What Is The Importance Of Applying Foster's Ideas In Pride And Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice tells a story of a young girl in the midst of a very materialistic society. Jane Austen uses the setting to dramatize the restraints women had to endure in society. As the novel develops, we see how women have to act in a way according to their gender, social class, and family lineage. Elizabeth Bennet’s sisters represent the proper societal lady while Lizzy is the rebel. Through her characters Austen shows how a women’s happiness came second to the comfort of wealth. As the plot develops, events are laid out to illustrate how true love is unattainable when women marry for intentions of wealth. Women have very specific and limited roles in a society where men are the superior. In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

The roles of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice are contrasted between a father who cares about what’s inside of people and a mother who only worries about vanity and appearance. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s parental guidance is unique to their personalities. Because of their two opposing personas, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s ideas of marriage are contradictory for their daughters; Mr. Bennet believes in a loving respectful marriage whereas Mrs. Bennet values a marriage which concerns wealth and social status. Their aspirations for Lydia, Jane, Mary, Kitty and Elizabeth mirror their conflicting ideologies. Mr. Bennet seems to have a quiet deep love

Bennet exclaims, “Oh! Single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls” (2). Considering Mrs. Bennet’s lines, the reader acknowledges Austen’s first claims on marriage. Mrs. Bennet not only exemplifies the opening statement of the novel, but also justifies the effect it has on mother figures. As Mrs. Bennet’s character develops, the reader recognizes her obsession with the marriage of her daughters. Mrs. Bennet understands the importance of marrying ‘well’ in order to maintain a high standing in the social realm. However, understanding the consequences directly affects Mrs. Bennet’s desperate behavior. This interpretation becomes an inevitable experience for each of Mrs. Bennet’s daughters.

Later in chapter two, Foster explains that the act of eating together symbolizes various types of communion. He uses many novels as examples to help prove this point. First, a meal’s description may take the place of describing sexual intercourse. In Tom Jones, a couple’s meal includes sucking on bones, licking fingers, and groaning, clearly demonstrating more than simply eating dinner. Additionally, a meal symbolizes an act of sharing and peace. The novel Cathedral tells of a discriminatory man who doesn’t gain respect for a blind man until he shares a meal with him. Finally, a failed meal has a negative connotation, bringing disappointment to the story. In Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, a mother tries to have a family diner, but continues to fail. The family

Foster discusses the idea that when two characters eat together, that moment acts as a bonding experience and causes the characters to come together. I had never noticed the significance of a meal between characters before. After reading this chapter, I can think of so many moments in stories when the characters share a meal together to form friendships or come to a peace. In one of my favorite novels, Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, Picoult writes that “Emma Alexis- who was one of the cool, beautiful girls…she rolled her wheelchair right beside Justin. She’d asked him if she could have half of his donut” (367). Splitting the donut between one of the popular girls and one of the quieter, nerdier boys was a representation of the deformation of the high school social classes. After reading this chapter, I could recall the significance of meals together in so many novels and movies but I never noticed this pattern before.

* Choose a meal from a literary work and apply the ideas of Chapter 2 to this literary depiction.

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice examines and critiques a society built upon gender roles. Austen does this by examining the obstacles women experienced in the Regency Period. Austen expresses how women were controlled, and objectified by men through their need to get married to a man. Additionally, the novel ridicules how women who could not afford to live without men were shadowed by their partner. This commentary is seen through the portrayal of the Bennet sisters. The females of the family are forced to marry because they do not inherit any wealth. The family is forced to comply with the same boundaries Austen was governed by. Therefore, Austen focuses on how the Bennet sisters overcome a society that suppresses them. This allows the reader to comprehend the strength, perseverance, determination, and assertiveness of the women in this time. Overall, Jane Austen addresses gender issues throughout the story. This is seen in the progressive image of Elizabeth, as she combats the inequality women experience. Although it was not common for women to criticize the patriarchy, the overall depiction of females is progressive. Elizabeth represents Austen’s feminist views, and the depiction of women in the novel is seen through her feminist image as she deals with Mr. Collins and Mr. Darcy.

In the second chapter of Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster discusses the intimacy of eating throughout literature and how readers should draw important information from a scene at the table. This chapter quickly establishes that “whenever people eat or drink together, it’s communion” (8). While the word communion is often associated with religious practices, Foster determines that in literary context, communion frequently refers to the close exchanging of intimate thoughts, feelings or actions. As the chapter progresses Foster begins to provide several reasons for why readers should pay attention to meal scenes, such as, “writing a meal scene is so difficult, and so inherently uninteresting that there really

“Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion”, a chapter in How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster, begins with the claim that meals are commonly a source of symbolism in literature. Communion, as Foster defines, does not necessarily have to refer to something religious. Foster argues instead that in communion in literature, which is as simple as two characters eating and drinking together, is only worth including if it has a deeper meaning. The point an author is trying to impress upon the reader is that the gesture of putting something in your body is so personal that it is a symbol of trust and friendship among two people taking part in communion. This can be used in many different ways, as Foster demonstrates by contrasting

In fact, food is so abundant “[t]hat scarce was there space to set before” (123) diners. The sumptuous fare and opulent surroundings distinguish this event from an everyday dinner and reinforce the idea that courtesy requires specific utensils, table coverings, and demeanor. Formal presentation of the repast indicates a high regard for guests because it is delivered on “service of silver” (124), typically associated with special occasions. Further, the narrator specifies the meal is served “on cloth” (125) as befits a formal occasion.

Happy for all her maternal feelings was the day on which Mrs. Bennet got rid of her two most deserving daughters. With what delighted pride she afterwards visited Mrs. Bingley and talked of Mrs. Darcy may be guessed. ( Austen 393).

Statuses of the individuals of Pride and Prejudice are specified by name. Those with a title, such as Lady Catherine, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, or Miss Bingley are esteemed in some way. A prefix signifies having something of worth offering the in the business of marriage or partnership. Austen never gives Elizabeth Bennet a prefix because she is not desirable in Victorian

Some of my earliest memories with my family take place around a dinner table. Back then, I sat in a booster seat, because the table towered over me like a skyscraper. One night, as I picked through my vegetables in hopes of identifying anything unworthy of eating, I couldn’t help but get distracted by my parents’ voices as they discussed adult things. For me, dinnertime was the part of the day that I spent scrutinizing every piece of food on my plate. For my parents, however, it was so much more; every night, they would sift through the details of their days, discussing and debating every topic in the world. I watched as they listened to each other intently, accepted each other’s ideas, and grew closer together. I desperately tried to understand their

Pride and Prejudice is a British novel written by Jane Austen. This book is one of the most cherished love stories in English Literature. Pride and Prejudice was written in the early 1800’s to replicate the relationships between men and women in Austen’s time. She portrayed Elizabeth, the second eldest of the Bennet daughters as fearless, independent, and more concerned about marrying for love than marrying for social status and stability. Elizabeth is able to still able to have the expectations of a woman without losing the ability to have her own opinion and strong state of mind. Austen created and highlighted one of the main characters, Elizabeth Bennet, to express the different morals she viewed, and how unalike she is from most of the

The novel is popularly known for addressing issues including, economy, patriarchy, and morality. These issues are in different ways still very relevant to a twenty-first century audience. In terms of economy, the reader sees the Bennet family struggling financially, as a family with no sons did in that time, as well as the affluent Darcy and Bingley families. This also leads on to the issue of patriarchy which causes the Bennet family, particularly Elizabeth’s mother, to be frantic in the search for husbands for the five Bennet sisters. The issue of morality is seen in Kitty’s elopement. Austen is