A critical study of the connections and comparisons evident throughout Jane Austen’s 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice and Fay Weldon’s 1984 epistolary novel Letters to Alice: On First Reading Jane Austen, enables the audience to heighten their understanding of the social context and issues arising in regency England and the twentieth century. This allows the audience to grasp the societal ideals and values of the times highlighted through the themes of marriage and social status present throughout both Pride and Prejudice and Letters to Alice.
Throughout history, marriage has been seen as a means of furthering one’s rank in society. This is shown in Pride and Prejudice, as Jane Austen reveals the unique values and attitudes towards marriage during regency era in the opening sentence, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”. During the 19th century, marriage was not normally determined by …show more content…
In, “Jane Austen likes to see the division between nobility and gentry broken down”, Weldon discerns between Austen’s personal values and her society’s, providing the audience with insight into how Austen perceived the rigid social hierarchy, believing it to be meaningless. In “Use your judgement Alice, not mine”, Weldon’s use of didactic tone expresses that Alice and the responders to adopt their own values and embrace their individuality. Thus, it is revealed that in Weldon’s society, an individual is able to achieve what they desire through their own merits, reflected by Fay Weldon’s own success, contrasting the restricted agenda of those who were of the lower class in regency era. Through Letter to Alice, the audience is able to comprehend Pride and Prejudice as Weldon compares and contrasts the values of her own society to Austen’s
Throughout history, marriage has been seen as a means of furthering one’s rank in society. This is shown in Pride and Prejudice, as Jane Austen reveals the unique values and attitudes towards marriage during regency era in the opening sentence, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”. During the 19th century, marriage was not normally determined by …show more content…
In, “Jane Austen likes to see the division between nobility and gentry broken down”, Weldon discerns between Austen’s personal values and her society’s, providing the audience with insight into how Austen perceived the rigid social hierarchy, believing it to be meaningless. In “Use your judgement Alice, not mine”, Weldon’s use of didactic tone expresses that Alice and the responders to adopt their own values and embrace their individuality. Thus, it is revealed that in Weldon’s society, an individual is able to achieve what they desire through their own merits, reflected by Fay Weldon’s own success, contrasting the restricted agenda of those who were of the lower class in regency era. Through Letter to Alice, the audience is able to comprehend Pride and Prejudice as Weldon compares and contrasts the values of her own society to Austen’s