JANE AUSTEN: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Essay -- English Literature

JANE AUSTEN: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE A Critical Analysis The opening chapter of the novel gives us a brief introduction to the lives of the Bennets. Mrs Bennet’s sole purpose in life is to marry of her daughters to wealthy young men. It begins with Mr and Mrs Bennet having a conversation about marrying of their daughters as soon as possible. Mrs Bennet tells her husband about a young man who has taken possession of Netherfield and about how they should make it a point to visit him and introduce their daughters to him so he can marry one of them. Mr Bennet is seemingly uninterested and is sarcastic about the idea, which partly angers his wife. The use of humour in the opening chapter is brought out by Mr Bennet through his responses to his wife, and also through Austen’s own comments. This is first outlined after Mr Bennet says to his wife, â€Å"You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.†, Austen comments ‘This was invitation enough’. This is a funny statement and in its humour Austen manages to bring out character trait of both Mr and Mrs Bennet. Mrs Bennet is shown to be very enthusiastic, talkative, and ultimately a bit of a gossip. Mr Bennet, on the other hand, is shown to be a passive person. When Mr Bennet says, â€Å"for as you are handsome as any of them, Mr. Bingley might like you the best of the party.†, it shows him to be a humorous person and has the effect of bringing life to the text. Towards the end of the chapter Mr Bennet once again brings out the aspect of humour when he says, â€Å"I have high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least.†. This once again brings out his wife’s character, as a relativ... ...en also creates tension in the first chapter by not introducing Mr Bingley. We are simply made aware of his existence. This makes the curious about his character. Many aspects of the book, for example any ideas that the reader might have about how the story will unfold, are not confirmed by Austen, thus creating tension and leaving the reader curious if the story unfolds the way they thought it would. Austen manages to captivate the reader in the first chapter. She mainly uses humour and sarcasm to achieve this effect. In this chapter we are shown the importance of Mr and Mrs Bennet to each other. Mrs Bennet needs her husband to keep her from going out of hand, and he needs his wife to add humour to his life through her being ridiculous. The firs chapter of Pride and Prejudice is extremely well written and makes the reader not want to put down the book.