Jane Austen 1775 1817 Performer Culture Literature Marina

Jane Austen (1775 -1817) Performer - Culture & Literature Marina Spiazzi, Marina Tavella, Margaret Layton © 2012

Jane Austen 1. Jane Austen’s life • Born in Steventon in Hampshire in 1775. • Her father was the rector of the local church. • Spent her life within the circle of her affectionate family. • Her sister Cassandra was her lifelong companion. • Educated at home by her father. • Showed an interest in literature at an early age. The cottage in Chawton where Jane Austen lived the last years of her life. Now it is Jane Austen’s House Museum Performer - Culture & Literature

Jane Austen 1. Jane Austen’s life • Her earliest writings date from 1787. • After her father’s death the family settled in Chawton, a small country village. • There she produced her most mature works. • Died in Winchester in 1817. The cottage in Chawton where Jane Austen lived the last years of her life. Now it is Jane Austen’s House Museum. Performer - Culture & Literature

Jane Austen 2. Main works • Northanger Abbey, written in 1798 but published posthumously. • Sense and Sensibility (1811). • Pride and Prejudice (1813). • Mansfield Park (1814). • Emma (1816). • Persuasion (1818, after her death). Portrait of Jane Austen Performer - Culture & Literature

Jane Austen 3. The debt to the 18 th-century novel From the 18 th-century novelists she learnt: • the insight into the psychology of the characters; • the subtleties of the ordinary events of life balls, walks, tea-parties and visits; • the omniscient narrator; • the technique of dialogue; • the use of verbal and situational irony. Performer - Culture & Literature

Jane Austen 4. The national marriage market • Austen’s values: property, decorum, money and marriage. • Austen’s England: based on the possession of land, parks and country houses. • Marriage: result of the growing social mobility. • The marriage market takes place in London, Bath and some seaside resorts. • Gossip, flirtations, seductions, adulteries happen in these places. • The marriage market produces a range of villains: unscrupulous relatives, seducers and social climbers. Performer - Culture & Literature

Jane Austen 5. The theme of love In Austen’s novels • No place for great passion. • Concern with of character and conduct. • Romantic element of happy ending marriage between the hero and heroine. • Focus on the steps through which the hero / heroine reaches this stage. Performer - Culture & Literature analysis

Jane Austen 6. Pride and Prejudice (1813) • Set in Longbourn, Hertfordshire. • Mr and Mrs Bennet and their five daughters (Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Lydia and Kitty). • Mr Bingley, a rich bachelor, rents the large estate of Netherfield Park nearby. • Mr Bingley falls in love with Jane Bennet. • His friend Mr Darcy, a proud aristocrat, feels attracted to Elizabeth. • Elizabeth cultivates a dislike of Mr Darcy. Performer - Culture & Literature

Jane Austen 6. Pride and Prejudice (1813) • Mr Darcy proposes to Elizabeth but she rejects him. • She accuses him of separating Jane and Mr Bingley. • She accuses him of ill-treating Mr Wickham, a young officer. • Darcy writes her a letter to reveal that Wickham is an adventurer without scruples. Performer - Culture & Literature

Jane Austen 6. Pride and Prejudice (1813) • • Wickham elopes with Lydia. Darcy finds them and organises their marriage. Elizabeth accepts Darcy’s renewed proposal. Bingley and Jane also get married. Performer - Culture & Literature

Jane Austen 6. Pride and Prejudice (1813) Themes • The relationship between the individual and society. • The conflict between the individual’s desires and the individual’s responsibility to society. • The use that the individual makes of freedom and its consequences. • The contrast between imagination and reason. • Love, courtship, and marriage. Performer - Culture & Literature

Jane Austen 7. Elizabeth and Darcy Elizabeth Bennet • has a lively mind; • is capable of complex impressions and ideas; • has a strong spirit of independence; • refuses to take on the roles which her family or society tries to impose on her; • accuses Darcy of pride. Performer - Culture & Literature Fitzwilliam Darcy • knows the principles of right conduct; • is selfish and unsociable; • accuses Elizabeth of prejudice; • is prejudiced by his upbringing and disgusted by the vulgar behaviour of Elizabeth’s mother and younger sisters.

Jane Austen 8. The message of the novel The search for a balance through the gradual change of the main traits of the characters’ personality leads to a reconciliation of themes that they represent. Performer - Culture & Literature

Jane Austen 9. The Novel of Manners Jane Austen is the undisputed master of the novel of manners. Premise Performer - Culture & Literature there is a vital relationship between manners, social behaviour and character

Jane Austen 9. The Novel of Manners Main features • Set in upper- and middle-class society. • Influence of class distinctions on character. • Visits, balls, teas as occasions for joining up. • Main themes: marriage, the complications of love and friendship. • Third-person narrator. • Dialogue: the main narrative mode. • Passions and emotions not expressed directly. • Use of irony. Performer - Culture & Literature