My Dear Alice Comparison

Composers are connected in their desire to express their personal values within a changing world

The comparative study of Fay Weldon’s non fiction text Letters to Alice and Jane Austen’s comedy of manners narrative Pride and Prejudice reveal connections between the authors in their desire to express their personal values and beliefs through the vehicle of their fictional characters. Exploration of connections such as the value of literature and the lives of women in different societies presented in the texts heighten our understanding of the composer’s contexts and the values they wish to convey through their writing. The shared aspects of the form of both texts such as the use of letters and the fictitious framework of Weldon’s Letters
Through Weldon’s 20th century appropriation of Austen’s epistolary structure Aunt Fay highlights the values of Literature within 19th century English society and our contemporary world. Fay Weldon connects to Pride and Prejudice through her exploration of Austen’s rural English societies attitudes and her values toward education and literature. In so doing, her commentary on Austen’s gentrified society and the value of literature takes a 20th century perspective. ‘My dear Alice, it was good to get your letter…your doing a college course in English Literature… (Specifically) and obliged to read Jane Austen… and you find her boring’. Weldon’s 1st person ironic narration in the form of letters highlights Alice’s 20th century struggle to study the ‘big L’ and reveals the novels connection with Austen’s
Her insistence on the enlightenment literature can provide through its enduring success and enjoyment contrasts with her view of Alice’s generation’s fixation with film and television, which in her opinion ‘can never enlighten’. Weldon’s opinion of the values of good literature are also reflected through Darcy’s condescending belief in a woman’s ‘improvement of her mind by extensive reading which makes her an accomplished woman and ready for marriage’. Here the direct speech of Darcy displays the value of both literature and reading to regency period, gentrified society as well as the value this society placed on educated people, and women. Elizabeth Bennett’s behavior and enjoyment of reading is contrasted against the superficial and hypocritical attitude of Miss Bingley whose ‘attention was quite as much engaged in watching Mr. Darcy’s progress through his book as in reading her own’, displaying Austen’s enduring respect for education and reading and as well as the value her society placed on the educated. Austen enhances this attitude through the contrast of characters actions in her social commentary by painting those with an appreciation of literature in a positive and appropriate light whilst making out those who do not to be