Austen Jane (2)

Jane Austen’s intricate novel exhibits

dry, subtle humor. She paints her genteel and refined characters with a

fine brush, allowing them to enno’-'le or lower themselves with their own

actions and words. A symmetrical plot provides insight into both the foibles

and the warmth of human nature. Pride and Prejudice is a perceptive examination

of the relationship between the classes in Britain with middle class, upwardly

mobile aspirations to progress rubbing against upper class efforts to keep

them “in their place.” Austen’s adroit depiction of the plight of women

in pre-Victorian Europe also shows her superlative insight into her own

world. And this insight is skillfully mirrored through one of the most

intriguing and admired heroines of English novels Elizabeth Bennet.