Pride and Prejudice

Name: Alissa Smith

Title: Pride and Prejudice

Course: Introduction to Theatre

Professor: Wallace Bridges

Date: August 8, 2017

        I found the play, Pride and Prejudice, to be a well sought out play. I believe this to be because when you first look at the cover you see it to be a love story but when you watch the play you learn more about a women’s life back in the 1800’s and how women are to marry whether it’s for love or not. In this play, “Lizzy” (Elizabeth Bennett) is facing the challenges of being a signal women in the 1800’s with facing the demands of getting married and protecting her sisters from poverty. MRS BENNET: “You will have this house and save your sisters from destitution”. LIZZY “I can’t marry him.” MRS BENNET “Go and say you’ve changed your mind, think of your family…….. Your arrogance and conceit, your selfish disdain from the feelings of others made me realize you were the last man in the world I could every marry.”

          I believe that the main character of this play is Elizabeth Bennet because this play follows her life and she carries the primary action of this play. I believe her superobjective is to take care of her family and to marry a man who she loves not just for money. Elizabeth does meet for superobjective goal since she marries Mr. Darcy and will be able to provide for her family for the rest of her life. LIZZY to MR. BENNET “He’s not proud, I was wrong. I was entirely wrong about him. You don’t know him, Papa. If I told you what he was really like,” MR.BENNET “You really do love him, don’t you?” LIZZY BENNET “Very much.”

     One important element *hand properties) is the gloves that man were supposed to wear back in the late 1700’s and the 1800’s, men and women were to never touch if not married, but if a man and women did touch they would both wear gloves to prevent skin to skin contact. In Pride and Prejudice there were scenes were Mr. Darcy would not wear gloves and would help Lizzy into the carriage. This moment symbolizes a deep connection for both Mr. Darcy and Lizzy. Lizzy is someone who barely shows her real emotions and in this scene Lizzy’s real emotions are scene for the first time. Lizzy holds her emotions to herself to protect herself from her mothers ridicules’ on how she should become married to any man. This scene is one of the first times where Lizzy reveals her emotions.  Another hand property that was important in this play was a single flower. Mr. Collins in multiple proposals uses a single flower to propose to Lizzy and uses a single flower when he looks for her at the ball to propose.