Becoming Jane (2007) Official Trailer - Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy Movi...

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JANE AUSTEN (1775-1817)

LIMITS

• The same plot (courtship, marriage)
• No overall vision of the historical and social events of her time
• No references to the FRENCH REVOLUTION (1789)
•                             the AMERICAN REVOLUTION (1776)
•                             the NAPOLEONIC WARS (1793-1815)
• No refernces to the problems caused by English urbanization and industrialization
• No concern with the dominant literary movement  of her time (Romanticism)
• Restriction to provincial England

POSITIVE QUALITIES

• Focus on everyday life (dinners, visits, dances, excusrsions)
• Characterization (the country gentry, the middle class, the clergy)
• Objectivity - she seldom intrudes into her works with comments or judgements (unobtrusive)
• Psychological study (a journey towards self-knowledge and self-awareness)
• Humour (unexpected paradoxes)
• Conversations-long dialogues
• Letter-writing
• Precise use of words

Main question

What is a good marriage?

A good marriage is based on calm judgement and on mutual understanding (no wealth or sudden passion)

CHARACTERS- PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Elizabeth Bennet

·               Aged 20, she's the second of five daughters.

·         Her father's favourite, she's not beautiful but really attractive. She's intelligent, playful, witty. 

·         Elizabeth is independent of thought.

·         She can be impulsive.

·         Elizabeth is very loyal, loving and protective 

·         She makes bad errors of judgement

·         She can be mature (she realises the mistakes others have made in marriage; advises her father not        to let Lydia go to Brighton).

·         She's the romantic heroine of the novel.

Fitzwilliam Darcy

·              He's rich, powerful and from a very well-respected family.

·         He can be aloof and superior, easily offending people.

·         He's naturally shy and reserved, which is mistaken for arrogance.

·         Privately, he's loyal and kind (he treats his tenants and servants well).

·         Darcy is very proud.

·         He can be generous with money

·         He's very well mannered and acts like a gentleman on almost every occasion.

·         He loves Elizabeth deeply, but struggles with his pride and prejudices to admit the fact and act            on it.

·         Darcy is the romantic hero of the novel.

Jane Bennet

·             Jane is the eldest of the Bennet girls.

·         She's the most beautiful.

·         She always sees the good in people.

·         Jane isn't capable of being nasty or deceptive.

·         She has a very close  relationship with Elizabeth.

·         

Charles Bingley

·            Bingley is rich but, unlike Darcy, his money comes from his father's business rather than inherited       wealth.

·         He's very easy-going.

·         He isn't a snob, and not particularly bothered about Jane's family background.

·         He seems to be not very strong-minded, because he allows Darcy to persuade him to leave Jane.

George Wickham

·              Wickham is a very handsome, well-mannered man who charms people with his smooth talking.

·         He is good at  deceiving people (including Elizabeth).

·         He grew up with Darcy.

·         Wickham's a selfish guy who, after spending a lot of money given to him by Darcy, tries to elope        with Darcy's 15-year-old sister, Georgiana, to get more money.

·         He successfully elopes with Lydia Bennett (only 16), again to get money.

·         Wickham seems to have no feelings for anyone but himself (this includes Lydia, who becomes his      wife).

·         He can be seen as the opposite of Darcy.

Mrs Bennet

·         Mrs Bennet is the mother figure whose only interest is to see her daughters get married.

·      Her actions are selfish. She's only concerned with how she and her family look to others, rather than   the true happiness of her daughters.

·      Although she's essentially a comic character, she can also be seen as having a destructive influence   on her children.

·     She is moody, changing  from ecstasy to depression, depending on how her daughters' relationships are progressing.

·     Mrs Bennet is ignorant, and not very bright.

·     She's completely without subtlety and embarrasses her family on several occasions with her  direct, loud comments and behavior

Mr Bennet

·         Mr Bennet is the traditional  father and husband who wants an easy life and his children to be happy.

·       He's a 'gentleman' by birth, meaning he inherited his property.

·       He married his wife only for her looks, and regrets doing so, although he tries to make the best of        things.

·       An intelligent man, in contrast to his wife, he often retreats to his library to read and to get some         peace and quiet.

·       He's witty and capable of interesting observations on life and relationships.

·       Mr Bennet is a rather weak and laidback parent, lacking the personality to be a strict father (Elizabeth blames him for Lydia's elopement).

·       He can be insensitive and make comments without realising their cruelty.

·       Despite his faults, he's a likeable character. The genuine love he has for his daughters is obvious.

William Collins

·        Collins is best described by Elizabeth, as "conceited, pompous, narrow-minded, silly".

·      A man of the church, he seems more concerned with his patron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, than  God.

·      He's always formal in his speech and manner. This makes him look ridiculous.

·     Collins is very superficial (he lacks true 'depth' or genuine emotion), He shows that when he proposes to both Elizabeth and Charlotte within a week of each other.

·         

Lady Catherine de Bourgh

·         She's the person with the highest social standing (and Darcy's aunt).

·      Austen develops her character to reflect the very worst attitudes of the upper classes.

·      Lady Catherine's a bully who's full of her own self-importance, which isn't based on anything she's  achieved, simply her inherited wealth and social standing.

·     She's very rude and insensitive.

·     Lady Catherine expects to be obeyed at all times. 

·     Her overbearing nature has made her daughter weak and timid.

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