pride and prejudice英美文学讲解ppt.pptVIP

Jane Austen was born at Steventon Parsonage, Hampshire, England, on December 16, 1775, the seventh of eight children. She was educated, in the main, by her minister-father, and began her literary career by writing parodies and sketches for the amusement of her family. Her first twenty-six years were spent in the quiet of the rectory. In 1801 the Austen family moved to Bath in an attempt to restore the health of the father. Upon his death in 1817 . Mary Bennet is the most serious of all the Bennet girls, partly because she is the least attractive sister. Mrs. Bennet had hoped that she could be persuaded to marry Mr. Collins on his next visit, as she found him somewhat interesting, and suitably serious, but otherwise she is not very interested in society, seeing balls as a duty rather than a pleasure. She is rather dull and around the age of 18 in the beginning of the novel. Catherine Bennet (called Kitty), although two years older than her sister Lydia at age 17, is somewhat of a sidekick to her. She follows everything that Lydia does, and becomes very jealous when only Lydia is invited to go to Brighton with the troops, as she wishes to go herself. However, once Jane and Elizabeth marry Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy, respectively, Kittys personality and ways change due to the change in society that she experiences by staying often with two eldest sisters and by the absence of Lydias corrupting influence. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. In this statement, Austen has cleverly done three things: She has declared that the main subject of the novel will be courtship and marriage, She has established the humorous tone of the novel by taking a simple subject to elaborate and to speak intelligently of She has prepared the reader for a chase in the novel of either a husband in search of a wife, or a women in pursuit of a husband.  Theme Satire Tone Point of View Mood