PRIDE AND PREJUDICE:

LITERARY MOVEMENTS

Neo-Classical Period

Neo-Classical Period [1600 – 1785] Age of Sensibility [1745 – 1785] Science: focus on scientific-rational thought; exploring how the universe exists-functions Reason: the truths of the universe-human existence can be gained through the use of

reason-intellect-rational thought Order: man’s goal is to create order in a chaotic universe Nature of man: people are essentially good and govern their own fate Perfectibility of man: promote a sense of optimism for man to create a utopian

environment and achieve an ideal Social contract: a government created by the consent of the governed-democracy-people

give power to the officials “Know then thyself, presume not God to scan,/The proper study of mankind is man.”

Pope, Essay on Man The preservation, as well as the establishment, of order, balance, and correctness was a

central goal; therefore they frequently used satire; literature became a means of controlling excess, folly, stupidity, and corruption, any shortcoming that threatened the good moral order

Etiquette

Romanticism

Romanticism [1785 – 1830] Imagination: the imagination largely controls the human mind

and often overshadows man’s attempts to use reason to understand the world and experience

Nature of man: used by artists to reveal both pessimistic and optimistic visions of man

Emotion: humans are governed by “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” [William Wordsworth]-humans are deeply influenced by their instinctive-primordial-perverse nature

Individualism: promote individualism in feelings and imagination Goal of Romantic art is to define the self and heighten self-

awareness

Victorian Period

Victorian period [1832 – 1901] Accession of Queen Victoria to the throne in 1837, and lasted

until her death in 1901 Literature deals with the issues and problems of the day: social,

economic, religious, and intellectual issues and problems surrounding the Industrial Revolution, growing class tensions, the early feminist movement, pressures toward political and social reform, and the impact of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution on philosophy and religion

Art dealt with the Darwinian issues of social determinism or imposed roles and classes at birth, and class consciousness

Novel of Manners

Novel of manners: a novel dominated by social customs, manners, conventions, and habits

of a definite social class. The mores of a specific group, described in detail and with great accuracy, become powerful controls over characters. The novel of manners is often, although by no means always, satiric; also:

The Novel is a picture of real life and manners, and of the times in which it was written. The Novel gives a familiar relation of such things , as pass everyday before our eyes, such as may happen to our friend, or to ourselves; and the perfection of it, is to represent every scene, in so easy and natural a manner, and to make them appear so probable, as to deceive us into a persuasion (at least while we are reading) that all is real, until we are affected by the joys and distresses of the persons in the story, as if they were our own. Reeve

The “manners” of the novel [or institutions] provide the stimulus for characters to reveal their true character and moral values; the relationship and conflict between the inner self and external self

Straddling Artistic Literary Movements

Curious position between 18c – 19c Influence of Dr. Samuel Johnson, the great model of

eighteenth-century classicism and reason Neo-classical: plot reveals characters forging their respective

ways through an established and rigid social hierarchy Romantic: ambiguity about emotion and an appreciation for

intelligence and natural beauty that aligns them with Romanticism

Victorian: awareness of the conditions of modernity and city life and the consequences for family structure and individual characters

Structure of the Novel

Structure of the Novel Folsom points out “the novel’s inexhaustible structural coherence”—setting up

scenes for future developments Poe’s “Philosophy of Composition”: “In the whole composition there should be

no word written, of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is not at the one pre-established design.”

Re-reading passages is a necessity; characters discuss earlier scenes in later ones; earlier conversations are echoed in later dialogue

“To write a good paper about the novel, therefore, a student is almost driven to rereading, moving back and forth across the pages (Folsom 3)

“Novel’s profound examination of revising, rethinking, reviewing one’s past, recognizing one’s own errors when the self was a former incarnation” (Folsom 2)

Look especially for recurring words, phrases (“violently in love”) , and concepts (pride and prejudice) and these may change meaning at each occurrence due to previous contexts

Austen’s Style

Austen’s Style “…Austen solved some of the problems of female authority by negotiating

between the inner life and a more objective view, in a style that makes the issues engaged more precise and eloquent”

Consonant psychonarration: the omniscient narrator is present, although there is little discrepancy between the knowledge and values of the narrator and those of a character, to achieve a subtle mix of diegesis and memesis

diegesis: statement, description, or narration without explanation, conclusion, or judgment

mimesis: mirroring—here, of the character’s thoughts, feelings, and judgments Free indirect discourse: blend of first and third person often signifying self-

awareness (can often be voice of wise, observing self) Satire renders Austen more representative of Enlightenment than of

Romanticism

Irony, revisited

IRONY: a mode of expression, through words (verbal irony) or events (irony of situation), conveying a reality different from and usually opposite to appearance or expectation

Techniques for creating irony are to: say the opposite of what he means create a reversal between expectation and its

fulfillment give the audience knowledge that a character lacks

Types of Irony

Verbal irony: the writer’s meaning or even his attitude may be different from what he or she says

Example: “Why, no one would dare argue that there could be anything more important in choosing a college than its proximity to the beach.”

Situational irony: generated by the surprise recognition by the audience of a reality in contrast with expectation or appearance, while another audience, victim, or character puts confidence in the appearance as reality

Example: if a professional pickpocket had his own pocket picked just as he was in the act of picking someone else’s pocket

Dramatic irony: where the audience has knowledge that gives additional meaning to a character’s words.

Example: when King Oedipus, who has unknowingly killed his father, says that he will banish his father’s killer when he finds him; horror movies

Satire

SATIRE: a technique used to expose, censure, and ridicule the mistakes and vices of society in an attempt to help people understand civilized, moral values. Jonathon Swift defined satire as “a sort of glass wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own, which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it

Example: In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain satirizes the contradictions of religion and slavery in Southern society

Sarcasm

SARCASM: Intentional derision, generally directed at another

person and intended to harm Greek: “to tear flesh like dogs”; signifies a cutting

remark Example: false praise – verbal irony Sarcasm = a bully Satire = a surgeon Irony = the scalpel