GRANDS TEXTES DE LA LITTERATURE ANGLOPHONE I (GTLA I) A1 B 20 / D1 B 20 (Code ENEAD)
2010/2011
jana žilová
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Author of Presentation: Justine Duhamel & Marie de La Ruffie
Email: Justine.duhalmel@wanadoo.fr & marie@laruffie.fr
Title of the Excerpt: Pride and Prejudice
Author: Jane Austen
Year of appearance: 1813 ( year of publication)
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Overview Analysis
Textual Analysis: (general)
• Historical Background: 18th century (period when Jane Austen lived: 1775- 1817)
- Women's conditions were really difficult: really important to get married to have a good standard of living, endure a lot of pressure. • This novel is a domestic novel: a novel about home life and family that often emphasizes the personalities and attitudes of its characters. But also satirical => aim of it : criticize the people who belong to the gentry (people of gentle birth, good breeding and high social position) cf: opening sentence.
• This extract is composed of a dialogue and two authorial interventions at the beginning and at the end.
Narrative Analysis:
• One main topic: The marriage and the money which goes with. It's introduced by the dialogue between the parents: Mr. & Mrs. Bennet. The trigger event (element déclencheur) of this passage is the arrival of Mr Bingley in the area.
• These topics (marriage and money) are very important because they constitute the plot the story of Pride and Prejudice is based on.
-Introduced by: Authorial interventions + Mrs. Bennet‘s speech / gossips
• Characters: - Mr Bennet : clever and dry wit ( pince –sans rire) l.46-47 - Mrs Bennet: excessive and vulgar. L.47 to 49 - Jane: beautiful and sensitive. - Elizabeth: attractive and witty. - Lydia, Catherine and Mary
• Dynamics between the characters: Through the dialogue, we can see an incompatibility between Mr and Mrs Bennet.
Stylistic Analysis:
• The opening sentence: there is an aphorism ( a generally accepted truth of principle expressed in a short and pithy sentence.) • The way Mr. & Mrs. Bennet speak reveal their behavior: words+ punctuation.
Vocabulary analysis:
- Line 11: “in a chaise”: a carriage pulled by a horse. – Line 18: “how can you be so tiresome”: making you feel annoyed. – Line 20: “Design”: a plan or an intention. – Line 24: “my share”: my part. – Line 30: “ merely” : only, simply – Line 37: “quickness”: the quality of being fast, especially at thinking. – Line 38: “abuse”: to insult, to use in the wrong way. – line 48: “ discontented”: unhappy because you are not satisfied with your situation
Cross-reference: Inter textual reading: • Other novel of the author:
-Sense and Sensibility, 1811
-Mansfield Park, 1814
-Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, 1818
What angle did you employ while analyzing? Why?
Pride and Prejudice is a novel inspired by the Jane Austen‘s world that’s why we decided to insist in our analysis on the main issues like the marriage, the money, gossips. Everything that represented the life in the gentry because through her novel she depicts the society of her time.
What literature did you use?
-Histoire de la littérature anglaise, Les Fondamentaux, Elizabeth ANGEL-PEREZ
-Anthologie de la littérature anglaise, François Laroque, Alain Morvan, André Topia
-York Notes on Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, Longman litterature guides
-Lettres illustrées, Jane Austen, choisies et illustrées par Penelope Hugues-Hallet, HERSCHER
Favourite passage, quote from your analyzed text? Why?
Our favorite passage is the opening sentence of the novel because it sets all the plot of this famous and beautiful story.
Conclusion:
We can see that Pride and Prejudice‘s story is linked to Jane Austen‘s life
- Jane Austen is involved because she is the narrator. - Furthermore, Jane Austen during her girlhood had her an affair with an Irish man who was called Tom Lefroy. But because they were from different background there were allowed to get married. That’s why it’s supposed that because she was unhappy she decided to make the Bennett’s girls fulfilled their dream of real love stories and happy marriages.
Is there a film adaptation of the extract?
-1940: Pride and Prejudice made by Robert Z. Leonard with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier.
-1995: Pride and Prejudice made by Sue Birtwistle and Simon Langton with Colin firth and Jennifer Ehle (TV adaptation in partnership with the BBC).
-2005: PRIDE and Prejudice made by Joe Right with Keira Knightley and Mattew MacFayden
Personal Comments:
We would like to add movies and books we liked and that we will advise to Jane Austen ‘s readers or people who enjoyed our presentation.
- Becoming Jane: made by Julian Jarrold. A biographical portrait of a pre-fame Jane Austen ( played by Anne Hathaway) and her romance with Lefroy. This movie is very interesting when you want to get to know better who Jane Austen was.
- The adaption by the BBC of the other novel of Jane Austen (Mansfield Park, Northanger abbey….)
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