pride and prejudice HELP!!!

[jdiamonddiva]

hi there i currently have to prepare a 5-10min presentation for my gcse oral about the heroes and villains in pride and prejudice. i want to relate to other 18th century heroes and villains used in other books by other authors at the time but am a little stuck since i do not read many 18th century novels!!

if you have an ideas about ideas of things to include in my presentation or comparisons that i can make to other characters written at the time or ideas of where to find information it would be much appreciated

thank you!!!! :)

[dramasnot6]

you might want to look up the style of romanticism. i find that a study of characters in a text as a societal device or reflection of a commonly portrayed social archetype of the context the text was written in, can often be clarified by looking at both the cultural context of the time and the conventions of the predominant style of the time. In this case, romanticism. Once you get a grasp on what it means to be a "hero" or "villain" in terms of romanticism and the 18th century, look at some other popular texts written at the time and see if you can apply your understanding to another character.
Or maybe you can read some more Jane Austen and compare characters within her texts and how those relate to and reflect the style and beliefs of her context around "heros and villains".

Hope that was of some use!

[Scheherazade]

As a teacher, my advice would be not to include the books you have not read in your presentation. Reading about a book and characters is not same as actually reading them and if anyone asks you further questions on your references, you might end up looking kind of... sad.

So, make a list of 19th century books you have read (Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813 so technically it is a 19th century novel) and see how they relate to the P&P and its characters. You could also look at other books you have read from other eras and see how they compare. For example, a modern day example is Bridget Jones's Diary: We have the heroine with a ridiculous mother and helpless father; a Darcy, who seems aloof and 'misunderstood'; A Wickham who initially attracts our herione etc. :D