Toponymy in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

[buchwald]

As it seems, I have moved from Blake to Jane Austen. Indeed, this topic is something quite new to me. Yet, while reading Pride And Prejudice, I figured out that places figured in the novel could have an important place. What do you think?

[sciencefan]

As it seems, I have moved from Blake to Jane Austen. Indeed, this topic is something quite new to me. Yet, while reading Pride And Prejudice, I figured out that places figured in the novel could have an important place. What do you think?
~Welcome to the forum!~

I'm sorry to put a damper on your topic... I enjoy reading between the lines as much as the next person, but I do dislike it when people go too far and imagine things that aren't there. My sister will do that; she will intuit based on her feelings, where I prefer intuition based on logic.

I have spent over a half hour just now searching out opinions on the internet regarding toponymy and symbolism in Pride and Prejudice, and the consensus I found was that Austen barely uses symbolism at all. Not only that, but Austen barely describes the surroundings of her characters. I think that if toponymy were that important to her, she would have spent more ink on it. Additionally, I would think she wouldn't have half blanked out some of the names of the places where the militia in the story were going to.


List of important places in Pride and Prejudice (http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/ppjalmap.html)

"She uses symbolism sparingly but successfully; for example, the ordered, austere beauty of Darcy's grounds and home at Pemberley represents his real nature." (http://encarta.msn.com/sidebar_701509625/Pride_and_Prejudice.html)

"Pride and Prejudice is remarkably free of explicit symbolism, which perhaps has something to do with the novel’s reliance on dialogue over description." (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/pride/themes.html)

"This estate, the only symbol in the novel, is of Mr. Darcy himself." (http://shanethmeg31153.tripod.com/id1.html)

"Editor Tony Tanner points out in the Notes to the Penguin Classics (http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/pride_and_prejudice.html) edition that Austen did not mention topical events nor use precise descriptions of actual places in Pride and Prejudice, so that the larger historical events of the time did not detract attention from the private drama of her characters. "This perhaps contributes to the element of timelessness in the novel," he concludes, "even though it unmistakably reflects a certain kind of society at a certain historical moment.""


Having proposed all that though, I will say that I love Jane Austen just the way she is. She's my favorite author. I love her wisdom and her wit.

If you're looking for toponymy, I have read that Jane Eyre will not disappoint.

[Newcomer]

As it seems, I have moved from Blake to Jane Austen. Indeed, this topic is something quite new to me. Yet, while reading Pride And Prejudice, I figured out that places figured in the novel could have an important place. What do you think?

An unusual perspective!
Do you mean places in geographic or symbolic sense? Also do you read this from the text or as a free interpretation? Stand-alone or connected to character? It would be very helpful if you expanded on what you mean. However welcome to the discussion, a perspective from poetics should be instructive as well as a relief from the usual gushing.