Monday, November 29, 2010

Pride And Prejudice Ideas For Paper

-Women's roles

-The main purpose of a woman in her life revolves around marriage. There are different ways that marriage can be looked for. Some characters want to marry because of love like Elizabeth and Jane, others because of pleasure like Wickham and Lydia, but Mrs. Bennet wants to marry her daughters for money. It doesn't matter which kind o marriage happens, a married woman is considered so much better than the rest of the women. Lydia's pride after being married has increases a lot and the way she treats her sisters as inferiors demonstrate this. According to Lydia: "But you know married women have never much time for writing. My sisters may write to me. They will have nothing else to do" (pg246). Lydia's arrogance has made her think herself superior, having something to do compared to her sisters.

-Having a son in that time was inevitably the most important thing. All the property and possessions of a father would be inherited by the son. In the case there was no son then all his possessions would go to another family member, leaving the family poor. That case is the case of the Bennets. This situation is described when according to Austen: "When first Mr. Bennet had married, economy was held to be perfectly useless; for, of course, they were to have a son" (pg229). The economical situation of a family would be perfect if a son was in the family because all the money would go to him. The woman was not considered such a powerful figure to be able to inherit the father's possessions, even though they belonged to their family.

Pride And Prejudice Ideas For Paper

-Mr. Darcy changes a lot in his attitude, especially towards Elizabeth. He is not considered to be as excessively arrogant and proud as before. Jane Austen describes Darcy's new attitude as "Never, even in the company of his friends at Netherfield, or his dignified relations at Rosings, has she seen him so desirous to please, so free from self-consequence" (pg195). Since he is in his house he has to live up to his prejudice or fame, therefore being far kinder than in other occasions. Another option is that he feels a lot more comfortable in his house to show his real self than in other situations. The general prejudice of Mr. Darcy in his house is very positive. Mrs. Reynolds's opinion regarding Darcy's marriage is described as "I do not know when that will be. I do not know who is good enough for him" (pg.183).

-Mrs. Bennet possesses several different qualities. She constantly wants the best for her daughters but will over control them. Her main goal is for them to marry and she will do anything she can to accomplish that. I would also describe her as very exaggerated and a pessimist. According to Mrs. Bennet: "Mr. Bennet gone away, and I know he will fight Wickham wherever he meets him, and then he will be killed, and what is to become of us all? The Collinses will turn us out before he is cold in his grave" (pg213). Mrs. Bennet is really exaggerating the situation as well as looking at the worst case scenario. I would also describe her as annoying because she gets too much into the problems of others like the ones of her daughters as well as the ones of the whole town.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Pride And Prejudice Ideas For Paper

-Pride

-A characteristic of every character in the book is pride. Pride can be defined as the way a person thinks about himself. The level of pride also determines the attitude of the character. Mr. Darcy is described as having a great pride, leading to arrogance and dislike.

-Elizabeth's refusal of Mr. Darcy's marriage proposal must have been a hard hit in his pride. He was completely sure that Elizabeth would quickly accept. When he found out that there was a woman that had rejected his proposal his pride must have been destroyed. According to Jane: "His being so sure of succeeding was wrong, and certainly ought not to have appeared; but consider how much it would increase his disappointment" (Austen, pg.167).

-Prejudice

-Prejudice affects everyone in the book, being subjects to constant criticism. Prejudice is what others think about you. According to Elizabeth: "The general prejudice against Mr. Darcy is so violent that it would be the death of half the good people in Meryton to attempt to place him in an aimable light" (Austen, pg.169). The general prejudice of Mr. Darcy has already been established as so bad that it is impossible to show the real Mr. Darcy now.

-Criticism

-Criticizing seems like the favorite past time of the characters in Pride and Prejudice. The public opinion is very important and people can't bear having a negative prejudice against them.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

A Marriage Ruined By Mr. Darcy

Jane's marriage with Mr. Bingley displayed the perfect marriage. There existed only one problem in this encounter, Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy didn't see this marriage as the best for his friend. What did he see wrong about these two families joining together? Did he have better plans for Mr. Bingley? According to Mr. Darcy: "I have no wish of denying that I did everything in my power to separate my friend from your sister, or that I have rejoice in my success" (Austen, pg144). Mr. Darcy could have separated his friend from Jane for two reasons. One, Jane's family is very poor. Or two, he preferred that his dear friend married his sister instead of Jane. When Mr. Darcy describes his effects on the marriage as having "rejoice in my success," he must have something to gain in the separation. According to this I would have to say that the option that brings more happiness to him is the marrying with his sister. If Mr. Bingley marries his sister then that means that their friendship will be consolidated by joining the two families by marriage. If it were my case I wouldn't mind one of my best friends marrying with one of my cousins or my sister, because in that sense our friendship will be consolidated.

That explanation for his wanting to break up the marriage convinced me of his reasoning. I was surprised to be proved wrong when later, in the letter he wrote to Elizabeth, he gave other reasons for this breaking up. One of his reasons was "The situation of your mother's family, though objectionable, was nothing in comparison of that total want of propriety so frequently, so almost uniformly betrayed by herself, by your three younger sisters" (Austen, pg148). Mr. Darcy couldn't forget the economical part of Jane's family. He mentions the fact that the situation Jane's family is not the best. Also the fact that every daughter is looking for a man to marry, preferably with money conforms one of the reasons Mr. Darcy broke up the marriage. In other words, he was afraid that his friend marriage's main objective was money rather than love. The state of wealth in this family is the reason why Mr. Darcy disapproved this marriage.

The Clothes Of Wealth







There exists nothing that displays wealth better than clothes. Education and attitude do show in some aspects the wealth of a person, but clothing and the elegance of it just mirror wealth. Today examples of this are constantly seen. When people buy the brand new cleats or shoes everyone knows that they have certain amount of wealth. On the other hand, when people buy cheaper shoes their wealth is also shown. A person who can't afford the new shoes will certainly have to buy another brand of shoes. In other words clothes do vary depending on levels of wealth, in some way they classify people as wealthy or poor. As said by Mr. Collins "Lady Catherine is far from requiring that elegance of dress in us which becomes herself and daughter. I would advise you merely to put on whatever of your clothes is superior to the rest" (Austen, pg120). Elizabeth's clothes are not expected to be as good as Lady Catherine's. Lady Catherine has a lot of wealth compared to Elizabeth. In effect, their clothing differs greatly showing their differences of money. In other words, clothes are constantly showing the level of wealth a person has.


 


 

Wealthier people in Pride and Prejudice are seen as better and their opinion has a higher value. Lady Catherine constantly talks almost without letting anyone speak their opinion. The lower the wealth of person is the less he talks. This might be a clear distinction Austen wants to make of social class. According to Austen: "The two girls had the honour of assisting Mrs. Jenkinson to make up her party. Their table was superlatively stupid. Scarcely a syllable was uttered" (Austen, pg 125). Mrs. Jenkinson occupies the charge of a nurse. She is portrayed as the least wealthy person out of the whole party. Since she has less money than the rest her opinion doesn't value as much, making her a silent person in presence of wealthier people. The more money a person has, the more his opinion will value, and the amount he talks is affected by this.

Fame And Pride

Fame consists mainly of the public opinion about a person. How others see this person affects greatly their fame. Jane Austen's seems to think that fame is very important. Being famous in Pride and Prejudice signifies a lot because vanity is very high as well as prejudice. According to Austen: "It is very often nothing but our own vanity that deceives us. Women fancy admiration means more than it does" (Austen, pg102). At first, I didn't understand how vanity could deceive a woman, but I do know how pride can deceive a person. Pride can make a person think excessively good of himself and when reality hits this person he will be disappointed that his actual self didn't stand up to his pride. Also having a very low pride makes a person feel bad about himself and have self esteem problems. However, vanity can affect pride, also having an effect on the person. Vanity could be described as the level of importance the prejudice of others has in a person. If vanity is very high, which is the case in the book, then the prejudice of others could greatly affect pride. The way "Women fancy admiration" is nothing more than their vanity, wanting to be admired.

As a matter of fact public opinion has a great effect in pride of people. A person who is always talked about as good and honorable would have a high pride. Since everyone thinks well of him, he will most likely think good of him as well. If this public opinion is the contrary the pride of the person could also go down. Mrs. Bennet's pride went down a lot when the marriage vents happened. According to Austen: "Mrs. Bennet had many grievances to relate, and much to complain of. […] Two of her girls had been on the point of marriage, and after all there was nothing" (pg. 105). The main objective of Mrs. Bennet is to marry her daughters and preferably to a wealthy man. In this case she was very close to achieving this two times but had failed at the end. This event was a direct hit to her pride. Prejudice about how her two daughters were so close to marriage and in the end nothing happened could have appeared, being obstacles of Mrs. Bennet's objective.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Benefits Of Marriage

Marriage characterizes the ideal life. This ideal life imposed by society consists of money, friends, and a wife. Marriage becomes a vital event in a person's life if he wants success. This doesn't differ when compared to the standards of marriage in Pride and Prejudice. Every character in the book seeks for a husband or wife, desiring marriage. No one is exempt from this standard that society imposes on them. Mr. Collins, when talking to Elizabeth, proposes the following reason for him to marry "First, I think it a right thing for every clergyman in easy circumstances to set the example of matrimony in his parish" (Austen, pg 80). Mr. Collins sees marriage as setting an example for his community. Setting an example means that a person wants to show others how things are done, but at the same time he makes himself superior to the others by making them follow his example. A way of gaining power and public respect is by marriage. In the ideal life, marriage will also bring friends along with it.

In Pride and Prejudice marriage also involves the gain of wealth. People marry for many different reasons including money. According to Mrs. Bennet: "She is a very headstrong foolish girl, and does not know her own interest; but I will make her know it" (Austen, pg 84). Mrs. Bennet wants to marry her daughter Elizabeth to Mr. Collins because of money. Mr. Collins is a wealthy and powerful man but he lacks an attitude that pleases Elizabeth. Mrs. Bennet will not make Elizabeth know her own interest but rather she will teach her the family's interest. The Bennet family will gain prestige if their daughters marry wealthy men, bringing the family name to a better status. Elizabeth doesn't like Mr. Collins but the only thing needed to wed is money. Mr. Collins's wealth has instantly won Mrs. Bennet's help

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Mr. Pride

Pride, as used in Pride and Prejudice, means the self judgment of one self. The way a person thinks about himself is pride. Pride has also many levels. There are levels where the pride from a person can be tolerated but pride can reach some extents where it becomes annoying. When a person thinks that he surpasses all the rest and that others don't matter, he has reached that level of pride.

Mr. Darcy exemplifies this level of pride. His pride is too great to even talk with people of lower wealth. According to Austen: "Can such abominable pride as his have ever done him good" (pg.61)? Mr. Darcy has a pride so great that he doesn't care who he hurts and thinks himself as superior to the rest. People that have these characteristics are not normally the kindest people. They will constantly be reminding you of their superiority as well as their abundant precious possessions. Even though these kinds of people are annoying, they do posses a characteristic that many people lack. No matter what other people say or think about them, they will never change. The standards set by society will not hurt these individuals in any way because they consider themselves superior to any opinion from others.

Everyone in the book avoids being criticized. They always look to evade criticism done to them but are quick in criticizing others. It is also used as a punishment. According to Elizabeth: "This is quite shocking!- He deserves to be publicly disgraced" (pg. 60). Prejudice is how others think about you and everyone in the book is constantly avoiding bad prejudice. Elizabeth in this case thinks that Mr. Darcy should be criticized for his bad actions, but I don't think this would work. Negative criticism will only affect a person that cares about what others think about them. Elizabeth wants to criticize Mr. Darcy but Mr. Darcy has a pride so big that the criticism will not affect him in any way.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Criticizing Criticism

Criticism constantly appears in the book, making it important. Sitting in a house and criticizing persons for a whole afternoon looks like the past time. The criticizing is mostly done by the women who criticize every aspect of the other person. Man also criticize and in some way are very negative. According to Mr. Darcy: "There is, I believe, in every disposition a tendency to some particular evil, a natural defect, which not even the best education can overcome" (pg 43). I see Mr. Darcy as a very pessimist man finding a defect in every person in the world. I do agree that everyone has their own defects but I do not agree that every defect has to be criticized. Every defect found in a person shouldn't affect so much as to say that there is some evil inside every person, subject to criticism. The idea of the defect is the weak spot of the person, which people will criticize.

Austen also agrees with the idea that there is a defect for every person in the world. All her characters have at least one defect. According to Austen: "Miss de Borough is far superior to the handsomest of her sex, because there is that in her features which marks the young woman of distinguished birth. She is unfortunately of a sickly constitution" (pg 50). Even though Miss de Borough prevails in beauty over the rest, her sickness prevents her from accomplishing more. I don't really agree with Austen that for every human there has to be a defect, in fact I think that the biggest defect of all is criticizing the defects of others.

The Power Of Money Over Love

Love has many elements that compose it, starting with liking the other person. It is clear that there has to exist certain like between these two persons for love to exist. The desire to be with the other person has to exist. There are other components of love that don't directly affect love but have a great deal of influence in them. Money and power are things that even though people say don't matter they do. According to Austen: "But with such a father and mother, and such low connections, I am afraid there is no chance of it" (pg 26). In this case they are referring to people who have a lower level of power as well as less money than them. This fact brings up criticism from the family and friends of Mr. Bingley. I don't think that a person should be judged for their money and power in that way, but in that time it was normal to marry with a person with similar wealth and power.

People may say that today love has changed in many ways. It is true that now the strictness of marriage became more flexible but money still plays a major role. People say that the marrying for money and power doesn't exist anymore, but I am sure that a father will not let his daughter marry a man who will not be able to provide financial stability to her.

In Pride and Prejudice another kind of love appears. The love where the money matters less appears when according to Austen: "They could talk of nothing but officers; and Mr. Bingley's large fortune, the mention of which gave animation to their mother, was worthless in their eyes when opposed to the regimentals of an ensign" (pg. 20). The love expressed by Austen in this quotation differs to the other love in many ways. This love doesn't need money for it to exist. This love relies only on the want to be with another person. Money can't replace the ensigns of the soldiers in these girls' minds, showing true love.

A Party With Pride and Prejudice

Mrs. Bennet has a clear objective, marrying one of her daughters with Mr. Bingley. Mr. Bingley is as "sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such happy manners" (pg 9). According to all the girls present in the ball he was very handsome and most pleasing to everyone. Most certainly a very big competition for the liking of Mr. Bingley grew at the ball. If this situation happened in a modern day party, it would be very different. All the girls in Pride and Prejudice waited for Mr. Bingley to ask them for a dance. Today, all the girls would be dancing around Mr. Bingley without him even asking them to dance with him, trying to impress him before any other competitor does. With time the way a woman is attracts a man has changed. In Pride and Prejudice a kind and beautiful women had to wait for her turn to be taken out by Mr. Bingley, and she would be considered normal. If she had acted like a woman acts today, she would be looked at as different by not waiting for the man to engage her, but approaching the man. On the other hand, if a woman acted as women acted in Pride and Prejudice today, she would be considered strange. If a girl stays seated, waiting for a man to talk to her, and not interacting in any way with others she would be considered weird and anti social, instead of likeable as in the party of the book.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Hamlet Act V: Afterlife

Every person in the world will at one point die. People view death in different ways, some view it as a horrible thing and others are grateful of this event. Personally, I view death as a bad event but I am aware of its inevitability, in some way accepting death. After death, the afterlife starts. In the afterlife, according to the Roman Catholic religion which I am part of, one goes to heaven if one has acted accordingly to God's commandments in earth. There are many other theories of the afterlife, a very common one being that death is just the end and nothing else will follow. In Hamlet both ideals of death are presented.

Shakespeare reflects the Roman Catholic theory of afterlife by saying "Her death was doubtful,/ And, but that great command o'ersways the order,/ She should in ground unsanctified been lodged/ Till the last trumpet" (Act V sc i ln 234-237). Suicide, being the doubtful element in Ophelia's death, excluded her from entering into heaven. God decides when a person should die, making suicide an obstruction of his plans for this person's life. This obstruction in God's plans forces Ophelia's soul to lie in the tomb without being able to be sanctified and admitted into heaven, until the end of the world. The last trumpet symbolizes the apocalypse, condemning Ophelia to remain there until everything is gone. On the contrary, if murder would have ended Ophelia's life, she would go to heaven. Strictness characterizes this religion because if one commits suicide or isn't baptized in his life, no matter how good you acted in life you wouldn't be admitted into heaven because you lack the initiation in the church of God.

The other theory is the circle of life. A person is born from nature and he will end up as nature. According to Shakespeare: "Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alex-/ ander returneth to dust; the dust is earth" (Act V sc i ln 216-217). The earth, being the one that feeds and nurtures the human, makes it inevitable for humans. At the end the human will return everything to the earth when he dies. I personally don't believe this theory because after death something must happen, but I do understand the cycle of life where everything returns to its original place. Seeing this theory in another way, our dead body and soul will serve as the food for a new body and soul. This could be the afterlife in this theory, living in another person and helping this individual survive. I think my religion has greatly shaped me in my idea of afterlife but regardless of that I firmly believe there exists something after you die.