36. The realism of Jane Austen’s novels.
Realistic conventions are used a great deal in the media, in novels, short stories, articles, films, television programmes, and various other forms. Realism is a representation of real life, it is believable, and it persuades the reader to empathise with an element of what they are reading or viewing.
Realist writing is usually anxious writing. It deals with ordinary people, dealing with morals, and normal social issues. The reader is ‘shown’ the characters, rather than ‘told’ about them. That way the reader can familiarise themselves with the characters, rather like meeting someone new in real-life.
Jane Austen is one of the most know English writers whose works are full of realism. Austen's works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century realism. Her plots, though fundamentally comic, highlight the dependence of women on marriage to secure social standing and economic security. Austen drew her drama from the world she knew. Her characters are engaged in real endeavours: dancing, trying to make or keep money, marrying, courting, and gossiping.
In ‘Pride and Prejudice’, Jane Austen portrays a realistic image of society, in a realistic setting. In this book, and also in many others, she presents people in small group in limited environment. She writes about patriarchal society system in which women are only expected to raise children and take care of household. She depicts conventions and attitudes towards marriage in the 19th century (marriage of convince)
Austen was a master of irony, and her novels stood out during her time for their astute observations, sophisticated dialogue, and realism of characters.
+ to co jest realistic in Pride and Prejudice:
portrayed small groups of people in limited environments – they are middle class and provincial; their ambition is marriage; in her novels she depicted them in a very naturalistic way, as they appear in a real life, together with their faults and virtues
trivial accidents of characters’ lives; quiet and domestic life – comedy of manners (powieść obyczajowa), ‘novels of the tea-table’
provides the reader with social insight: one of the greatest social expectation at that time was marriage: for women it was the only mean of support and for men it was significant to have an heir since women were not allowed to inherit the fortune after their father’s death
marriage: the 1st sentence in Pride and Prejudice “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” turns itself outside out: it is a single woman that must be in want of a man with a good fortune; there was the so-called ‘marriage market’ – women had to possess certain qualities: they had to be able to sing, they had to talk about trivial things, they had to be dressed well, they had to be able to play the piano, they had to be healthy
the desperation of the hunt for husband is the desperation of economic survival – finding a husband is, thus, necessary
the marriage motivation, however, is complicated by other needs of a civilized authority
the convention of love holds the man to be a purchaser; the economic compulsion holds the female to run down a property
the male hunters must observe the most refined behaviour and sentiments; the female is a ‘lady’, the man is a ‘gentleman’ – they must ‘fall in love’ (Charlotte and Mr Collins);
2nd sentence in Pride and Prejudice “However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of someone or other of their daughters” – in fact, nobody cares about his feelings
lots of humour on the part of Mr Bennet (the father of 5 Bennet sisters)
falling in love is like the convention; the girls are like investment; that’s why it’s important to buy them new dresses etc.
civilized appearances are preserved before the eyes of the community but it is necessary to preserve dignity of feelings in one’s own eyes
civilized conventions and economic primitivism unite feelings and fortune; initially in conflict, they are reconciled in the socially expected, approved of and creative union of marriage (Elizabeth and Mr Darcy)
marriage is a complex engagement; marrying an individual, one marries also the society (members of the family and culture – in case of intercultural marriages); it’s not only an intimate act of a couple but it’s a social event as well