The two texts, Letters to Alice and Pride and Prejudice, mirror and contrast the central values shared and explored by evaluating them; presenting them against Jane Austen's context and that of Fay Weldon. Mirroring Austen's novel, Weldon presents the central values for women such as the social values of moral behaviour, independence, and, literary values of reading and writing, from Pride and Prejudice and adapts them to a 20th Century context. Weldon's novel's subtitle, On First Reading Jane Austen, suggests that the novel should serve as a filter to assist readers. The implication of this is that Weldon enables her readers to identify more fully the significance of Jane Austen as a writer, and, the significance of Pride and Prejudice as a piece of literature, exploring the ongoing relevance of its values concerning women.…
In literature, contrasting societal issues, norms, and beliefs are relevant in different time periods. The distinct dissimilarities are demonstrated in the three pieces of literature, Animal Farm, Pride and Prejudice, and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, selected for this research paper. The three pieces of literature from each of the three different time periods help present England from the late 13th century to the early 20th century and speculate the relevance of message to today’s society. The three pieces of work also display the authors’ motivations for writing through the major events of the historical time periods. Through the three pieces of literature, Animal Farm; Pride and Prejudice; and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, Jane Austen; George Orwell; and Geoffrey Chaucer, portray the society of England in three different time periods.…
In Pride and Prejudice, Austen criticises the education of women in 19th century England which extols the virtues of “the accomplished woman” and good wife. She elevates moral development and gender equality, as part of her didactic purpose, influenced by feminist Mary Wollstonecraft’s, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, “I do earnestly wish to see the distinction of sex confounded in society… For this distinction is, I am firmly persuaded, the foundation of weakness of character ascribed to women” and through her characterisation and caricature of Caroline Bingley who epitomises the distinction of sex in society, Austen portrays the absurdity of the value placed on accomplishments as Caroline asserts, “Oh! certainly,” cried his faithful assistant, “no one can be really esteemed accomplished, who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with!” highlighting her high self-regard. This is then ironically devalued in Austen’s authorial intrusion that she is Darcy’s “faithful assistant”. This serves to devalue accomplishments as a form of education and as an extension, society’s strict distinction of gender and status which Austen challenges through Elizabeth Bennet. In the absence of the “good” education that Caroline has…
Ideas about the human condition can transcend time and expressed through different contexts while reflecting society’s changing values. Emma, written by Jane Austen reaffirms and challenges the conservative society of 19th century England, where moral growth is a result of strict social etiquettes and rigid class structure. However, Heckerling has taken similar ideas that speak powerfully about human nature to the different context of 20th century America, within the world of Clueless where a much fluid social structure is orientated around popularity and superficial materialism. While both texts are able to mirror the values and beliefs of its time, they convey similar ideas which are universal and relate to any context.…
Connections, made explicitly and implicitly between texts enables readers to gain new insights and confirm they’re understanding of conceptual ideas. The investigation of “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen and “Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen” by Fay Weldon stress the notion of how contexts can determine an individual’s understanding. Austen and Weldon criticise the class structure and privileges those who challenge authority, thus allowing readers to make their own conclusions on the concept of hierarchy based on their knowledge of their own context. Austen criticises women who marry to gain economic and social standing but Weldon emphasises the fact that in Austen’s context women were viewed as a commodity and that it was part of the norm. The response we get from Weldon’s confirmation of the importance of context is that Austen was well ahead of her time in terms of challenging the class structure and the role of women. The implicit connections examined through these texts are the values that endure the test of time making them universal.…
Fay Weldon’s non fiction text, Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen, uses Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, to create connections between the values of the modern world and that of Austen’s. Through a range of literary techniques, Weldon is able to compare the values of the 20th century to that of regency England in the 19th century. The values that Weldon draws upon include, marriage, the social hierarchy and the importance of reading and literature.…
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Sharon Maguire's Bridget Jone's Diary both portray a microcosm of the beliefs and values of a particular class of British society. Some beliefs and values are shared between both societies, however as times change, differences are bound to arise.…
The struggle for women to gain equality has been an ongoing issue for centuries. Although in the 18th century, the status of women in society was not as a widespread issue. However, some important women writers who did express their opinion on this topic were Mary Wollstonecraft and Jane Austen. These writers agreed on what the status of woman should be in society, although they both showed it in different ways. In Wollstonecraft’s, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,” she bluntly explains how women cut themselves short in almost every aspect of life just because of common convention. While Austen in her novel, Pride and Prejudice, portrays her view that women should and have the ability to have a voice, through the way she presents her characters. The characters in Austen’s novel embody the points of Wollstonecraft’s argument.…
Through exploring the connections between Jane Austen’s canonical Pride and Prejudice and Fay Weldon’s Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen readers gain a better understanding of the ways the values explored in the former are reshaped to contextually fit the latter. Although Austen and Weldon voice their perceptions and criticisms of society in different ways, they both explore women’s position and the expectations of women in society, whilst also exploring women’s journey towards independence and self-development through a common use of letters and the exploration of the value of literature.…
The comparative study between Jane Austen’s 19th century fictional novel, ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and Fey Weldon’s 1984 epistolary text ‘Letters to Alice: On First Reading Jane Austen’, allows intertextual connections between the two texts to be developed and an understanding of how values can be affected by different contexts. The concepts of the education and accomplishments of women and their position in society are demonstrated in both Austen and Weldon’s text in relation to their corresponding contexts.…
Pride’s regency era was exceedingly religious and thus of high moral judgment. It’s highly restrictive and conservative society implemented the necessity of explicit social conventions, repression of high feeling and moderation of action, all of a patriarchal nature in which women were seen as less morally strong as men, therefore in need of tighter control and judgement. “Lizzy shall be brought to reason... she is a very headstrong, foolish girl and does not know her own interest; but I will make her know it.” Mrs bennet uses high modality to reflect how heavily women were constrained by pressure to adhere to marriage and its associated expectations in the regency Era, unable to exercise their own agency and moral righteousness as a result. “”I know not whether she would altogether be a very desirable wife to a man in my situation, who naturally looks for happiness... because if liable to such defects of temper, she could not contribute much to my felicity. “ Characterisation of Mr Collins is used by Austen to convey the idea that mercenary is a realistic motivation for marriage, however not an ideal one. During this context, marriage determined a women's financial security and opportunities for social advancement due to narrow earning capacity for gentry and nobility. Through the recontextualization of Pride…
Jane Austen’s 1813 novel, ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and Fay Weldon’s 1984 epistolary text, ‘Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen’ (Letters to Alice) are written regarding their individual contexts. A parallel study of these two didactic texts, composed in different centuries, develops a deeper understanding of the opposing values in relation to their own society. When read as a pair the obvious connection of societies failure to accommodate women’s happiness as a worthwhile moral project highlights the values and contexts of each text. ‘Letters to Alice’ accurately and deliberately exposes Austen’s context explicitly, with each shining light on one another, making each text more successful.…
Themes Ambitions Diana Lu have so much goals in life that she wanted to achieve through her problems she becomes more and more motivated to reach out to her dreams in life, following her heart desires despite of her parents dream in her life she still pursue her hearts desire and made the best of what she can. She encourage her readers to look to the future and focus on making their dreams come true. Be hopeful to the new opportunities in life and have the courage to take risks. Courage…
Gender role is one of the typical topics that literature has described all time, from 8th century Old English literature like “Beowulf” (translated version by Seamus Heaney) to 18th century modern English literature like” Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen. Both authors are precise and sharp observers of the society’s gender stereotype at their times; and they were able to denounce that practice in their fiction stories by the reconstruction of the whole society with all types of character in their literature works. Both authors do not forthrightly criticize the unfair gender roles practiced in the community; instead, they give characters space and time to develop their own personalities, thoughts, and point of view towards the subject. There…
“He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world, and everybody hoped we would never come there again.” (3) These were the feelings that Miss Elizabeth Bennet possessed at the start of Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen weaved a marvelous tale of love in its rarest and truest form. This love was formed out of a once burning hatred. The transformations throughout Austen’s masterpiece shows how true love fights through the boundary of pride and prejudice which exists in the society of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Jane Austen captivates us through the characters of Darcy and Elizabeth through their altering feelings for one another and the world causing anxiety for the readers at first but ultimately an overwhelming relief for the readers.…
