English Literature: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice - The West Country

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English Literature:
Jane Austen's
Pride and Prejudice

What comes to mind
when you think of 'Literature'?

Possible answers can vary: 

I hate/love reading

Biography, Novel, Thriller, ...

Books

Modernism, Romanticism, ...

Names of authors, books, ...

...

Which classical
literary movements
do you know?

Possible answers students might know:

Renaissance

Barok

Romanticism

Realism

Expressionism

Impressionism

Modernism

Naturalism

Futurism

Ask questions about this cover. Have they ever heard about P&P? What about the author? Do they have any idea in which era this novel was written? What Literature movement does it belong to? Who has already read the book or maybe watched one of the films?

Romanticism

• 19th-century (ca. 1800 to 1860) 
• movement emphasizing emotion and imagination
• rather than logic and scientific thought
• response to the Enlightenment

Though there are Romantic, comedic, and Neoclassical elements to Austen's six novels, the genre she could be most closely categorized as is proto-literary realism and satire.

Austen's style set the stage for the movement of literary realism, which took off in the mid-19th century and included writers such as Leo Tolstoy, George Eliot and Charles Dickens ...

Realism

Austen's plots:

• explore the dependence of women on marriage 
• for the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security.
• an implicit critique of the novels of sensibility in the second half of the 18th century 
• part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism

Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage for the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works are an implicit critique of the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism.

What was Jane Austen's pseudonym?

1. Mary Shelley
2. Charlotte Brontë
3. Jane Eyre
4. Anonymous

Which books were written by Jane Austen?

1. Jane Eyre
2. Sense and Sensibility
3. Pride and Prejudice
4. Frankenstein

To which literary movement
does Jane Austen belong?

1. Romanticism
2. Naturalism
3. Realism
4. Expressionism

How did Jane Austen
distinguish herself
from her female contemporaries?

Students should be able to identify that Austen was special: she was educated, her view on society was fresh and she displayed criticism on how women were treated, ....

Pride and Prejudice: the plot

....

Ask students what they already know about the plot.

Pride and Prejudice: the plot

• A girl named Elizabeth and her family.
• She ad her isters need to find a husband or they will become poor when their father dies.
• Elizabeth meets a rich man named Mr. Darcy.
• At first, they don't like each other >>> because they are too proud and prejudiced
• But later, they start to care for each other.

The story is about their journey to understand each other and fall in love, even though some people don't think they should.

This summary is very easy to understand for all students. Avoid using too difficult words to explain the basic storyline. Students will explore more difficult language in the following slides.

What are Mr Collins' reasons to marry?

What is the reason why Elizabeth refuses his marriage proposal?

1. She wants him to propose mulitple times.
2. He's too ugly.
3. Her feelings forbid it.
4. He's not wealthy enough.

How does Mr Collins react to her refusal?

1. He doesn't believe her since "he's quite a catch".
2. He thinks she just wants him to put in more effort.
3. He thinks she's just being polite: a young girl shouldn't agree without her father's consent.
4. He gets really angry.

Pelckmans Portaal New Ace 4 Set OC

What words does Austen use to describe Mr Collins?
Take notes.

Give students a moment to read the introduction to this character. Ask them to take notes: how is he described (adjectives, nouns)?

How is Mr Collins described?

Mr Collins is pompous, silly and self-important. He is a social climber, He is a figure of satire = the art of making someone or something look ridiculous, raising laughter in order to embarrass, humble, or discredit them.

What makes pride and prejudice a novel of manners?

It focuses on the customs, values, and behaviours of a particular social class. The novel explores how people are expected to behave in polite society—especially in matters of marriage, inheritance, and reputation.

Characters are often judged (or misjudged) by how well they conform to these expectations.

Mr Bennet to Elizabeth: 

“For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?”