傲慢与偏见中达西求婚被拒后给伊丽莎白的信的作用(英文)

The function of the letter that Mr. Darcy wrote to Elizabeth after his

failure of proposal

[Abstract]: Under the influence of epistolary story, Letters are very important in the writing of Jane Austen’s Pride and prejudice. Among so many letters in the novel, the letter that Mr. Darcy wrote to Elizabeth after his proposal was rejected was a turning point of the plot of the whole story, showing the reader the real characteristics of the main character, promoting the sudden change of the romance between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, exciting the reader further more in the course of reading. [Keywords]: Pride and prejudice, letter, turning point

1.Introduction

Jane Austen was a famous English novelist whose works focused on women’s marriage and life. Her sensitivity to human emotion, her keen observation to life and her vivid language contribute to her success of writing. Pride and prejudice, one of her masterpieces, is a love story of a country gentleman’s daughter, Elizabeth Bennet, mirroring the reserved life of the Englishmen at the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Letter is the only way of communication apart from language communication. According to the existing literature, there are more than thirty letters in the novel [1], which play a significant role in the portrait of the characters, the development of plot and the transformation the point of view [2].The letter that Mr. Darcy wrote to Elizabeth after his failure of proposal is viewed as the most important letters in the novel. There is still little study about this letter, so this paper will explore the function of this letter in terms of portraying the characters and forwarding the plot to confirm the previous study by analyzing the letter in depth.

2.Introduction the letter

The letter was given to Elizabeth by Mr. Darcy the following day of the failure his proposal. In the beginning of the letter, Mr. Darcy asked for Elizabeth’s pardon for

the bother brought by the letter. The letter consisted of two parts. The first part was Mr. Darcy’s explanation of his conduct of preventing the connection of Mr. Bingley and Jane, while the second part was Mr. Darcy’s description of the relationship between Mr. Wickham and Darcy’s family.

3.The letter indirectly portrayed the characters.

Actually, letter is the writing form of words [3], in which the character’s feature is implied. Mr. Darcy’s letter reflected that he was well-educated, arrogant, caring, kind-hearted, frank and intelligent.

Well-educated Instead of coming straight to his point, he at first placated the potential alarm and unpleasure of Elizabeth, showing his gentility and courtesy. In the letter, he used formal language including relative clause, preposing structure [3]. E.g. I had, in defiance of various claims, in defiance of honour and humanity, ruined the immediate prosperity, and blasted the prospects of Mr. Wickham. -- Wilfully and wantonly to have thrown off the companion of my youth, the acknowledged favourite of my father, a young man who had scarcely any other dependence than on our patronage, and who had been brought up to expect its exertion…

Arrogant From 1800 to 1830, a special type of men appeared in London. They dressed gracefully, behaved courteously, with a little blue facial expression; they were cold and poignant in their words; they had excellent temperament and intelligence; they made light of the bourgeoisie, considering them as ignorant and indelicate [2]. Mr. Darcy was one of them: he was well-born (which he was very proud of) and attached great importance to marrying a woman of his own class. What he could not bear most was the Bennet’s ungracious conduct, especially Elizabeth’s three younger sisters. In his eye, this kind of bourgeois family who were badly- educated, vulgar, passionate and direct (like animals) did not match his class at all. For him, etiquette was the standard of judging a person, even the standard of judging things and reason [2]. That was why he had tried his best to restraint his feeling towards Elizabeth.

Caring As a friend of Mr. Bingley, he showed great concern over his love affair and marriage. He know Bingley very well, who he was tend to fall in love with a