Pride and Prejudice - Understanding the Text

Reading a text written long ago, or in another country, or perhaps with characters who speak in a strong dialect, takes more effort. Pride and Prejudice is written in a style and with a vocabulary quite unlike modern English, thus requiring modern readers to expend more effort on comprehension.

Authors have a variety of methods through which they are able to convey meaning. Usually they do not state what they mean directly, or simply, but instead communicate with their readers through the various aspects of fiction with which you are already familiar: including character, setting, plot, theme and dialog. As you work on understanding the text you are reading, consider each of these elements separately. It is never a bad idea to re-read a text; this will help you understand more than you might if you only read a book once. If you find it necessary to read a text again, don’t worry! Most readers have this experience. And if you have to work a bit harder to understand a section or chapter which you find tricky, it only proves that you are paying close attention to the intricacies of the text!

How are the context, setting and events of the text related? Making a timeline of events can be useful and will certainly help develop your understanding of the text. Events in a novel are not always related chronologically, so your timeline will need to account for flashbacks or for earlier events which are discovered in later chapters. In Pride and Prejudice, characters often discover the truth about past events through letters, or have a chance to compare different versions of the same events which have been conveyed both through dialog and through letters.

How do the actions of characters reveal their motivations? Examine the text for clues to explain the interactions of different characters. Can words be taken at face value, or should you examine the subtext of those words more closely? What is the role of the narrator? Think about your reasoning as you begin to answer these questions, asking yourself how you might justify your views by referring in detail to the text.

Beginnings and endings are important points in the text and provide material for analysis. Why might the text begin as it does? What do you learn at the very beginning of the novel about the setting and the characters? Are future events foreshadowed? Remember to consider the beginnings and the ends of significant chapters, too. By undertaking careful and detailed analysis of this sort, you will be able to dramatically improve your knowledge and understanding of the text.

Read the questions below on Pride and Prejudice and test your knowledge and understanding of the text.