Austen's Use Of Environment In Pride And Prejudice

Jane Austen's use of Environment in Pride and Prejudice

In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen places characters in environments that reveal important details about the characters. It would have been easy to communicate Elizabeth's prejudice or Darcy's pride using the voice of a narrator, but Austen chooses a more subtle and interesting method of enlightening her readers. Whether using physical surroundings or social contexts, Austen repeatedly coordinates both time and place together to create situations in which her characters can conveniently show off the assets and/or flaws of their personalities. Once placed in Austen's well-chosen environments, her characters go into action. This action is more convincing than a narrator telling us in a few sentences that Darcy is proud and Elizabeth unfairly judges others.

One important social context is the Meryton ball. Then, a key scene that exemplifies Austen's use of physical surroundings is when Lizzy travels by foot to Netherfield. Later, we see Austen using the Bennets' home to reveal things about characters. Austen also uses the Bennet's home to enlighten the reader about Mr. Bennet. Then when Lizzy visits Pemberly, Austen combines social context with physical surroundings to reveal things about Lizzy and Darcy.

One obvious issue Austen addresses is self-importance, arrogance, conceit, or simply, pride. Within the first few pages we see Darcy in a social context where he easily convinces Lizzy that he is "the proudest most disagreeable man in the world" (Austen 8). Austen places Lizzy and Darcy at the Meryton ball for their first meeting place for several reasons. One reason is so that Darcy can establish a faulty reputation with Lizzy's friends and family--mainly, Mrs. Bennet. What more suitable an event than a ball? When Bingley suggests that Darcy ask Lizzy to dance, Darcy replies, "She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me" (9). In this refusal, Darcy shows his arrogance not only by refusing Elizabeth, but by doing it indirectly. He is too proud even to look at and speak to Lizzy. Instead, he speaks seemingly to Bingley, but loud enough that Lizzy can hear. In this crowded environment, Lizzy is not the only one to hear Darcy's rejection of Lizzy.

Mrs. Bennet hears it too, and she is the one family member who is sure to spread news (especially news involving the romantic lives of her daughters). Although much of what Mrs. Bennet says is to be taken lightly, her presence does serve an important purpose in many scenes. For example, Austen places Mrs. Bennet at the ball perhaps to exaggerate and emphasize the underlying feelings of resentment that Lizzy holds for Darcy. Elizabeth tries to downplay this resentment by recounting the story to her friends with a playful attitude (9), but Mrs. Bennet fuels our resentment for Darcy by later labeling him "so high and conceited that there was no enduring him" (10).

Being at the ball also allows Jane to observe Lizzy and Darcy. Jane, unlike Mrs. Bennet, gives Darcy the benefit of the doubt during a conversation about him a few days later. During this conversation, the Bennet women and the Lucas women are reflecting on different things that happened at the ball. Attempting to prove that Darcy is proud and rude, Mrs. Bennet says that he sat beside a lady for half an hour without once trying to make conversation with her. Jane, in Darcy's defense, says that she herself saw the two of them talking, and that Miss Bingley had told her that Darcy is "remarkably agreeable" among his most intimate acquaintances (13). Charlotte and Mary too, have opinions to offer to Lizzy on Darcy. Charlotte argues that with such a family and with such wealth, Darcy has "a right to be proud" (14). Mary contributes to the conversation by defining pride and in a round about way, defends Darcy. She says that pride is common to all human beings because "human nature is particularly prone to it" (14). Had Austen not placed all of them in this environment which existed solely for social interaction, the other characters would not have been witnesses to the exchanges between Darcy and Lizzy. In this social context, the other characters are able to witness her interaction with Darcy, and can therefore offer different perspectives on her overall situation with him. They are also able to reveal things about themselves. For example, Jane shows her trusting nature by defending him; Charlotte shows her tendency to excuse unfavorable traits in a person perhaps because that person is wealthy; Mary shows her desire to be intelligent by offering in-depth definitions of pride and vanity. All of these details are available to readers because Austen places characters in the social context of the ball, and because she places them in a social context the next day so they can discuss the ball.

Another reason Austen places the characters at the ball is to set up a comparison-and-contrast type of outlook on the two main couples in the novel: Jane and Bingley vs. Lizzy and Darcy. This scene is the first scene where Austen actually places each couple beside the other and points out their differences. Jane and Bingley dance with each other numerous times, laughing and visiting. Lizzy and Darcy don't dance or speak at all. Jane and Bingley are impressed by each other at first sight, whereas Lizzy and Darcy hold each other in contempt. This social context is the beginning of an ongoing comparison-and-contrast type of outlook on the two couples, which helps the reader better understand the strengths and weaknesses of each.

The environment of the ball can also be viewed as a foreshadowing tool. The reader can guess by examining only the social context of the scene at the ball that Darcy and Lizzy will end up in love. The ball is an appropriate setting for this type of foreshadowing because it is an archetypal place to fall in love, and it should trigger romantic, magical feelings inside the reader. So, Austen could very well have chosen this environment so that she could foreshadow Lizzy and Darcy's future relationship.

An additional notable scene in which Austen utilizes environment is the scene where Elizabeth ventures to Netherfield to visit Jane. Lizzy declines her father's offer to send for the horses (22) and decides that she will walk three miles to see her sick sister. The outdoor environment allows Austen to show Lizzy's spontaneity and free spirit. Austen writes that Lizzy jumps over stiles and springs over puddles (23). This shows Lizzy's playful nature, and her lack of concern about her appearance. She doesn't care how she will come across to Bingley and his company, and in fact she shows up with "weary ancles [sic], dirty stockings,