Nicole K. Project

Pride and Prejudice

A) The media used for my project is a book.

B) Pride and Prejudice combats many issues for being such an old book, primarily based in the 1800's, issues such as women's rights aswell as the trivial priorities of the rich.

C) "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." The line stands alone from any other point or paragraph, maintaining the status as the central theme for the novel. In the particular time, women in order to survive needed to wholey rely on men for survival and status, since it was believed women did not have a lot to contribute to society. Women rarely inherited property--that was saved for the men of the family, without a husband were forced to live in poverty or take up the rest of their lives in a convent, and had very few, perhaps if any, legal rights. Nowadays, woman can indeed fend for themselves without the need of a man, and instead competing against other women for men, they compete for a respectable place in the work force.

Throughout Pride and Prejudice, those who could indeed afford to go to balls certainly attended, for it was a gathering of the more fortunate. The certain people who made a pretty penny, such as Mr. Darcy who recieved 10,000 per annum, or Mr. Bingley who recieved 5,000 per annum were given more regard from the upper class than perhaps those who man 200 per annum, or even 1,000 per annum. Starting chapter XVI, Mr. Collins takes notice to Lady Catherines chimney, "The chimney-piece alone had cost eight hundred pounds." (Pg.57) Chimney-pieces were mainly the centre of a room, and the better chimney-piece one had, if one at all, determined the wealth of said person. Nowadays, not many people focus on chimney's, most focus on having a roof over their head, or having enough money instead of living paycheck to paycheck.

D) The target audience for Pride and Prejudice varies, being a book that was written over 200 years ago, most people of my generation would not choose to read such a novel for the language that it is written in, and the topic on top of that. Most teenagers aren't interested in reading a book that dates as far back as Pride and Prejudice does, but I'd say, if one had the interest and the understanding of such language they could try and tackle the book. An appropriate age group would be 16/17 and up.

E) Comparisons arise throughout the entirety of Pride and Prejudice, usually comparing the lives of Mr. Darcy and the Bingley's compared to the lives of The Bennets. Those who had more of a status in the upper class, seemed from those below them, to have a more air of pride in everything that they intended to do, even walking, talking, or attending formal events. Pride is another major theme in Pride and Prejudice, hence the title..aswell as prejudice..and they tie together perfectly.

"Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously...Pride relates more to our opinions of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us."

  Emotional appeal is another technique Jane Austen uses to get her points across. The story, though it has deeper issues is centrally based on a love story that could go head to head with many other love stories and come out on top. Jane Austen was ahead for her time, and her stories seem to last the test of time, so the story brings in most of the target audience and then introduces them to the other issues.

Jane Austen uses elevated language and powerful images throughout her novel, not as pictures, but as the writing she presents Pride and Prejudice in. As women had not many rights back in the 1800's, Pride and Prejudice makes Austen's opinion come across as not sudden, direct and angry, but as just a situation and problem that women should not be subjected to. And that marrying a man is not every women's true hope and goal in life. "

  "Loss of virtue in a female is irretrievable; that one false step involves her in endless ruin; that her reputation is no less brittle than it is beautiful; and that she cannot be too much guarded in her behaviour towards the undeserving of the other sex."

Contrast is the 4th way that Austen chooses to get both issues across in the book. She makes each issue stand out among the rest of the novel per chapter, without overpowering and 'watering down' the rest of the content in the book. Each issue, aswell as the background love story, complete the story to make it truly memorable to those who read it, to not understand the story but understand the issues presented.

F) Those who love reading, and those who have already read Pride and Prejudice will eat up the content just aswell as someone who chooses to watch the movie, or not watch the movie or read the book. The issues are there, Jane Austen chooses to bring them into the light.