Essay on the Departure from the Romantic Novel in Pride and Prejudice

A Departure from the Romantic Novel in Pride and Prejudice      Ã‚  Ã‚   In Pride and Prejudice, Austen describes the union of 4 couples -- namely, Elizabeth and Darcy, Jane and Bingley, Lydia and Wickham, and Charlotte and Collins. For the Elizabeth-Darcy relationship, it is clearly an inversion of romantic expectations, and Austen makes it clear that this steadfast, rational relationship is desirable, yet the Charlotte-Collins relationship, [very rational] while also being unconventional, suffers some criticism. Jane and Bingley, though playing very much to expectations of a romantic-story, are dealt with gently and not unkindly by Austen. The same sort of tempestuous emotional impulsiveness of Lydia and Wickham, so typical of romantic novels at that time, is clearly criticized.    Many critics in the nineteenth century approved of Austen's work, as she was vastly different from other novelists, injecting little of the "screams along the corridor" variety of novels that is suitable only for "maids and chamberwomen". This is characterised largely by the story of Elizabeth and Darcy, which is an inversion of romantic book expectations. Unlike the instantaneous, fiery passion that Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights had for Catherine, [not true, but I see what you mean] for this couple, it was more akin to extreme dislike-at-first-sight. Haughty, reserved Darcy, revealing none of the gushing, wondrous, she-is-the-most-beautiful-creature-in-the-world type of sentiment, caustically notes that she is "tolerable ... but not handsome enough to tempt me." Elizabeth, rightly incensed, takes a "decided dislike" for him throughout much of the first 2 volumes of the novel. This inauspicious beginning, in no way signifies to readers the fir... ...ald Gray.   New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996. Hennelly, Jr., Mark M. "Pride and Prejudice." Jane Austen: New Perspectives. ed. Janet Todd. New York: Holmes & Meier Publishers, Inc., 1983. Jane Austen Info Page. Henry Churchyard. U of Texas, Austin. 23 Nov. 2000.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   <http://www.pemberly.com/janeinfo/janeinfo/html>. Monaghan, David.   Jane Austen Structure and Social Vision.   New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1980. Poplawski, Paul.   A Jane Austen Encyclopedia.   Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1998. Reidhead, Julia, ed. Norton Anthology of English Literature vol. 7, 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000. Ward, David Allen. "Pride and Prejudice." Explicator. 51.1: (1992). Wright, Andrew H. "Feeling and Complexity in Pride and Prejudice." Ed. Donald Gray. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1966. 410-420.      

Compare/Contrast Works of Edgar Allan Poe Essay

Edgar Allan Poe’s view on poetry is that all poems must be a creation of beauty. In his eyes, depression and sadness is beautiful. He thinks that the death of a young beautiful woman is itself full of beauty. Poe’s way of beauty is a one of a kind compared to other poets and writers. In both â€Å"Annabel Lee† and â€Å"The Raven†, Poe writes about this so-called beauty. In â€Å"Annabel Lee†, a young man is mourning the death of a beautiful young lady. Even though the woman had died quite some time ago, the man is still in melancholy. He misses her terribly and constantly thinks of how she was she was tragically taken from him by the angels who were jealous of their love, and by her family who didn’t think the he himself was capable of bringing her to a final resting place. He loved Annabel Lee more than any other human can love another. â€Å"And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side of my darling, my life and my bride, in her sepulcher there by the sea, in her tomb by the side of the sea.† This quote shows how much this man loved her, by sleeping next to the tomb every night. In â€Å"The Raven†, a man, most likely older than the man in â€Å"Annabel Lee†, mourns the death of his love whom he called â€Å"Lenore†. Lenore, like Annabel Lee, had died several years earlier. In â€Å"The Raven†, man hears tapping on his chamber door and sees the curtains slowly swaying. He believes that it can be no other than Lenore. Unfortunately for him though, it is only but a bird. A large, black bird known as the Raven. A raven is usually symbolized as something dark and sinister. Throughout the poem, the man is tormented by his lost love, Lenore, who came back in the form of a Raven. Although the men in these two stories are similar because they both mourn for their loved ones, they are also different. The man in â€Å"The Raven† may be sad about his lost, but his love cannot compare to that of the man in â€Å"Annabel Lee†.In these two short stories, the two main characters, as mentioned before, are very much alike, yet at the same time different. They both lose the woman of their life and they both are still in mourning. Poe’s poems are  usually about such sorrow and sadness, and it is this that makes his poems beautiful.

The Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin - 1241 Words

â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin is a wonderful short story bursting with many peculiar twists and turns. Written in 1894, the author tells a tale of a woman who learns of her husband’s death, but comes to find pleasure in it. Many of the elements Kate Chopin writes about in this story symbolize something more than just the surface meaning. Through this short story, told in less than one thousand one hundred words, Kate Chopin illustrates a deeper meaning of Mrs. Mallard’s marriage with her husband through many different forms of symbolism such as the open window in the bedroom, Mrs. Louise Mallard’s heart trouble, and Chopin’s physical description of Mrs. Mallard. The open window in the bedroom symbolizes Mrs. Mallard’s feelings of†¦show more content†¦The window is a symbol of freedom and joy; therefore, when she leaves her sanctuary, it signifies a loss of the freedom her window gives. Joseph Rosenblum also backs up this statement by saying, â€Å"Her leaving this refuge and going down the stairs foreshadows her loss of freedom† (2). Mrs. Mallard descends the stairs alongside her sister, and surprisingly, her unharmed husband walks through the door. In her bedroom, she has everything she has ever wanted, but the minute she leaves her bedroom, she loses it all. Mrs. Mallard’s window is a serene place where she can be happy about life to come, and only at her window is where she truly feels free. Chopin uses another symbol, Mrs. Mallard’s bad heart, early on in â€Å"The Story of an Hour.† Mrs. Mallard afflicted with heart trouble is a symbol of how broken-hearted and trapped she is in her marriage. Her heart trouble is the first characteristic the reader learns about her. Presumably, this will play a key role throughout the story. In her bedroom, she has a sense of freedom which makes her blood pump furiously. Mrs. Mallard dies of heart disease when she leaves her bedroom and discovers that her husband is alive. â€Å"When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease- of the joy that kills† (Chopin). Her heart condition could be physical, as well as psychological. An article written by Ann Woodleif states: Mrs. Mallard’s heart trouble is surely two-fold--no doubt a physical defectShow MoreRelatedThe Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin855 Words   |  4 PagesThe Story of an Hour In the â€Å"Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin, is about pleasure of freedom and the oppression of marriage. Just like in Kate Chopin’s story, inside most marriages, even the ones that seem to be the happiest, one can be oppressed. Even though, one might seem to be happy deep inside they miss the pleasure of freedom and living life to the fullest. Just like, in this story Mrs. Mallard feels trapped and when she hears about her husband’s death she first feels distraught, but ultimatelyRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin1457 Words   |  6 PagesEmotions and Death Everyone who reads a story will interpret things slightly different than the person who reads it before or after him or her. This idea plays out with most every story, book, song, and movie. These interpretations create conflict and allow people to discuss different ideas and opinions. Without this conflict of thought there is no one devoting time to debate the true meaning of a text. Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Story of an Hour† tells about a woman who is informed of her husbands deathRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin987 Words   |  4 PagesIn Kate Chopin’s short story, â€Å"The Story of an Hour† reader’s see a potentially long story put into a few pages filled with rising action, climax and even death. In the beginning of the story, character Louise Mallard, who has a heart condition, is told of the death of her husband by her sister and one of her husband’s friends. Afterwards Mrs. Mallard is filled with emptiness and then joy of freedom. This joy of freedom is actually what consequently leads to her death in the end when she discoversRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin1061 Words   |  5 PagesThroughout the short story, â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, readers are introduced to characters whose lives change drastically in the course of this writing. Through Kate Chopin’s story we can identify many different themes and examples of symbolism in her writing. Chopin’s choice of themes in this writing are no surprise due to the time frame of which this story was written. Chopin often wrote stories with of women’s rights, and is noted as one of America’s first open feminists. As this story of an ill, helplessRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin972 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin expresses Ms. Mallard’s feelings towards her husband’s death in an appalling train accident. Due to her bad heart, her sister Josep hine had to be the bearer of bad news and approach his death gently to her. According to the quote, â€Å" But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought†, it lets us know thatRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin998 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The story of an hour† by Kate Chopin was a story that was ironical yet profoundly deep. As a student I have been asked to read â€Å"a story of an hour† many times, and every time I’m surprised by how I enjoy it. People can read thousands of stories in their life times and only a handful will every stand out to them, stories that can draw out an emotion or spark a thought are the ones that will standout more. For me and â€Å"a story of an hour† the thought of freedom is what draws me the most as a teenageRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour By Kat e Chopin1542 Words   |  7 PagesIn the short story, â€Å"Story of an Hour†, Kate Chopin writes about a woman with heart trouble, Mrs. Mallard, who, in finding out about the death of her husband, Mr. Mallard, experiences some initial feelings of sadness which quickly transition into the exhilarating discovery of the idea of a newfound freedom lying in front of her. When it is later revealed that her husband is not actually dead, she realizes she will not get to taste that freedom. The devastation kills her. What Mrs. Mallard goes throughRead MoreThe Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin596 Words   |  2 PagesIn â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† Kate Chopin focuses on the idea of freedom throughout the story. Mrs. Mallard is a lonely wife who suffers from heart trouble. She is told by her sister Josephine and her husband’s friend Richards that her husband has passed away in a train accident. She locks herself in a room expecting to be devastated, but instead feels freedom. Later, she exits her room and her husband walks through the door, causing her to die of a heart attack. Chopin uses this story to demonstrateRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin886 Words   |  4 Pages In Kate Chopin â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, the reader is presented with the theme of prohibited independence. In Kate Chopin â€Å"The Storm†, the scenery in this story builds the perfect atmosphere for an adulterous affair. The importance of these stories is to understand the era they occurred. Kate Chopin wrote stories with exceptional openness about sexual desires. In â€Å"The Storm†, a short story written by Kate Chopin in a time when women were expected to act a certain way and sexual cravings was consideredRead MoreThe Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin1540 Words   |  7 PagesIn Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, the main character, Mrs. Louise Mallard, is a woman with a heart problem that gets horrifying news that her husband has passed away in a train crash. When she starts thinking about her freedom, she gets excited; she is happy to start her new, free life. However, a few hours later her husband walks in the door and she finds out it was all a mistake. When she realizes her freedom is gone her heart stop and she then dies. In â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† Desiree is an orphaned