Hidden Dialogue Between Darcy And Elizabeth example essay topic

During the Romantic period, the novel, as a new genre, underwent a great deal of scrutiny. Novels became immensely popular and widely read during this period, but many people hesitated to rank them on a high rung of the literary ladder. Although the literary world was wary of novels in that day, today, over a century later, some of novels of that very time are considered literary classic. A shining example is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice is praised by the people of today. Through wonderfully witty dialogue, these characters are depicted with amazing clarity.

The novel focuses on the prejudice of Elizabeth Bennet against the arrogance of her future husband, Fitzwilliam Darcy, and the stroke to his pride, and how he falls in love with Elizabeth. Pride and Prejudice is written in light, airy, sparkling prose, and its pages are full with quick-witted, immensely entertaining dialogue. And of course, the subtle dialogue is the most attractive of the novel. It perfectly shows the humorous, satiric style and the outstanding language skill of Jane Austen. Dialogue is usually one of the devices of an author to depict his or her characters. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen also employs it, and she uses it more effectively because of her sharp wit.

According to their personalities, the characters of Pride and Prejudice can be divided into two types. One is the character with a simple and unchanging personality, which includes all of the lovely and disagreeable characters in the novel, except Elizabeth and Darcy. Once this personality is defined, the character of it will not change anyway. And we will not find out more information from him.

His following speeches and actions are only used to support what has been told to the reader previously. To this kind of character, Jane Austen correctly defines his personality through the dialogue as soon as he appears.! -! ^0 My dear Mr. Bennet, ! +/- said his lady go him one day, ! ^0 have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?! +/- Mr. Bennet replied that he had not.!

^0 But it is, ! +/- returned she; ! ^0 for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it.! +/- Mr. Bennet made no answer.! ^0 Do you not want to know who has taken it?! +/- cried his wife impatiently.! ^0 You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.! +/- This was invitation enough.!

^0 Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week.! +/-! ^0 What is his name?! +/-!

^0 Bingley.! +/-! ^0 Is he married or single?! +/-!

^0 Oh, single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortunes four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!! +/-!

^0 How so? how can it affect them?! +/-! ^0 My dear Mr. Bennet, ! +/- replied his wife, ! ^0 how can you be so tiresome? You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them.!

+/-! ^0 Is that his design in settling here?! +/-! ^0 Design? nonsense, how can you talk so!

But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit his as soon as he comes.! +/-! - It is a dialogue between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in the beginning of the novel, which about a new comer, Mr. Bingley, who has rented the Netherfield Park. After letting the reader hear the contrast between the couple through their dialogue, Austen reveal their different personalities clearly. Mr. Bennet is very polite, pretends to be stupid to his wife, and burst verbal thrust occasionally when he is speaking. This dialogue shows the reader almost a feature of a satirist.

Mr. Bennet is a! ^0 sarcastic humor, reserve, and caprice person! +/- and an unreasonable father. And his wife, Mrs. Bennet, speaks in another style. She is not able to speak anything satiric or any aphorism, so her speeches are quite different from her husband. These speeches are short, and sometimes become the hysteria. It is a style of a person who of!

^0 mean understanding, little information, and uncertain tempers! +/-. The main personalities of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are obviously revealed through this humorous dialogue. And the two conflicted personalities are delicately matched up with it, which displays the witty dialogue technique of Jane Austen. The personality represented by Elizabeth and Darcy in the novel, is belong to a complicated type. This personality is revealed little by little as the story develops.

It seems that, even Austen herself, has not know her character at the beginning of Pride and Prejudice. Of course the reader will not recognize a character like this thoroughly until the end of the novel. In the progress of recognizing, the reader also can learn many new things continuously from the character. Mr. Darcy, one of the protagonists of the novel, is just an intricate figure like this. He cannot be clear at a glance, and it is not a piece of cake to thoroughly understand him. So we will make him as an example for discussing how Jane Austen characterizes complicated character with her subtle, witty dialogue.

"Oh! she is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld! But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, who is very pretty, and I dare say very agreeable. Do let me ask my partner to introduce you."Which do you mean?" and turning round, he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said, "She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me". Mr. Bingley followed his advice. Mr. Darcy walked off; and Elizabeth remained with no very cordial feelings towards him.

She told the story however with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in any thing ridiculous. It is at the first ball of Hertfordshire, Darcy draws the attention of the room by his fine, tall form, handsome features when enters the ballroom, yet his arrogant way of speaking and behavior make him unpopular and misunderstood quickly. Elizabeth takes a particular disliking go him for his haughty rudeness when he says that he is not interested in her. Austen relates Elizabeth!'s point of view of events more often than Darcy!'s, so the reader naturally sympathizes with Elizabeth, makes a hasty and harsh judgment on Darcy hastily. His proud is deeply established in the mind of the reader, which provides a ground for betraying his personality in the following texts. The proceeding of gradual revelation of Darcy and Elizabeth!'s feelings for each other is also a course that the reader to understand Darcy.

There are a lot of witty play of language and ironies in the dialogue between Elizabeth and Darcy in this proceeding, which are used by Austen to progressively reveal the complication of Darcy!'s personality. For it, we will look at the insinuation first, and put the personality aside. With the meaning-hidden dialogue between Darcy and Elizabeth, Austen produces the reader a room for imagination. Make the dialogue that Sir William Lucas requests Darcy to have a dance with Elizabeth as an example.! - and Elizabeth at that instant moving towards them, he was struck with the notion of doing a very gallant thing, and called out to her, "My dear Miss Eliza, why are not you dancing? -- Mr. Darcy, you must allow me to present this young lady to you as a very desirable partner.

-- You cannot refuse to dance, I am sure, when so much beauty is before you". And taking her hand, he would have given it to Mr. Darcy, who, though extremely surprised, was not unwilling to receive it, when she instantly drew back, and said with some discomposure to Sir William, "Indeed, Sir, I have not the least intention of dancing. -- I entreat you not to suppose that I moved this way in order to beg for a partner". Mr. Darcy with grave propriety requested to be allowed the honour of her hand; but in vain. Elizabeth was determined; nor did Sir William at all shake her purpose by his attempt at persuasion. "You excel so much in the dance, Miss Eliza, that it is cruel to deny me the happiness of seeing you; and though this gentleman dislikes the amusement in general, he can have no objection, I am sure, to oblige us for one half hour."Mr. Darcy is all politeness", said Elizabeth, smiling.

"He is indeed -- but considering the inducement, my dear Miss Eliza, we cannot wonder at his complaisance; for who would object to such a partner?" Elizabeth looked archly, and turned away.! ^0 Mr. Darcy is all politeness.! +/- This sentence contains several meanings and with a tone of satirizing. From the surface, it is Elizabeth!'s compliment to Darcy: Darcy perfectly shows the!

^0 grave politeness! +/- of a gentleman. But the! ^0 grave politeness! +/- is a very limited way to show politeness, it reminds the reader of the previous behaviors of Darcy: his! ^0 grave! +/- is! ^0 disagreeable, horrid! +/- at the ball at Netherfield.! ^0 grave politeness! +/- also can be used to describe the reluctant politeness of!

^0 the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world! +/-. The compliment of Elizabeth is full with irony: she! ^0 looked archly, and turned away! +/-, means she is satirizing at Darcy.

As Elizabeth!'s view of Darcy transforms gradually, ! ^0 all politeness! +/- and! ^0 grave politeness! +/- change into the courtesy and consideration at Pemberley later, and she has to admit that the manner of her family is not very proper. Another meaning of! ^0 all politeness! +/- is that Darcy! ^0 was not unwilling to receive!

+/- Elizabeth!'s hand, but becomes have interesting in Elizabeth. And the effect of Sir William!'s action in the dialogue is comic.! ^0 he was struck with the notion of doing a very gallant thing, ! +/- yet he does not know what he has really done and even be puzzled by Elizabeth!'s speeches. We can find out several kinds of possible explanations from another dialogue between them, that is Darcy invites Elizabeth to dance with him.! - and soon afterwards Mr. Darcy, drawing near Elizabeth, said to her! a! ^0 Do not you feel a great inclination, Miss Bennet, to seize such an opportunity of dancing a reel?! +/- She smiled, but made no answer.

He repeated the question, with some surprise at her silence.! ^0 Oh!! +/- said she, ! ^0 I heard you before; but I could not immediately determine what to say in reply. You wanted me, I know, to say!

(R) Yes, ! that you might have the pleasure of despising my taste; but I always delight in overthrowing those kind of schemes, and cheating a person of their premeditated contempt. I have therefore made up my mind to tell you, that I do not want to dance a reel at all! aand now despise me if you dare.! +/-! ^0 Indeed I do not dare.! +/-! - Here, Darcy!'s invitation also can be explained in several ways, and can be connected with his previous actions.

Elizabeth!'s satire to Darcy and her trick in this dialogue are all have the hidden meaning in her intentional irony. But the most brilliant of the dialogue is what Darcy says and the various explanations to it. When Elizabeth hears the question provided by Darcy, she thinks it is! ^0 premeditated contempt! +/-, look down on her taste. But the following speeches, the thought of Darcy after the dialogue, and his once more request, to the reader, they all suggest that he is interested in Elizabeth. Perhaps it is only a sign that Darcy gives attention to Elizabeth, and another possibility is that he has more and more interesting in Elizabeth.

And we can look! ^0 Indeed I do not dare.! +/- as gallantry (interprets by Elizabeth), or interpret it as the expression of! ^0 supposed marriage! +/- (interprets by Miss Bingley). Besides these interpretations, this sentence includes the idea of Darcy own, that is, ! ^0 He really believed, that were it not for the inferiority of her connections, he should be in some danger.! +/- So many meanings involve in one sentence, it is not easy to an author who has not the intelligence like Jane Austen.

We can easily list dialogues which contain multiple meanings like this, especially the talking about the music or dance. Such insinuation is employed in the book very often. The questions asked by Darcy not only can be looked as the expression of haughtiness and self-importance, but also can be explained that his feeling towards Elizabeth is becoming cordial, such like the following dialogue. "What think you of books?" said he, smiling. "Books -- Oh! no. -- I am sure we never read the same, or not with the same feelings."I am sorry you think so; but if that be the case, there can at least be no want of subject.

-- We may compare our different opinions."No -- I cannot talk of books in a ball-room; my head is always full of something else."The present always occupies you in such scenes -- does it?" said he, with a look of doubt. The insinuation of the dialogue of Pride and Prejudice make the story much more dramatic, and it plays a very subtle role in the turning of the plot. The dialogue is composed so delicate that the reader will not be surprising when Elizabeth changes her view against Darcy. The alternation of Elizabeth!'s feeling to Darcy is the climax of Pride and Prejudice, which is achieved by the ambiguity of the dialogue. The witty dialogue always can be understood in several ways.

And there is not any word, which produce the reader!'s ill feeling towards Darcy in it. In a word, the dialogues which Darcy takes part in, all shadow for people!'s fresh evaluation to him, and really make a great effect at the turning of the story. At that time, Elizabeth is dwelling on Darcy!'s letter on explanation of his manner to Bingley, to Jane, and to Wickham. Elizabeth has possessed a more friendly opinion on Darcy from the previously witty dialogues.

Rereading the preceding dialogue is enough for the reader to find out the real nature of Darcy, and the more writing on rebuilding his personality is not necessary. The dialogue is really composed with sharp wit. Most of the text of Pride and Prejudice consists of wonderfully witty dialogue rather than detail narrative. Through it, the unforgettable characters of the book are depicted with amazing clarity. Austen uses dialogue as an effective tool to reveal characters! personalities in Pride and Prejudice. Whatever the simple personalities of Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Collins, Lady Catherine, etc. or the complex natures of Darcy and Elizabeth, which are all perfectly presented through the common chatting.

And humor and irony are another shining point in Austen!'s dialogue, they give the book an easy and enjoyable atmosphere. In a word, Pride and Prejudice displays many of the language skills of Austen, and betrays her sharp wit in being able to express her ideas through the dialogue while still remaining entertaining and readable.

Bibliography

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