Jane Austen 1775 1817 Performer Heritage Marina Spiazzi

Jane Austen (1775 -1817) Performer Heritage Marina Spiazzi, Marina Tavella, Margaret Layton © 2016

Jane Austen 1. Jane Austen’s life • • • Born in Steventon, 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. H • After her father’s death the family settled in Chawton, a small country village There she produced her most mature works. • She 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.

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

Jane Austen

Jane Austen 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; first person narrator • the technique of dialogue; • the use of verbal and situational irony.

Jane Austen The novel of manners Jane Austen is the undisputed master of the novel of manners. Premise Main features there is a vital relationship between manners, social behaviour and character • 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.

Jane Austen 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.

Jane Austen 6. The theme of love In Austen’s novels • No place for great passion. • Concern with analysis 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 Heritage

Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice: PLOT • 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 Heritage

Jane Austen • 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. • Wickham elopes with Lydia. • Darcy finds them and organises their marriage. • Elizabeth accepts Darcy’s renewed proposal. • Bingley and Jane also get married.

Jane Austen 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.

Jane Austen The marriages in the novel Marriage is presented from several points of view: • in terms of security and independence (Charlotte Lucas and Mr Collins); • arising out of physical infatuation (Lydia and Wickham, and Mrs Bennet); • containing elements of love and prudence (Jane and Bingley; Elizabeth and Darcy).

Jane Austen Elizabeth • Young woman with big comunicative dark eyes; • Her character become complex from the psychological point of view; • A girl of the bourgeoisie of the province become the heroine of the “Reason”; • Elizabeth is influenced by others in some decisions • She judges people based on prejudices. Performer - Culture & Literature

Jane Austen DARCY • He Is a young rich man with beautiful features, but also proud and hateful; • At the end he shows his real essence; • He makes a choice against the current of the time, giving up to follow the oppressive social convention. Performer - Culture & Literature

Jane Austen 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. 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 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 Heritage

Jane Austen The style of the novel Vividness of characters brightness of dialogue, use of irony Third-person narration Elizabeth’s point of view Epistolary technique many letters