Pride & Prejudice Assistance

ok i need a bit of assistance with completing my pride and prejudice novel review packet, and i was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping me out.

1.What are some of the symbols in the novel?

2.What is the significance of the opening scene? Closing scene?
{i wasnt sure about this one but i was thinking for the beginning ms.bennet was wanting for one of her daughters to get married so their house wouldn't be taken away from them. For the ending i was thinking how not only did ms.bennet have one married daughter, but she had 4/5 of them married}

3. What is this novel's setting?? [i know england and london but those are two broad]

4.What genre is this novel?

4. All her novels, including this one seem to belong to the conservative, anti-jacobin tradition. This view can be problematised but the elements of these forms in her novels are undeniable.

2. I think that another significance is the way both the opening and the closing scene of the play can be read in economic/ financial terms. While the first sentence talks about 'fortune' and 'want', the last scene almost reads like a successful transaction, like a debt being closed. In the first setence of ch.61, mrs. Bennet is happy because she "got rid of" her 2 daughters.And then somewhere in the middle of the chap, there is a mention of 'every arrear' of 'civility' being 'paid off'. And, no she doesnt have 4 but 3 daughters married by the end.

3. Hertfordshire, to the North of London, Longbourne, Netherfield Park,.. Derbyshire, on the level of Liverpool, but in the middle of the map. Pemberley is supposed to be located there. Kent, to the South-East of London, where Catherine the Bourgh's Rosings is supposed to be situated. And London of course, which you mentioned already...
If you want ore explanation and a map tke a look here: http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/ppjalmap.html

4. This seems to be a very difficult question because it seems as if Jane Austen really had her own style. She operated in the times between sensibility and romanticism and realism. When Goethe started the novel of sensibility (nothing but feeling), Jane Austen starts to react against it with English reservation... Of course this probably has to do with the French Revolution that brought a total new beginning to everything on the continent. Yet in England the monarchy stayed and society was not rocked. Austen started the 'comedy of manners' where people of high status are often critisised and satirised... She applied the method of 'free indirect speech', using the vocabulary one character would have used (in this case Lizzy) to describe what happens. Thus one gets to read all the prejudices and opinions of this character.

2. In the first the first impressions are made: Mrs Bennet is totally dependent on Mr Bennet for making Bingley acquainted with the family, because he is a man. It is clear straight away that Mrs Bennet doesn't talk to Mr Bennet, apart from when there is something important, and that Mr Bennet is not at all impressed with his daughters apart from Lizzy, who's got something in her head. Mrs Bennet on the other hand favours Jane because she is handsome. The difference between Mr and Mrs Bennet is apparent and clearly this is a marriage without much affection... In the last chapter the conclusion takes place and the chapter starts again with Mrs Bennet who should be less on edge about her daughters, but who is not. Fortunately for Mr Bennet, as he still can laugh at her sillyness. It is also clear that Mrs Bennet is overbearing and that Jane and Bingley need to move away because of it. Kitty and Mary both improve themselves because they are no longer left to themselves. Taking over the roles of Jane and Elizabeth makes Mary less cut-off from the world and Kitty less idle and impulsive (like Lydia). The parents have learnt because they don't let Kitty go to Newcastle... Lydia's cause is lost, however, with the an indifferent husband who spends too much money. It proves the fact that a marriage should never be taken lightly, and also that one can't entirely depend upon first impressions. Miss Bingley in the end swallows her pride for status as she now needs to be more than civil to Elizabeth as mistress of Pemberley if she still wants to come (and probably have a second chance of meeting a new Darcy-like man with a lot of status). Darcy is now subjected to the liveliness of Elizabeth (just what he needed accoring to her aunt), to the alarm of Georgiana who (probably) always saw her ten year older brother rather as a father-figure. She now has an example and a 'sister' to talk to. Lady Catherine de Bourgh in the end needs to swallow her pride and prejudices as well, after a short disagreement with her nephew. The Gardiners are on good terms with both Darcy and Elizabeth, because it is them who brought them together in the end... The only less positive point of the end is that Mr Bennet so much misses his daughter Lizzy that he often goes to Pemberley. She was the only person that he really respected and esteemed...
Actually, if you compare the two chapters, it seems as if the question is asked: 'Who is the happiest? The ones who fell for status and outer appearence (Lydia, Mr Bennet who married Mrs Bennet for her beauty and will soon be stuck with her when the rest is married off, Lady Catherine de Bourgh who wanted her sickly daughter to marry Darcy and who falls out with him and in the end needs to accept Elizabeth anyway), or the ones that carefully weighed their judgement and wanted contents (Darcy and Elizabeth, Georgiana who learns from Elizabeth, though biassed by her brother's account of Elizabeth; the Gardiners who were biassed by the account of the housekeeper of Pemberley and Darcy's new self)?
I think the question of Kitty and Mary still needs to be resolved, but Mary needs to become less secluded and Kitty needs to gain contents. A healthy balance needs to be obtained...
Jane and Bingley's marriage I find a little odd amongst all the satire and it proves that the strickt and subtle system could work, but only for some. Bingley and Jane fall in love straight away and get married and are happy despite the fact of knowing nearly nothing about each other. But on the other hand Darcy and Elizabeth's marriage would never have taken place if it were for the system itself because Darcy gave a first impression that was too negative. However the refusal of Elizabeth does shake him. Certainly her words 'if you only had behave in a more gentlemanlike manner' do skock him to his core. The trip with the Gardiners and certainly the problems with Lydia give his new self the chance to shine. They supply Elizabeth with esteem for her (future) husband, according to her father essential to be happy (he can vow that as he doesn't respect his wife at all). Nevertheless, if they wouldn't have taken place Darcy would have kept his hateful reputation, others wouldn't have esteemed him (apart from people like Mrs Bennet and Mr Collins who only see status) and they would certainly not have understood Elizabeth (like Mr Bennet initially).

Your first question I would also be enlightned about because I can't see any symbols, I'm afraid.

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Originally Posted by kiki1982

The only less positive point of the end is that Mr Bennet so much misses his daughter Lizzy that he often goes to Pemberley. She was the only person that he really respected and esteemed...

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Is there evidence that Mr Bennet has less respect for angelic Jane?

1. symbols · The novel is light on symbolism, except on the visit to Pemberley, which is described as being “neither formal, nor falsely adorned,” and is clearly meant to symbolize the character of Mr. Darcy.

3. setting (time) · Some point during the Napoleonic Wars (1797-1815)

setting (place) · Longbourn, in rural England

4. genre · Comedy of manners


---for additional informations visit this link--

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/pride/facts.html

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Originally Posted by Gladys

Is there evidence that Mr Bennet has less respect for angelic Jane?

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Well, in the first chapter Mr Bennet clearly states that he prefers Lizzy and that the rest of his daughters is silly. So, less esteem for even Jane? Yes, I do think so. Mrs Bennet prefers Jane because she is the handsomest. Mr Bennet prefers Lizzy because she's the most intelligent and the least idle of mind. The fact that he goes to Pemberley rather than to Netherfield or the other mansion and that Mrs Bennet goes to Netherfield rather than to Pemberley says a lot about both of their views.
Although Elizabeth seems to spend a lot of time with Jane, Mr Bennet is not interested... (Because he is too much rapped up in his own judgement?) Elizabeth in the end sees the point of Jane's complacency in everything, but Mr Bennet still sits in his library and only goes out to stay at Pemberley 'when he is least expected'. Does that mean he is finally able to be a little more open sometimes, like Darcy, 'when he is least expected' and has seen the error of his ways?
I don't think the relationships are about respect. Of course he has respect, but esteem is what is really the question... He respects the nerves of his wives, but esteem them??? What's more Mr Bennet actually says that he likes, of all his sons-in-law, Wickham the best... Why? Because he had the guts to do something that was not expected at all and in the end even get out of trouble for it? Of course he is sadled with a wife he is indifferent to now, much like Mr Bennet, but he now does get support moneywise.

About the time: it is indeed during the Napoleonic Wars. Pride and Prejudice, they think, was a reworked version of First Impressions, refused for publication in 1797.

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Originally Posted by kiki1982

Elizabeth in the end sees the point of Jane's complacency in everything, but Mr Bennet still sits in his library and only goes out to stay at Pemberley 'when he is least expected'.

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Thanks, Kiki, for an elegant analysis of Mr Bennet.

I wonder whether Jane Austen shares Mr Bennet's preference for Elizabeth over Jane. Is Jane really 'complacent'? I would have said optimistic, generous, principled, tolerant, long-suffering and accepting. These are traits neither Mr Bennet nor his daughter, Elizabeth, possess in great measure.

I didn't mean complacent in the strict sense of the word, but rather in Elizabeth's perception (free indirect peach?)... Of course Jane's optimism is more right than Elizabeth's judgement, particularly in the case of Darcy who could count more on Jane to presume that he had reason to be like that to Wickham than on Elizabeth who chose Wickham's side straight away.

Jane Austen wrote in free indirect speach so in a way she puts forward the opinion of Elizabeth in everything. Whatever title of the book you choose, either the first First Impressions or the commercial one Pride and Prejudice, the story is not about seeing the two sides of each story as Jane, but rather judging on first impressions... I don't know if Austen favoured Jane's view or Elizabeth's. Maybe she esteemed Elizabeth more because she at least had an opinion and didn't really undergo everything. After the engagement it says somewhere that Miss Bingley wrote to Jane about her affection etc. And that Jane wasn't deceived, because of what happened earlier (no visits or letters and the fact that she was in London kept secret from Mr Bingley). In that case she did learn from Elizabeth: to be civil to Caroline, but not more than that... Austen found that some women were too easy on others and sometimes themselves. Something like that?

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Originally Posted by kiki1982

In that case she did learn from Elizabeth: to be civil to Caroline, but not more than that

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Again, I must agree with all except the quote, unless I have misconstrued.

Surely, angelic Jane, who puts the best construction on everything, would have been civil to the queen of she-devils, irrespective of any role-model of civility provided by Elizabeth? If anything, did not Jane's civility influence Elizabeth?

Ok, seems that I wrote too quickly... Always my problem...

So I meant to say that Jane is civil to Miss Bingley, but not more than that. In the beginning she doesn't see through Caroline and thinks that she likes her, and that is not really the case. In the end, caroline writes her a letter, but she is not deceived, so she is still civil (which she indeed would have been to even she-devils) but she doesn't make herself any illusion anymore about the true nature of Caroline's niceness (she needs to be friendly to her in oder not to vex her brother, the same as to Elizabeth in order to stay friends with Darcy and pinck the fruits of that).

Of course, the other way around Elizabeth learns from Jane in the way that she now can see that Jane was right that the feud between Darcy and Wickham had its reasons. Elizabeth herself can now maybe be less quick in her judgement...