Pride and Prejudice Context - created from Mind Map

Page 1

Biographical Info

Regency England

Gender Roles

Class

Love and Marriage

Born 16th December 1775 in Hampshire

7th child of 8

Father, like Mr Bennet, couldn't give daughters much to marry on

Encouraged to read, write and put on plays

Boarding school

Early adulthood spent running the family home, playing piano, attending church and socialising. Austen was an accomplished dancer

1801, moved to Bath with mother, father and elder sister Cassandra

Father died 1805 - financial straits

Started anonymously publishing in her 30s (1811-16)

1811 to 1820 when George, Prince of Wales, governed the country as ‘Regent’ during the madness of his father George III

the Prince Regent actively encouraged and acted as patron for many of the new movements in painting, sculpture, decoration, literature, music, technology and science.

Two year war with france affecting all classes

Austen had a close connection to the militia, as her brother Henry joined the Oxfordshire militia in 1793

a third of the country’s population lived on the verge of starvation, spurring food riots across the countryside, the government responded with repressive measures that sharply curtailed freedom of speech

late eighteenth century, English conceptions of family and the role of women began to change as they became the means through which a family could attain greater wealth

"Elizabeth Bennett serves as a paradigmatic example of the conflicting transformations in women’s roles that occurred in the late eighteenth century. Disinherited of her father’s property, Elizabeth is not financially independent, and in fact depends upon an advantageous marriage for her future survival. Yet throughout the novel, she asserts an intellectual and moral independence."

women rely on men for money

Acomplished women could sing, draw, dance, have musical ability, knowledge in modern languages and possed a certain air

women would want to marry to a higher class but men would not ant to marry a woman of a class too much lower

One's title (or lack of) decided who they should mix with and what they should do

Categorised by elegance and wealth

questions of land ownership and inheritance are closely interlinked with courtship and marriage

Love was not necessary for marriage

many women were obsessed with marriage

Many marriages were arranged between families where the bride had little say in the choice of her husband