Prompt: Though Jane Austen satarizes snobs in her novel Pride and Prejudice, some critics have accused her of being a snob herself. Given special consideration to the characters Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins, argue and defend one side of the issue.
WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? im not sure what side to pick or how to start. THANKS SO MUCH TO ANYONE WHO CAN HELP ME OUT!!!!!
2006-10-04 11:16:11 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
I would say that Jane Austen was not a snob herself, ein the novel, Jnae Austen gives the reader directly a feeling that we should not like the rich, Mr. Darcy because he looks down on others and he himself is a snob. Austen gives Elizabeth the main character role, and elizabeth herself is not very wealthy and we the reader are supposed to like her, these feelings the reader gets is from Austen's own ideas, so she does not appear as a snob. One of the main ideas of the story is to overcome one's prejudice towards other... ie. being a snob towards someone, I don't think that Austen would present the idea one must not be rejudice if she herself was a snob towards others.
2006-10-04 11:24:52 · answer #1 · answered by strawberrymary 2 · 2⤊ 2⤋
In P&P, the snobs Ms. Austen is making fun of are arrogant and well aware of their lofty station in life (think Lady Catherine, Miss. Bingley, etc) I don't think this describes JA at all. But maybe she's a different type of snob.
Look at Mr. Collins and Mrs. Bennet, what traits do they have in common? What things does she ridicule them for? Now, based on their common failings, can you see an area where you think she might be snobbish?
Hope this helps!
2006-10-04 11:21:34 · answer #2 · answered by laura_ghill 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I don't think Jane Austen was a snob. I think she was merely trying to point out some of the funny little idiosyncrasies she say in herself, her family, and her friends.
2006-10-04 11:54:33 · answer #3 · answered by sunnydays 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She lived on the fringe of high society. She was from a respectable family, but when her father died she had to rely on male family members to take care of her. Plus her pittance she earned as an author. She was definitely not rich. I think of her more as the Dashwood sisters in Sense & Sensibilty (4 women trying to live off 500 pound a year).
2006-10-04 12:25:50 · answer #4 · answered by thirtiesrok 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In judging others to be below herself ,not in social class but in character, is Jane herself not guilty of the very same defamation and judgement she accusses her rivals of?
"You will find that many of the truths we cling to revolve around a certain point of view."- Obi Wan Kenobi
2006-10-04 11:30:14 · answer #5 · answered by sprydle 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Put the pom-poms down and apply yourself. Cheer leading is a short lived activity. What you can learn from interpreting writing and spoken words will benefit you for life!
2006-10-04 11:53:50 · answer #6 · answered by J.J. 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
she is absolutely a snob. All of her books are about English aristocrats, who owned land, had servants and probably had slaves working in the colonies. Notice how none of the characters has to work, that is because they are so rich they can spend all their time traveling to each others estates.
2006-10-04 11:31:59 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
austen herself was from the upper class...she was writing (and critiquing) her own people. she wrote about what she knew, from the viewpoint she lived, and critiqued the hypocritical nature of her class through her humor and character development.
2006-10-04 11:51:38 · answer #8 · answered by comevuoi 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Perhaps you need to ask yourself :
What's the difference between looking down on Bob because he is of a different social class and looking down on Jill because she looks down on Bob?
Because looking down on Bob is negative behavior.
And looking down on Jill is an attempt to right that behavior?
2006-10-04 11:38:04 · answer #9 · answered by lazykins 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋