Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Reception and Interpretation

Donna Miranda

Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Diminio, Andrea

Keywords

Austen, Jane, Adaptation, Feminist

Area of Concentration

British and American Literature

Abstract

My argument focuses on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, particularly on the portrayal of the possibilities of women's autonomy and the social practices that limit female agency. In general, I emphasize marriage and courtship in the novel. The first chapter investigates Austen and her novel from a feminist perspective, using literary and anthropological theories from the past forty years. In formulating this section, I employ a feminist anthropological theory concerning patriarchy and the "traffic in women." By emphasizing the socioeconomic imperative for marriage, Pride and Prejudice seems to depict a version of the traffic in women; ultimately, though, Austen alters the marriage plot by granting Elizabeth and Jane Bennet agency in their choice of husbands. The second chapter examines the relation of self-awareness to female agency, as portrayed through the novel's heroine, Elizabeth, and other female characters during the transitional period between courtship and marriage. My goal is to explore the social expectations of young women in marriage, demonstrating how Austen's characters are able to overcome patriarchal limitations through the exercise of personal agency. Elizabeth, in particular, is able to find happiness with Darcy as a result of her ability to experience a higher degree of self-awareness. In the final chapter, I discuss adaptations of Pride and Prejudice as a special form of the reception and interpretation of the novel. I focus specifically on three American theatrical and film adaptations over the past 72 years. My goal is to communicate the intentions and choices of the adapters as well as the constraints they faced in translating a classic novel to performance mediums. I conclude my thesis with a discussion of the Asolo Repertory Theatre's efforts in 2007 to engage the Sarasota/ Bradenton community with Austen's Pride and Prejudice and with their new dramatic adaptation of the novel.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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