Pride and Prejudice 200 years on
200 years ago this month, Jane Austen published her much-loved novel Pride and Prejudice. The work remains a fascination to readers the world over and has been transformed through a myriad of adaptations. Dr Elizabeth Eger, who teaches the ‘Jane Austen in Context’ course in the Department of English explains her love of the work, her interest in other female literary figures of the time and her research into the life of an eminent 18th century female critic and patron of the arts, Elizabeth Montagu.
Jane Austen is often perceived to be a lonely genius ahead of her time. Dr Eger explains that “Austen didn’t feel like that at all – she saw herself as building upon a tradition of strong women novelists.” That tradition included Frances Burney (1752 – 1840), Maria Edgeworth (1768 – 1849) and Ann Radcliffe (1764 – 1823). The title of Austen’s work ‘Pride and Prejudice’, a formula of contrasting alliterative words also used in the title of her 1811 novel, Sense and Sensibility, was in fact taken from Burney’s work Cecilia (1782). Burney’s heroine is heir to her uncle’s inheritance on condition that any future husband agrees to take her name.
Students on Dr Eger’s course explore the various ways in which Austen addressed notions of landed property and inheritance as aristocratic power became threatened by commercial prosperity and political revolution. Themes in Austen’s work that resonate strongly with today’s readers include her subtle exploration of the relation between the domestic and public spheres of life. Close attention is paid to Austen’s language and her original use of free indirect speech – a technique which allows her readers to identify with the internal workings of each heroine’s inner life whilst at the same time absorbing Austen’s ironic authorial stance on society. The ambiguous relationship between the heroine’s and narrator’s inner thoughts produces a powerful critical tension within the novel.
Why has Pride and Prejudice maintained its enduring appeal and inspired film-makers and novelists alike to rework the characters and the story? For Dr Eger, this classic Cinderella love story is still able to captivate her even after nine years of teaching due to Austen’s ability to “address global and universal themes in a small canvas. The control that is required to make that small world mean something so resonant to broader questions is remarkable. I think it also appeals because it shows the reader the importance of being open – and able – to change. Above all, Austen creates a direct celebration of female wit and independence as an essential element of romantic fulfilment. Lizzy Bennet’s confidence and energy captivate men and women alike.”
20 million copies of Pride and Prejudice have been sold worldwide and the themes of the work still resonate with readers 200 years on. The work still makes students on Dr Eger’s course in the Department of English question female roles, the economic basis of society in the 21st century and whether it is possible to ask life’s most fundamental questions against the backdrop of ordinary domestic life.
Dr Eger is currently writing a biography of the 18th century entrepreneur and patron of the arts, Elizabeth Montagu. Montagu, along with Elizabeth Vesey and Frances Boscawen, formed the Bluestocking Circle, a literary and intellectual group who supported women’s education and advancement in the world of letters. Christened ‘Queen of the Bluestockings’ by Samuel Johnson, Montagu built a large mansion in Portman Square with the profits made from her coalmines in Newcastle. Her patronage of fellow writers and her own success as a Shakespeare critic paved the way for her immediate successors, including Austen. Dr Eger is working her way through over 7,000 letters of correspondence to or from Montagu and is exploring the possibility of creating a digital archive as part of the AHRC-funded Elizabeth Montagu’s Letters Project.
The English Department at King’s has a long history of research into Jane Austen’s life and works. The late David Nokes, who for many years was Professor of English Literature at King’s, was author of a biography of Jane Austen, while the former King’s English student, Dr Jon Spence, wrote Becoming Jane Austen: A Life. More recently Dr Christine Kenyon-Jones, Research Fellow in the department, has written an article that sheds new light on the relationship between race and gender in Mansfield Park.
Dr Elizabeth Eger will be speaking at a conference at Chawton House Library in July on ‘Pride and Prejudices: Women’s Writing of the Long Eighteenth Century’. She is also author of Bluestockings: Women of Reason from Enlightenment to Romanticism.
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