, Bingley purchases an estate in Derbyshire. His mother-in-law’s tiresome company and her vulgar behavior are too much even for his calm temperament. The novel finally ends on a note of reconciliation with all of the characters trying to forgive and forget past insults.
THEMES
Major Themes
The pivotal theme is that marriage is important to individuals and society. Throughout the novel, the author describes the various types of marriages and reasons behind them. Marriage out of economic compulsions can be seen in Charlotte’s marriage to Collins. Marriage due to sensual pleasure can be seen in Lydia’s marriage. The marriage of Jane and Elizabeth are the outcome of true love between well-matched persons.
Another major theme is that pride and prejudice both stand in the way of relationships, as embodied in the persons of Darcy and Elizabeth respectively. Pride narrows the vision of a person and causes one to underestimate other mortals. Prejudice blinds the vision and leads to false perceptions about others. Darcy’s pride and Elizabeth’s prejudice come in the way of understanding each other and keep them apart. Only when Darcy becomes more humble and Elizabeth becomes more accepting can they relate to one another and find happiness together.
Minor Themes
A minor theme found in the novel is appearance versus reality, with Austen stressing that a person cannot be judged by his/her outer being. During the course of the book, several characters are not properly judged, for good conduct does not necessarily mean good character, just as a pretty face does not indicate a pure soul.
Another theme stressed by the author is that in order to display good sense, a vitally important characteristic, a person must possess intelligence, sensitivity, and responsibility. Each of the major characters in the novel is judged against these three important criteria.
MOOD
The mood throughout the novel is formal and realistic to its nineteenth century setting. Even though it is a novel about love and marriage, it is not romantic and emotional, but realistic and practical.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION - BIOGRAPHY
JANE AUSTEN
Jane Austen was born in 1775 at Steventon, Hampshire in southern England, where her father was a minister. She was the sixth child in a family of seven children. The family was very close, and Jane had a particular closeness to her sister Cassandra. Although she attended boarding school for a short while, she was mostly educated at home. Both she and Cassandra were attractive and attended country parties; neither of them married, although Jane had several proposals. Much of Jane’s life is captured in the letters that she wrote to her sister, but Cassandra cut out any references there might have been about Jane’s intimate, private life and her innermost thoughts. In spite of the missing information, the letters retain flashes of sharp wit and occasional coarseness
Jane began to write at a young age. Pride and Prejudice, her most popular novel, was the first to be written, although not the first published. She wrote on it for several years and finally completed it as First Impressions in 1797. It, however, was not accepted for publication until 1813, when it appeared with its current version with its new title. As a result, Sense and Sensibility was published first, in 1811. Her other four novels, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion were all published between 1814 and 1818. She also wrote six minor works and one unfinished novel. Because she wanted to avoid attention, most of her work was not published under her name.
When Mr. Austen retired in 1801, the family moved to Bath, where they lived until Mr. Austen’s death. The family then moved to Southampton in 1806, to Chawton in 1809, and then again to Hampshire. A few days before her sudden death in 1817, she lodged in Winchester.
THE SOCIAL BACKGROUND
A general knowledge of the social and cultural setting in which a novel is written is important, for most novels mirror the customs and values of a particular society, often criticizing it. The Hertfordshire country town where the greater part of the novel is set is Longbourn, only a mile from the market town of Meryton and 24 miles from London. The neighborhood around the Bennets is large, for they dine with twenty-four different families, only three of which are named. The Bennet’s society is drawn largely from Meryton (which is the mother’s background) rather than from the country (which is the father’s), for she is more sociable than her husband. Mrs. Bennet, however, is without social ambition except for her desire to have her daughters marry rich men.
Pride and Prejudice is, thus, set among the rural middle and upper classes who are landowners. None of the major characters works, for these moneyed classes live entirely on their income from rents and inheritances. There are, however, petty distinctions among the landed classes, determined by the amount of wealth possessed by the members. For instance, Miss Bengali and her sister look down on the Bennets because they are not as wealthy. Class distinctions in Jane Austen’s time were in fact very rigid. The land-owning aristocracy belonged to the highest rung of the social ladder, and all power was in their hands. Next in rank came the gentry. The new, prosperous industrialists and traders (like Mr. Gardiner) were gradually rising as a class, but had still not won the right to vote. The lowest in English society were the workers and laborers.
For the women of the time, life was largely restricted to the home and the family. For the poor and the lower-class women, there was ample work in the home and in the fields to keep them busy. But for the ladies of the landed upper-classes, life was one big round of dances, dinners, cards, and visits to friends and relatives. They were not required to do any household work. "Ladies," thus, lived a life of ease and leisure, mainly concerned with society, children, and marriage. By the nineteenth century, the upper classes no longer arranged marriages. Instead, a girl was introduced to society (and eligible bachelors) at a reception hosted by a married woman who had herself been presented. Generally, a girl "came out" only after her elder sister was married. (No wonder Lady Catherine is shocked when she hears that all of Elizabeth’s sisters have started dating before she is wed.)
Women’s education in the nineteenth century was restricted to the daughters of a few families of the upper classes. In most cases, it was thought to be a waste of time to educate girls. Rich and noble families (like that of Lady Catherine de Bourgh) engaged governesses for educating their daughters or sent them away to boarding school, but most women were self-educated at home.
Traveling in Jane Austen’s time was accomplished in horse- drawn carriages, and a family’s social status was determined by its kind of carriage. Because carriages were slow, travel was limited. Communication of mail and news was also slow, and there were no daily newspapers. As a result, the outside world does not play a part in Austen’s novels. Instead, she turns her attention in entirety to the things she knew: family and values.
THE LITERARY BACKGROUND
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice appeared on the English literary scene in 1813. The author had worked on its realistic style and content for more than fifteen years, for she was a perfectionist in her approach to writing. Her first novel was unlike any of the hundreds of others written at the time, which were mainly Romantic (filled with emotion and passionate) or Gothic (filled with horror). Austen was the first novelist to portray realistic characters by using the direct method of telling a story in which dialogue and comment take an important place. She used the method to dissect the hypocrisy of individuals and the society in which they played their games of love and courtship.
From the beginning, Austen’s literature centered on character studies, where a person’s common sense (or lack of it) was developed in detail. The chosen setting was always limited to a small social group of the upper classes and composed of a few families. Family life was always central to her works. Her novels also portrayed traditional values and a belief in rationality, responsibility, and restraint. But she often viewed the human condition, with its many weaknesses, through humor, irony, and sarcasm, with her undesirable characters portrayed as ignorant, proud, or silly human beings, not evil villains.
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Discuss the social background of Pride and Prejudice. Explain how this background is important to the novel.
2. Who is the main protagonist of Pride and Prejudice and what/who is the antagonist. How is the conflict between them resolved?
3. Comment on the opening statement of the novel and elucidate on how it reveals the theme of the book.
4. Analyze the plot for its structure.
5. Explain how the title relates to the book.
6. Compare and contrast Jane and Elizabeth.
7. Compare and contrast Bingley and Darcy.
8. How does Austen develop the misunderstanding between Darcy and Elizabeth and how is it resolved?
9. Discuss Pride and Prejudice as an exposition of the life and manners of a microcosm of nineteenth -century English society.
10. Several characters in the plot are responsible for the Elizabeth-Darcy union. Who are they and what have they done, intentionally or unintentionally, to bring the couple together.
11. Explain all the different kinds of marriages that are seen in the novel. Which marriage does Austen seem to consider the most effective and why?
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