PrideandPrejudice教程.docx

 PAGE \* MERGEFORMAT 199 傲慢与偏见 英文版 About Author 简.奥斯丁 (1775-1817) 出生在英国汉普郡斯蒂文顿镇的一个牧师家庭，过着祥和、小康的乡居生活。兄弟姐妹共八人，奥斯丁排行第六。她从未进过正规学校，只是九岁时，曾被送往姐姐的学校伴读。她的姐姐卡桑德拉是她毕生最好的朋友，然而奥斯丁的启蒙教育却更多得之于她的父亲。奥斯丁酷爱读书写作，还在十一、二岁的时候，便已开始以写作为乐事了。成年后奥斯丁随全家迁居多次。1817 年，奥斯丁已抱病在身，为了求医方便，最后一次举家再迁。然而在到了曼彻斯特后不过两个多月，她便去世了。死后安葬在温彻斯特大教堂。简·奥斯丁终身未嫁。逝世时仅为四十二岁。 奥斯丁创作的小说，几乎都经过长时间的反复修订改写。她出版的第一部小说是《理智与情感》(1811) 。《傲慢与偏见》(1813) 是她的第二部作品。这两部作品，加上她去世后出版的《诺桑觉寺》(1818) ，都写于十八世纪的九十年代，通常算是她的早期作品。而《曼斯菲尔德庄园》(1814) 、《爱玛》(1816) 与《劝导》(1818) 则写于十九世纪，算是后期作品。 根据《简明不列颠百科全书》的说法，简.奥斯丁是“第一个现实地描绘日常平凡生活中平凡人物的小说家。她的作品反映了当时英国中产阶级生活的喜剧，显示了家庭文学的可能性。她多次探索青年女主角从恋爱到结婚中自我发现的过程。这种着力分析人物性格以及女主角和社会之间紧张关系的做法，使她的小说摆脱十八世纪的传统而接近于现代的生活。正是这种现代性，加上她的机智和风趣，她的现实主义和同情心，她的优雅的散文和巧妙的故事结构，使她的小说能长期吸引读者。当时 (十九世纪初) 流行夸张戏剧性的浪漫小说，已使人们所厌倦，奥斯丁的朴素的现实主义启清新之风，受到读者的欢迎。到二十世纪，人们才认识到她是英国摄政王时期 (1810-1820) 最敏锐的观察者，她严肃地分析了当时社会的性质和文化的质量，记录了旧社会向现代社会的转变。现代评论家也赞佩奥斯丁小说的高超的组织结构，以及她能于平凡而狭窄有限的情节中揭示生活的悲喜剧的精湛技巧。” Chapter 1 Chapter 1 It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. 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. My dear Mr. Bennet, said his lady to him one day, have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last? Mr. Bennet replied that he had not. But it is, returned she; for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it. Mr. Bennet made no answer. Do you not want to know who has taken it? cried his wife impatiently. YOU want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it. This was invitation enough. 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