prideandprejudice傲慢与偏见英美文学论文

山 东 农 业 大 学英 美 文 学 实 践 课 报 告题 目 Pride and Prejudice 学 院 外国语学院 专业班级 英语二班 届 次 2014 学生姓名 学 号 指导教师 二零一六年六月二十日Pride and Prejudice1. The Author Jane Austen (1775 1817) was an English novelist known principally for her five major novels which interpret, critique and comment upon the life of the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Her most highly praised novel during her own lifetime was Pride and Prejudice which was her second published novel. Her plots often reflect upon the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favorable social standing and economic security.( wikipedia )Jane Austen was the seventh of eight children. In 1783, she was sent to Oxford and educated by a relative. Because Austen became ill then she was educated at home until she went to a boarding school in early 1785. However, her family could not afford her education so she returned home and was educated by reading his father s books. 2. Plot Summary The protagonist of the novel is Elizabeth Bennet who is the second daughter of a gentleman who has a house and a overbearing wife and five unmarried daughters. Elizabeth s father, Mr. Bennet, is a bookish man. In contrast Elizabeth s mother, Mrs. Bennet, a woman who lacks social graces, devoting to finding suitable and rich husbands for her five daughters. However, according to the local law, inherited property cannot pass to female heirs so their five daughters will inherit nothing. Unfortunately, the house will be inherited by a distant cousin they have never met after Mr Bennet dies. Thats why Mrs Bennet are dreaming of finding rich husbands for their daughters. Jane Bennet, the eldest daughter, is beautiful and kind. Elizabeth Bennet is witty and like reading books just like her father. The three other sisters is called Mary, Kitty, Lydia.The story open with the news that Mr Bingley will arrive at the country to rent a large house with his sister and his friend Mr Darcy. As far as Mrs Bennet, Mr Bingley is a wealthy, handsome, and gentle bachelor who is a very suitable husband for her eldest daughter. Mr Bingley and Mary Bennet fall in love with each other in a ball. At the same time, Elizabeth Bennet acquaint herself with Mr Darcy who makes her a unfavorable impression by his indifferent and proud attitude towards others. He is thought to be too arrogant and filled with unconcealed pride and vanity. He wont dance with anyone outside of his own group or deign to speak with them. He states, within Elizabeth Bennets hearing, that “she is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me”.Mr. Bingleys affection for Jane develops quickly to the concern of his sisters and Mr. Darcy. They cant tolerate her lower status, and are embarrassed by her familys manners and actions. Mr. Darcy, in spite of his better wisdom, becomes infatuated with Elizabeth. He is obsessed with her wit and fine eyes. Miss Bingleys jealous criticisms of her do nothing to lessen his admiration. Miss Bingley has made plans to entrap him for herself but she failed.Caroline Bingley invites Jane to Netherfield. In her way to Netherfield it rains so Jane catches a severe cold. She have to stay at Mr Bingleys house and be treated by a local doctor. Mrs. Bennet is delighted, because this help Jane come close to Mr. Bingley and his wealth. Jane becomes more ill, and her sister Elizabeth goes to Netherfield to nurse her. The concern for her sister and strength of character appeal to Mr. Darcy, but he is afraid of his infatuation with Elizabeth who is economically inferior.Later in a travel, they meet George Wickham, a handsome and personable military officer. Elizabeth is curious when Wickham and Darcy, who obviously know each other, meet on the street and both seem uncomfortable. At a ball, soon after, Wickham tells his life story to Elizabeth. He states that Darcy disobeyed his own fathers will out of resentment. (Wickham was a ward of Darcys father and had been promised get a clergymans position.) Wickhams story makes Darcy look cruel, selfish and vile. Elizabeth believe that because she has predetermined and negative impression of Mr. Darcys arrogance and pride.Elizabeth becomes infatuated with the charming Wickham. She is puzzled by his persistence in approaching her, as she does not know of his admiration. Mr. Collins, her cousin, proposes to Elizabeth and she is further embarrassed. She tries to convince him that her refusal is earnest. The support of her father makes Collins see the truth.Mr Bingley, his sister and Mr Darcy leave Netherfield for London, and Miss Bingley writes to Jane to inform her that they wont return until winter. She imply in her letter that Mr. Bingley intends to marry with Mr Darcy sister, which has been determined for years between the families.Mr. Collins, rejected by Elizabeth, is comforted by her best friend. To Elizabeths great surprise and astonishment, her best friend intend to marry Mr. Collins. Darcy continues to court Elizabeth. One night, he declares his love and proposes. Elizabeth is as angry as she is astonished. She cannot bear his pride and refuses his propose. She accuses him of breaking up Jane and Bingley and ruining young Mr. Wickhams reputation.Elizabeth and her Aunt and Uncle set off on a tour and visit Mr Darcys house. Darcy unexpectedly appears, a day early, and both he and Elizabeth are embarrassed. Elizabeth receives two letters from her sister Jane. They say that Lydia has eloped with Wickham. So they leave for home as fast as they can make preparations.The eloped pair is elusive for several days. Lydia has agreed to a quick marriage. All the things have been arranged by Darcy. He works secretly to pay off Wickhams gambling debts and ensure a suitable dowry. All the people are sure that it is Mr. Gardiner who have done these things and save the family name. Little do they realize that it was Darcys work. He did this because of his love for Elizabeth.Mr Bingley returns to Netherfield and falls in love with Jane again. After a while, he proposes. She accepts. In the end, Elizabeth know all the things and find herself misunderstand Mr Darcy all these days. Darcy acknowledge that Elizabeth has had a change of heart so he propose to her again. This time it is met with a positive attitude.3. Major themesI. Marriage As far as I concerned, there are four main types of marriages in this novel. The first one is the most admirable marriage Elizabeth and Darcys marriage , which is what I really admire. Their marriage is the most time-killing and flexuose and is based on their true love. The second one the most happy marriage Jane s marriage Their marriage is happy and is also based on their true love but comparatively smoothly. The third one is the most ridiculous marriage Lydia s marriage. Their marriage is the result of their momentary passion and is based on their lust. The last one is the most realistic marriage Charlotte s marriage.“There is no doubt that Elizabeth and Darcys love is the shining pearl in the history of literary, and their love is the ideal mode which has been esteem by Austen“. The authors view about marriage: it is wrong to get married for property, money and position. Getting married without considering the above-mentioned factors is unwise, ether. So that she objects to get married for money, objects to regarding the marriage as a trifling matter. She emphasizes the importance of the ideal marriage, and regard men and women s emotion as the foundation stone which concludes the ideal marriage Love is impulsive and is of no reason no passionate, and full of madness. Love itself is crazy. However, how many people can love with madness? The reality is cruel, marriage doesnt equal to love, and this ideal is far away from us. Darcy and Elizabeth s marriage is the happiest, with deep-rooted of love, and a necessary condition that Darcy strongly wealth. II. Wealth “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” This sentence clearly shows the connection between wealth and marriage. Wealth in a marriage is also the subject matter of the whole novel, and it plays an important role in marriage at that time.In the novel, Jane Austen uses number words to suggest money. For example, Bingley has an income of between 4,000 and 5,000 pounds a year, while Darcy has an income of 10,000 pounds a year. And the women in 18th century in Britain lawfully owned nothing. The only way to financial security for many women of that time was to marry to a richer man. It seems that this novel considers marriage as a market, and the female as marketable. Charlotte is just an example in the marriage market where personal attractions are weighed against financial considerations.Money makes the world go round, especially if youre a young woman trying to get married in Regency England. The five Bennet daughters have almost no money, which means no way to attract men to marry them and no way to support themselves after their father dies and their house in handed over to Mr. Collins. So, was everyone in the early nineteenth century just out for money? Well, kind of. But can you blame them? For men, there were very, very few paths to financial independence without either inheriting or marrying money. Some got rich in the army or through business, but that was super rare. For women, the options were even more limited: inherit or marry. In Pride and Prejudice, these girls are trying to marry for money because they dont want to live on the early nineteenth-century streets. III. Society and Class Class is one of the major themes in Jane Austen s Pride and Prejudice. The novel criticizes the clear and rigid social class divisions in the British society much prevalent at that time. In fact, the pride and prejudice of many characters stem from their higher social class. We see that the Bennets belong to middle class, and are considered inferior to families of Darcy and Bingley, who clearly belong to a