Jane Austen's Complexity Revealed In Pride And Prejudice

Jane Austen is a prominent figure in British literature, whose specific complexity makes her works profound and enduring. Since the twentieth century, readers and critics at home and abroad have shown more and more interest in her works. Some have interpreted her fiction from the feminist perspective and confirmed her progressiveness. Nevertheless her conservativeness of defending the old feudal patriarchic society is as remarkable as her progressiveness. The thesis intends to prove her complexity by studying the opposite two presented in her excellent novel Pride and Prejudice. This thesis proves the above proposition from three aspects. Chapter One focuses on her conservativeness. It argues that in novel her conservativeness is manifested in two aspects: the depiction of an ideal feudal society and traditional moralization of women. Close reading of the novel leads to the discovery of Austen's advocacy of the hierarchic and patriarchal society. The key matter of building an ideal feudal society is to seek an eligible leader for the village community, namely, the aristocrat Darcy who takes place of irresponsible Mr. Bennet, overcomes dangerous Wickham, spreads traditional virtues and dutifully exerts the inherited privileges and authorities to secure the legitimate authority of gentry class and defend the feudal society. Meanwhile, Austen adopts the system of rewards and punishments to indoctrinate traditional morality to women so that they can well perform their traditional roles of good wives and mothers. In novel virtuous Jane, Charlotte and Elizabeth are all rewarded generous fortune and happy marriages while unconventional Lydia is eventually punished. Then the patriarchal society with Darcy at the top is consolidated. Chapter Two is centered on her progressiveness that is displayed in three aspects: the severe criticism of defects of some gentries, the positive description of class mobility and the awakening feminist consciousness. First, the criticism of tyranny Lady Catherine, selfish Miss Bingley, obsequious Mr. Collins and the originally pride Darcy as well really reveals Austen's dissatisfaction of the ruling class. Second, the novel gives a positive description of the promotion of newly-emerging bourgeoisie. Mr.Gardiner and Bingley who newly climb up from trade class to gentry class are praised for their good qualities, which indicates Austen's view that the individual can ascend in social ladder with his own effort. Third, women status, authority and nature are always Austen's concerns and her views of them indicate her definite feminist consciousness. The Bennet sisters and Charlotte are entangled by entails and marriage is their only solution of economical and survival problems, which exposes women's lowly status and dreadful situation. Against the conception of women's inferiority to men in mind, Austen characterizes intelligent and rebellious Elizabeth and moreover expresses a new view of marriage through Elizabeth's marriage. Chapter Three summarizes that Austen's complexity is composed of conservativeness and progressiveness and explores social and personal factors which have influence on the formation of her complexity. In Austen, conservativeness and progressiveness contradict and coexist and what she proposes is to maintain the existing social status quo by means of improvement which can not oscillate the bedrock of the society. Her complexity is the product of her times and personal experiences. The Industrial and French revolutions bring about British social changes and cause the war of ideas between conservative and radical camps which deeply affects the development of her ideology. The association of the times in which Austen lived reveals her complexity is a social product. The dramatic social changes brought about conflicts of the old and the new, the conservative and the radical which must influence the development of her ideology. In spite of the rapid development ofcapitalism, deep-rooted feudalism still existed. Her birth of a lower gentry family and acceptance of traditional education determine her conservativeness while the open domestic milieu and wide reading of progressive books determine her progressiveness. This thesis concludes that the analysis of Pride and Prejudice reveals Austen's complexity which is the product of the specific society in which she lived. Living at the time when traditional thoughts were severely threatened and fast transformed by the newly appeared ones, people would naturally look back to the old ones clinging to them while gradually adopting the new ones. Austen's complexity is just a natural response to social changes she has experienced and is also the reason why her works attract more critics'attention and win readers from generation to generation.