Function of dance in Jane Austen's novels

“To Be Fond Of Dancing Was A Certain Step Towards Falling In Love”:

The Function Of Dance In Jane Austen’s Pride And Prejudice

In Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice, set in the Regency Period, dance performs several important functions. Dance patterns emulate courtship rituals, marking dance as a microcosm for courtship and marriage – two main themes of the novel. The Regency period propagated the belief that no ingredient was more essential to a courtship than dancing: “To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love…” (Austen 7). Therefore, knowledge of dance – dance steps as well as dance etiquette – was a crucial necessity and was often acquired through study and awareness of conduct codes. These crucial codes were disseminated through popular courtesy/conduct books, which informed readers of correct dance steps, movements, and patterns, as well as socially acceptable etiquette.

Regency conduct codes also influenced interpretations of individual character, as social behavior was often considered the physical embodiment of character; thus, Austen’s characters typically reveal their inner selves through their manners. And, in the manner of courtesy writers who were �