Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: Lecture on Volume I (Ch. 1-23) (Patreon)

'Nothing remains for me but to assure you in the most animated language of the violence of my affection.'

Today we are visiting the ballrooms of Regency England as part of our journey through the sparkling courtship comedy that is Pride and Prejudice.

We're discussing social class, dance etiquette, courtship, first impressions, what makes a great character, relationship dynamics, bibliotherapy, minimalism, subtext, comic juxtaposition, Jane Austen's elevation of the novel, pride, prejudice, and much more.

Timestamps:

0:00 ‘it is a truth universally acknowledged…’

2:00 irony, interiority & free indirect style

4:00 property & class in Georgian England

6:00 ‘the business of Mrs Bennet’s life’

8:00 meeting Elizabeth Bennet & her sisters

10:00 the social class of the Bingleys & Bennets

12:00 Austen’s mastery of comic juxtaposition

14:00 masterclass in dialogue & minimalism

16:00 difference between Austen & her peers

17:00 the power of Jane Austen’s characters

19:00 meeting Mr Bingley & Mr Darcy

20:00 what does ‘amiable’ really mean?

21:00 dancing, courtship & Regency etiquette

23:00 Mr Darcy offends Elizabeth Bennet

24:00 meditating upon first impressions

26:00 we are what our neighbours make us

28:00 how we determine another’s character

30:00 novel as vicarious exploration of pride

31:00 difference between pride & vanity

33:00 Aristotle’s thoughts on pride as virtue

35:00 character needs time & space to develop

36:00 showing more affection that one feels

39:00 love & hate alike is often reciprocal

41:00 ‘the beautiful expression of her dark eyes’

43:00 Jane Bennet falls ill at Netherfield Park

45:00 how character reveals itself in action

46:00 Elizabeth walks through miles of mud

48:00 Darcy & Elizabeth’s love of reading

50:00 how Jane Austen elevated the novel

52:00 how Darcy tries to flirt with Elizabeth

54:00 what we say vs what we really mean

56:00 when someone tells you who they are

58:00 what Mr Darcy thinks of pride

1:00:00 who are we really arguing with?

1:02:00 Darcy feels like he’s in some ‘danger’

1:04:00 meeting the ‘odious’ Mr Collins

1:06:00 Mr Collins’ plan of atonement

1:08:00 gothic romance vs books of sermons

1:09:00 French Revolution & Napoleonic Wars

1:11:00 fears of land invasion in England

1:13:00 bibliotherapy & Austen’s healing power

1:14:00 meeting the caddish Mr Wickham

1:16:00 bad blood between Wickham & Darcy

1:18:00 hilarity ensues at the Netherfield Ball

1:20:00 Darcy & Collins dance with Lizzy

1:22:00 Mr Collins’ proposes to Elizabeth

1:24:00 true feelings vs pragmatism

1:26:00 Mr Collins & Charlotte Lucas

1:27:00 Mr Bingley withdraws from Netherfield

1:28:00 volume two for our next discussion

1:30:00 what are you making of the novel?

Recommended Resources:

• Documentary: There is a superb documentary called 'In Jane Austen's Footsteps' with the infectiously enthusiastic Gyles Brandreth, which you can watch available from Channel 5 here. If you enjoy this documentary, you'll be excited to know that there are episodes available about Thomas Hardy, the Brontë sisters, and Charles Dickens too.

• Austen at Home: Two of my favourite historians, Lucy Worsley and Dan Snow, have a fascinating video in which they take us into Austen's house at Chawton to discuss her extraordinary life and tragic early death here. I would also highly recommend Virginia Woolf's 'A Room of One's Own' as a short complementary read as her meditations upon the history of women writers, which includes powerful comment upon Jane Austen, are incredibly thought-provoking.

• Regency World: If you find the world of Regency Britain as exciting as I do, then you might be interested in Ian Mortimer's 'The Time Traveller's Guide to Regency Britain', which makes the era come alive. And, for readers who enjoy the novels of Georgette Heyer, you might also be interested in this great book club reader recommendation of a guide to the regency world, as the sociocultural context explored will reward the reader of Jane Austen too.

• Non-fiction: Azar Nafisi has an incredibly compelling memoir called 'Reading Lolita in Tehran', which details how a group of women in Iran would meet each week to discuss the forbidden works of Western literature. Works like Lolita, The Great Gatsby, and Pride and Prejudice. The entire book is fascinating, but you might wish to go straight to the chapter on Jane Austen.

• Reading Exercise: Tom Keymer, in 'Jane Austen: Writing, Society, and Politics', identified nineteen centres of consciousness throughout Pride and Prejudice. Remain mindful on a sentence-by-sentence basis, and see if you can identify whose thoughts are intruding into the narrative at different times. I think it would be wonderful if we could collect examples of all nineteen as we move through the novel together.

Reading Assignment:

Our next discussion will cover the second volume of the novel, which runs to chapter forty-two, and takes us up to page 232 in the Penguin paperback edition.

Questions for You:

1) What were your first impressions of Pride and Prejudice?

2) What makes Jane Austen's characters feel like real people?

3) What was your favourite scene from the first volume?

4) How do you feel about pride? What are you proud of? 

If this is your first reading of Pride and Prejudice, I would love to know how the story is meeting your expectations. 

If this is a reread for you, what is it like returning to the story? And please do share with us your favourite passages, ideas, and characters from the first part of the novel.

Happy reading, everybody!