Pride and Prejudice
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This study will examine Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice and its relationship to the Romantic movement. The Romantic movement focused in subject and form on a loosening of the restrictions of the earlier Classical and neo-Classical movements. The Romantic movement involved a more free and subjective description and expression of personal passion and feelings which were not present in idealistic Classical literature. Austen's novel can hardly be called blatant in its largely genteel treatment of passion between the sexes, but it is nevertheless a step toward such openness in comparison to Classical works. More importantly for the focus of this study, Austen treats romantic love and its ideal end in marital bliss with an irony which is perhaps absent from much other Romantic literature. Austen focuses on the subjects of love, passion, feelings and marriage which are more typical of Romantic than Classical literature. However, she does so with an amused irony which elevates the novel above what might otherwise be seen as a shallow work about shallow characters with shallow concerns. After all, the book is essentially about five sisters trying to find men to marry. The book could be fairly accused of portraying a romantically insulated world isolated from the larger and more profound social and political issues which dominated Classical literature. Austen's book reflects the typical Romantic concerns with the individual rather than with larger sociopolitical issues whic
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ion. For example, in describing the musical abilities of Elizabeth and Mary, Austen has good things to say about both of them. If there were ever an opportunity to satirize the stiff Mary in favor of the more natural Elizabeth, this would be it, but Austen shows a fondness for Mary and an appreciation of her determination that is far from satirical:
[Mary's] performance was pleasing, though by no means capital. . . . Mary, . . . in consequence of being the only plain one in the family, worked hard for knowledge and accomplishments. . . . Mary had neither genius nor taste; and though vanity had given her application, it had given her likewise a pedantic air and conceited manner (Austen 17).
Far from satirizing Mary, this passage shows a sense of admiration for her hard work, and its criticism of her air and manner is not satiric but straightforward. Austen's Romantic focus on individual sensibility is featured here: "Elizabeth, easy and unaffected, had been listened to with much more pleasure, though not playing half so well" (Austen 17).
The problem with arguing that the novel is meant to satirize these idle people and their selfish, superficial pursuits is simply that Austen is such a sympathetic observer who never questio
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Approximate Word count = 1545
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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