Discussion Topic
The function, importance, and role of letters in developing plot and characters in Pride and Prejudice
Summary:
In Pride and Prejudice, letters play a crucial role in advancing the plot and developing characters. They reveal personal thoughts, convey important information, and drive key events. For example, Darcy's letter to Elizabeth clarifies misunderstandings and changes her perception of him, significantly influencing the story's direction and character relationships.
What is the function and importance of letters in Pride and Prejudice?
Some scholars argue that Pride and Prejudice, which Austen wrote in the late 1790s as First Impressions, was originally an epistolary novel. Epistolary was a popular form in the eighteenth century. It is a type of novel consisting entirely of an exchange of letters between different people. Austen's draft novel Lady Susan is epistolary.
While we do not know if Pride and Prejudice was originally composed as a series of letters and later reworked because of changing fashions, letters play an important role in the novel and are primarily used to communicate background information. For instance, after Elizabeth turns down Darcy's marriage proposal in a fit of rage because he is so arrogant and because he admits to having tried to break up Jane and Bingley, he writes her a letter explaining his position. The letter provides a counter-narrative to Elizabeth's accusations from Wickham and explains that...
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he, Darcy, truly did not think Jane cared much for Bingley.
Later, letters inform Elizabeth of the devastating news of Lydia's elopement with Wickham. Mrs. Gardiner, writing from London, offers background information about Lydia that reveals that Lydia is as unrepentant as ever. Mr. Collins's chiding letter about Lydia, in which he says he is now glad he didn't marry into the family, shows what a jerk he continues to be.
The letters may or may not be remnants of an earlier draft, but they do provide important information about events and characters.
How does Austen use letters to develop plot and characters in Pride and Prejudice?
The purpose of letters in Pride and Prejudice is mainly to advance truth. While characters such as Elizabeth and others use impressions and their perspective of events to form their opinions of people's character, the letters often tear down those misconceptions and demonstrate who someone really is.
1. The most important letter is, of course, Darcy's letter to Elizabeth after she refuses his proposal. It illuminates the true situation between Darcy and Wickham because Elizabeth's false beliefs about the two men's relationship came fully from the spoken word--Wickham's. The truth lies in the written word--Darcy's. The letter in this case also forces Elizabeth to pause and "listen" to someone else, rather than hearing someone else speak but all the while forming her opinion of that person through his/her speech or manners.
2. Because letters advance truth in the novel, they usually bring characters closer together. Bingley writes to the Bennets and invites them to his house for the first time, beginning his relationship with Jane. Jane writes to Elizabeth to let her know how she has been treated when she goes to London, and this encourages Elizabeth to "take up arms" on her sister's behalf.
Austen includes an interesting modern idea in using letters in such a fashion. Perhaps as a writer, she wished to show that the written word is more effective in tearing down prejudices and pushing aside pride. Of course, being a master of writing, she would have been biased in this regards, but even our modern readers cannot argue with the fact that the written word does still have great power today. In a society of fast-talking and spin, reading someone else's writing (whether it's a letter or not) still forces someone to read and infer on his/her own. It makes us better "listeners" because we can go back and reread what we might have misunderstood, and if we're reading a letter from someone who is not absent, we're forced to use just his/her words to form opinions.