English Literature: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

• Engels
• Secundair onderwijs

English Literature:
Jane Austen's
Pride and Prejudice

Ask students if they know the words 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?

Slides about Romanticism

can be skipped 

Romanticism

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

Austen was writing during the 'Romantic' period of literature, which took place for the most part before the Victorian era.

First explore the world in which Austen lived, before digging deeper into her specific style. 

Students should figure out that, although Austen lived during the Romantic movement, she represented something different .... 

Which artists did you
recognize in the video?

Romanticism was a reaction against...

1. intellect
2. emotions
3. industrialism
4. slavery

Romanticism was a reaction against...

1. Renaissance
2. Enlightenment
3. Modernism
4. Realism

Slides about Romanticism

END

Jane

Austen

1775-1817

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 of 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

Which literary movement
does Jane Austen belong to?

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.

Meanwhile, distribute a handout with the original text of the video fragment they are going to watch.

Pride and Prejudice: the plot

• a girl named Elizabeth and her family
• live in England a long time ago
• 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 or sanctions.
4. He gets really angry.

GWP homework

Draw the students' attention to the fact that they will be given a task in the UK about Jane Austen. They must familiarize themselves with the characters of the book.

This is the house Jane Austen lived in, it's located in Winchester, a place we're going to visit...

a view of Winchester

GWP homework

Read more about other characters
in the novel. Choose:

• A likeable character

• A disagreeable character

Draw the students' attention to the fact that they will be handed a task in the UK about Jane Austen. They'll have to familiarize themselves with the characters of the book.

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?

https://tinyurl.com/GWPAusten

At the end of this class, you can ask students how they feel about your presentation, about Jane Austen or Pride and Prejudice, ...

e.g. Mentimeter

https://www.mentimeter.com/app/presentation/alnbfugftz8zvjv8pivbvyv6sgp7ursv/c7oqj6jiukuz/edit