Older People in Pride and Prejudice
In Pride and Prejudice, the older generation is often used as an example for different types of marriage. This is an interesting device as it allows the reader to look into the future of the younger characters, and shows us Austen's general viewpoint on marriage. In this way she gives us a much longer timeline than what we really see in the novel.
The first example of this occurs right at the start of the novel with Mr and Mrs Bennet. They are an example of a couple where there is a lack of love and respect, which reflects Lydia's marriage to Wickham later on. We can gather, from observing the Bennets, that because the Wickhams married hastily and for the wrong reasons, their marriage will soon break down into disrespect and mockery.
Mr Bennet worries that Elizabeth will follow in his footsteps and tells her this; "My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life."
The next example of marriage is given by the Lucases, who, in my opinion, have a safety marriage. Austen puts very little of Lady Lucas into the novel, but we see a lot of Sir William. This indicates that they don't spend much time together, just like Charlotte and Mr Collins. The viewpoint represented in the novel is that this is a perfectly good kind of marriage, as all the characters involved in them seem to be perfectly contented with their situation. In fact, Sir William is probably the most jovial character in the novel.
The sweetest older couple in the story is of course that of the Gardiners. They seem to respect and love each other more than any other couple, and operate very much as a team. This hopefully reflects the Darcys and perhaps even the Bingleys.
This reflection in the older generation could indicate that the general vision of the novel is one of repetition. We are all turning into our parents or aunts and uncles. Austen seems to believe that the world is stuck in a social rut. This would oppose the view of those who view her as a romance novelist, as the love which she presents is not star-crossed or revolutionary. She purposefully shows us the opposite; no love is new or special, love is at most nice, but not necessary, and this, in her view, never changes.
This use of the older generation in Pride and Prejudice heavily contrasts Shakespeare's use of the same in King Lear.
While Austen indicates an unchanging, constant way of life with her older characters, Shakespeare uses his to indicate the end of an era. This is clearest in the character of Lear, the oldest character in the play.
First of all, the younger characters in this play don't look to the advice of the older characters the same way that the younger characters in Pride and Prejudice do, and after Lear gives up his kingdom, the younger characters never seem to receive any unwanted guidance from the older generation. Mrs Bennet, however is able to interfere with her daughters' lives by leaving them alone with boys and forcing them to get sick.
The end of the play shows how direct a contrast Lear is to the older characters in Pride and Prejudice. Firstly, he is literally the end of an era, as he is the last of his family alive just before his death. However, he is also the end of an era of suffering, giving way to one of more knowledge and less pain, as indicated in the final lines of the play. Albany, one of the few characters remaining ponders the deaths, and sees that Lear's indicates the final life of such suffering. But when he says "speak what we feel", does he mean that people should stop bending to social expectations? This seems somewhat unrelated to much of the rest of the play, but is important enough to Shakespeare to end on, which must make it more significant than it seems. This would make the general vision similar to that in Pride and Prejudice in a way, as the disregard of social constructs is predominant in both positive and negative ways. Positive in Lizzy's case, for example, and negative in Lydia's.
The next example of marriage is given by the Lucases, who, in my opinion, have a safety marriage. Austen puts very little of Lady Lucas into the novel, but we see a lot of Sir William. This indicates that they don't spend much time together, just like Charlotte and Mr Collins. The viewpoint represented in the novel is that this is a perfectly good kind of marriage, as all the characters involved in them seem to be perfectly contented with their situation. In fact, Sir William is probably the most jovial character in the novel.
The sweetest older couple in the story is of course that of the Gardiners. They seem to respect and love each other more than any other couple, and operate very much as a team. This hopefully reflects the Darcys and perhaps even the Bingleys.
This reflection in the older generation could indicate that the general vision of the novel is one of repetition. We are all turning into our parents or aunts and uncles. Austen seems to believe that the world is stuck in a social rut. This would oppose the view of those who view her as a romance novelist, as the love which she presents is not star-crossed or revolutionary. She purposefully shows us the opposite; no love is new or special, love is at most nice, but not necessary, and this, in her view, never changes.
This use of the older generation in Pride and Prejudice heavily contrasts Shakespeare's use of the same in King Lear.
While Austen indicates an unchanging, constant way of life with her older characters, Shakespeare uses his to indicate the end of an era. This is clearest in the character of Lear, the oldest character in the play.
First of all, the younger characters in this play don't look to the advice of the older characters the same way that the younger characters in Pride and Prejudice do, and after Lear gives up his kingdom, the younger characters never seem to receive any unwanted guidance from the older generation. Mrs Bennet, however is able to interfere with her daughters' lives by leaving them alone with boys and forcing them to get sick.
The end of the play shows how direct a contrast Lear is to the older characters in Pride and Prejudice. Firstly, he is literally the end of an era, as he is the last of his family alive just before his death. However, he is also the end of an era of suffering, giving way to one of more knowledge and less pain, as indicated in the final lines of the play. Albany, one of the few characters remaining ponders the deaths, and sees that Lear's indicates the final life of such suffering. But when he says "speak what we feel", does he mean that people should stop bending to social expectations? This seems somewhat unrelated to much of the rest of the play, but is important enough to Shakespeare to end on, which must make it more significant than it seems. This would make the general vision similar to that in Pride and Prejudice in a way, as the disregard of social constructs is predominant in both positive and negative ways. Positive in Lizzy's case, for example, and negative in Lydia's.
| "The weight of this sad time we must obey; | |
| Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. | |
| The oldest hath borne most: we that are young, | |
| Shall never see so much, nor live so long" |
No comments:
Post a Comment