Pride And Prejudice By Jane Austen - 2347 Words

1. Introductory information The book I chose to read and analyze is a classic novel called Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. This book is humorous in nature and is considered to fall into the genre category Comedy of Manners. Fundamentally, it is a study of human nature, personality defects, and societal missteps directed toward the audience of middle and upper-middle class readers. Jane Austen published Pride and Prejudice in 1813 during England’s Regency period. She published it anonymously with author being â€Å"A Lady† during a time writing wasn’t an accepted occupation for women. This book was written just after the Revolutionary wars in America and France, and written during the war of 1812 and the ongoing Napoleonic Wars. While†¦show more content†¦The basic story line and plot of Pride and Prejudice involves a year in the life of 20 year old Elizabeth Bennet. Because her family has a modest income and no brothers to entail their land to , Elizabeth and her sister’s comfortable lives are in jeopardy, making it necessary that they marry men with good livings. Mrs. Bennet is well aware of this and has made it her primary goal to marry off her daughters as soon as possible. This fervent goal of hers leads to some uncomfortable and even embarrassing behavior by Mrs. Bennet and ultimately her husband and youngest daughters as well. Elizabeth and her older sister Jane seem to be the most sensible and well mannered of the family. The eldest sister Jane has fallen in love with a wealthy, good natured, gentleman named Mr. Bingley. Elizabeth wants to see her sister happy, yet Mr. Darcy is determined that his friend not marry beneath him. This sets up the basic struggle between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy who are continually being thrown together through circumstances. The awkwardness of their first meeting was spurred on by their unyielding personalities. His pride and her prejudice stood in the way of them underst anding each other. Some key themes woven though the pages of this