Pride and Prejudice #9

               When Elizabeth is with her aunt and uncle at Pemberley there are several scenes where it is clear that the characters are dodging the main subject. Mr. Bingley states “‘it is above eight months, We have not met since the 26^th of November, when we are all dancing together at Netherfield.’” (Austen 170).  It is obvious that Mr. Bingley still loves Jane, and Jane obviously loves Bingley. Mr. Bingley is not even casual about it, because he remembers the exact date of when he saw Jane last, no one is that fastidious about dates, unless the person means something to someone. Mr. Bingley is completely in control, due to the fact Jane cannot run over to Pemberley and yell at him for leaving her and then casually propose to him. Mr. Bingley has to make the first move, and it vexing that he is not going to get Jane. Mr. Bingley should not need his sisters, or Mr. Bingley’s approbation to marry Jane. Mrs. Gardiner and Elizabeth also ignore the topic of Mr. Darcy: “Mrs. Gardiner and Elizabeth talked of all that had occurred during their visit, as they returned, except what had particularly interested them both. … They talked of his sister, his friends, his house, his fruit, of everything but himself” (Austen 176).  Elizabeth wants to know what her aunt thinks of Mr. Darcy, and Mrs. Gardiner just wants to know the details of Elizabeth’s and Mr. Darcy’s relationship, yet they do not talk about it. Every single character in the book is consumed by what everyone thinks of them, and they are too scared of expressing too much emotion.

Pride and Prejudice Reading #8

“Elizabeth’s impatience to acquaint Jane with what had happened could no longer be overcome; and at length resolving to suppress every particular in which her sister was concerned, and preparing her to be surprised, she related to her the next morning the chief of the scene between Mr. Darcy and herself” (Austen XVII. 146).

            Elizabeth tells Jane the truth about Mr. Darcy, but leaves out the portion of the letter that revolves around Mr. Bingley and Jane. Jane deserves to know the truth about why Mr. Bingley left, even though it is partly because of her lack of response to Mr. Bingley. Most importantly it is because of the impropriety of her family, and Jane really cannot change that. It is a lot better to know the truth about the situation and be able to move on, instead of continuing to wonder why everything transpired the way that it did. Elizabeth is also now aware of Mr. Darcy’s feelings towards her, and she is developing feelings for him, yet nothing is happening between them. Elizabeth has gotten over her odious opinion of Mr. Darcy, and she has not even bothered to tell him that. Characters in books never inform others how they feel, or what they are thinking. If characters, and people in the real world always told one another how they actually felt everything would be different. For example Othello, instead of communicating to Desdemona about his concerns about a possible affair between Desdemona and Cassio, everything could have been fixed right there and then. Elizabeth acts with no celerity, and she assumes that everything will work out. She should be informing Jane, and then she should try to fix Jane and Mr. Bingley’s relationship.

Pride and Prejudice April Vacation Blog

            The meaning of the title Pride and Prejudice relates to the main topic of the book; social classes. During the first part of the novel the characters focus on their social standing, and the women in the Bennet family often seem self-conscious of their family and their lack of money. Their discussions about marriage and possible suitors is a lens into the time period, because the focus on marriage illustrates that women only had the option of getting married and that finding a wealthy suitor was their only hope of creating a better life for themselves.  Relating back to the title, the women of lower social status in the book seem to have to give up their pride in order to be accepted by characters in the upper social class. The word prejudice in the title connects to the text, because everyone in the book is judging one another based on their rank in the socially constructed class system. For example Miss Bingley has a haughty attitude toward the Bennet family, because she knows that the family does not have a lot of money. Many characters of lower social status also automatically believe that any person with money is better than them.

            After reading Mr. Collins’ proposal to Elizabeth in context, his proposal is much worse than I originally thought. First of all, Elizabeth was not even Mr. Collins first choice. Mr. Collins wanted to propose to Jane, but Jane was being pursued by Mr. Bingley at the time. Mr. Collins appears to be under the pretense that any woman that he proposes to will say yes. Mr. Collins and Elizabeth have also known each other for a very short period of time, and Mr. Collins does not even pursue Elizabeth in a romantic fashion. Elizabeth is completely blind-sided by his proposal—not in a good way, and she tries to make him stop several times, but he thinks she is only saying no, because she wants to be pursued. Mr. Collins states “ ‘That it is usual with young ladies to reject the addresses of the man whom they secretly mean to accept, when he first applies for their favour; and that sometimes the refusal is repeated a second or even a third time’ ”(Chapter XIX, 73). Mr. Collins makes it seem that Elizabeth is just being a stereotypical foolish girl, when in reality she literally means no, with a zero possibility of her answer ever being yes. Mr. Collins vexes Elizabeth even more, because he makes too many assumptions about what she wants, and in reality he is completely wrong about her. Mr. Collins is so much in his head that he does not even realize that there is a possibility that Elizabeth will refuse to accept his proposal. In fact, he is the character acting foolishly in the scene, because he is overanalyzing her answer. The scene is like today’s advice that if a boy is mean to a girl then he likes her. Well, I hate to break it to you Mr. Collins, but maybe she’s just not that into you.

1984 Prompt Practice

                In the play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare, the protagonist Hamlet gradually becomes more isolated from the characters and as a result, Hamlet begins to lose his sanity. The most memorable scene where it becomes clears how alone Hamlet is, is when Ophelia breaks up with him. In response, Hamlet exclaims “Get thee to a nunnery”. The scene is striking, because Hamlet illustrates that he is unbalanced with his emotions, and his lines are effective because they show how Hamlet views the world.

            During this scene, Ophelia gives back items that Hamlet gave her when they were seeing each other. Her action’s symbolize the end of their relationship, and Hamlet knows that her father is leading her to her actions. The scene’s relationship to the play is to express that Hamlet is alone in the play, because he no longer trusts anyone. He reaches his complete isolation. Ophelia was the one person that he thought was good, and she has now ended their relationship. Hamlet now loses all the reason that he had, and now is overthrown by emotion, and he reaches madness. Hamlet’s lines in this scene illustrate the theme of reason and emotion, and how Hamlet’s actions are driven by his emotions, and he is not capable to think clearly.

            The scene is effective, because it allows the audience to feel empathy for Hamlet, and the scene expresses how Hamlet is seeing the world. When Hamlet exclaims “Get thee to a nunnery”, he means that Ophelia should not have kids, because they would just be sinners like her. He sees everyone as bad, because if Ophelia, whom Hamlet believed was once innocent and pure, can become a pawn in her father’s plan, anyone is vulnerable to sin and evil. Hamlet still shows that he cares for her because he wants to protect her from the world by telling her to go to a nunnery. Hamlet views the world as just made of sinners, and he cannot deal with the fact, and he loses his sanity.

            Even though Hamlet eventually regains his reason, and he is able to see reality more clearly, the scene is memorable, because it shows how confused and distraught Hamlet was. The scene exemplifies the imbalance of reason and emotion in male characters in the typical Shakespearean tragedy.