Analysis of Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice and...

Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ utilises setting to reveal Darcy’s true character and allows Elizabeth to gain a true understanding of his nature. Pemberley estate is placed at the centre of the novel both literally and figuratively. In terms of Pemberley’s literal meaning, it informs the reader that the estate belongs to Darcy, while figuratively it reflects the charm of his character. Elizabeth Bennet’s visit to Pemeberly illuminates’ Darcy’s moral fibre, she is enchanted by its beauty and good taste; she is thrown by the vivid and vastly spread nature surrounding Pemeberly. In contrast, Forster’s ‘A Room with a View’ utilises place more frequently, primarily to reveal character and act as a metaphor for a repressed society. Italy†¦show more content†¦Lucy is spontaneously kissed by George with a strong passion in the midst of wild nature, surrounded by purple violets. The purple violets are sig nificantly symbolic as folklore states that violets connote for a love that is delicate. The ‘Violets like other things existed in great profusion their; would she like to see them’ and ‘for the first time she felt the influence of spring’ as though she had lived in the cold winter that prevented her from growing the love. Both Austen and Forster use nature imagery to reflect on the protagonists in their novels. Charlotte Bronte says: ‘I found an accurate daguerreotyped portrait of a common-place face; a carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden with neat borders and delicate flowers – but no glance of a bright, vivid physiognomy – no open country – no fresh air – no blue hill – no bonny beck. I should hardly like to live with her ladies and gentlemen in their elegant but confined houses’. Charlotte Bronte’s opinion of natural setting was influenced by the gothic genre which was popular in Victorian E ngland. From her criticism, it can be argued that Austen uses nature infrequently; however, when it is used to describe Pemberley it is most effective as it reveals Darcy’s unfeigned character. Furthermore, nature