... The stories took upon the name of gothic due to the fact that most of them took place in gothic settings. A gothic setting is one with gothic style architecture such as gloomy, medieval castles. These buildings could have consisted of dungeons, secret passageways, even a "red-room" in ... . These specific locations provided ideal settings for supernatural and mysterious events. Jane Eyre has been considered to fall into the category of a gothic novel; it understandable how people can interpret it this way. The gothic elements of Jane Eyre enhance the already mysterious story line adding m...

• Word Count: 457
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... male dominance paints her as an early proto-feminist heroine. In its time and place of publication, 19th century Victorian London, England, Bronte's novel of female heroism and defiance of social hierarchy was a glimpse of what was to become a controversial and hugely influential movement. It shone a ... free-will as a woman. Since the very beginning she refuses to kneel before the ever-present atmosphere of masculine oppression. Throughout the novel, Jane's search for true love and friendship often crossed paths with men who were just the opposite. Her unbridled need for freedom in ......

• Word Count: 1206
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... a lot from life. Nevertheless, Emma is certainly the person of power in this relationship leaving Harriet in awe, a feeling due social position. This is because Emma and her father are one of the most influential people in their town because of their wealth and the respect that they have gained. Therefore, somebody of a situation in the society such as Harriet would ... worst of all." At the same time, we see the kind nature of Harriet. This is because she does not show a sign of anger towards Emma although she is the one who led her to feel the pain of rejection. This is such a signifi...

• Word Count: 1159
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... prior to marriage. Jane Austen uses a variety of verbal, dramatic, situational and irony through the novel. The novel is full of verbal irony, especially coming from Elizabeth and Mr. Bennet. Verbal irony is saying one thing, but meaning the complete opposite. Although Mr. Bennet is basically a sensible man, he behaves ... is all politeness" (17). Another is "I am perfectly convinced by it that Mr. Darcy has no defect" when Darcy and Elizabeth joust with one another in Chapter11 (39). Her speeches crackle with irony that is filled with pep and display vibrant humor. Dramatic irony is whe...

• Word Count: 896
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... distinct classes forming a stratified hierarchy. The transformation into 20th Century America reveals the empowerment of women in marriage and the fluid social structure associated with overcoming class barriers. Throughout the novel 'Emma', Austen critiques Regency society's expectation for women to be married to a man of equal or higher status and wealth. Prior to the Married Women's Property Act 1870, ... montage of teenage boy fashion and Cher's rhetorical question "and we're expected to swoon?" further develops the expectations women have placed upon men. The crosscut into a ...

• Word Count: 1249
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... her belief that Mr Elton is "transferring his affections from Harriet" to herself (p107), subsequently highlights her lack of comprehension of the situation. This Chapter also indicates Emma's ignorance, through the mention of Frank Churchill. Her cherished thoughts of marriage to him, despite never having met him and knowing ... almost nothing on his character, denote her naivety on the topic of marriage. Chapter 15 contains the conclusion of the dinner party and Mr Elton's declaration of love to Emma on their journey home. Emma's fury that ... "there she was quite right", again showin...

• Word Count: 1241
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... could well describe the whole point of her book. With this single short statement, Jane Austen declares a couple of things essential to her novel. She declares one of her major themes: Money and Marriage. She establishes the fact that everyone is in the search for someone to marry; someone that reaches ... not attract a husband. Then she might have to become a governess, living in other people's houses, looking after their children. Like Mr. Hurst said to Darcy in chapter 8: "I have an excessive regard for Jane Bennet, she is really a very sweet girl, and I wish with all my heart she wer...

• Word Count: 1077
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... is best for other people, and in pursuit of her goals, will even act contrary to her true knowledge of other people's feelings. Throughout the novel, Emma's perceptions are constantly fueled by her imagination, fueled by the thought of all the potential matches that she can make. Raised to think so ... which become so real she can not get him out of her mind. Emma's knack for manipulating peoples" lives and deceiving herself are strongly evident in chapter six. While drawing a picture of Harriet, Emma is satisfied that Harriet is growing very fond of Mr. Elton , and believes she can det...

• Word Count: 884
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... quot; (69) It wasn't only outpouring of emotions of tormented little child but also longing for equality. You can imagine how much her aunt couldn't stand her from one of her last words in her deathbed – she was talking about Jane: "She, however, did not die: but I said she did – I ... Mrs. and Miss Ingram at the party in Rochester's house. "My dearest, don't mention governesses, the word makes me nervous," or "I have just one word to say of the whole tribe, they are a nuisance." But these ladies were also, maybe they were not aware of it, depending on their rich families ... as a fe...

• Word Count: 975
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... gloomy and filled with ruthless beings motivated by greed and selfishness." This reading accurately describes some of the deeper meanings inside this novel. Brian Caswell has successfully created an undercurrent of love, friendship and trust between the "Think-Tank", the "Babies" as-well-as Susan and Eric. ... love, friendship and trust. People who love each other in this book are obviously Greg and Mikki who at the end of the novel marry, Eric and Susan are another couple represented in the book. The love that Susan had for her deceased brother Richard is the ... and the "Babies" bec...

• Word Count: 528
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... absorbed me completely from the beginning. I could not put the book down and read cover-to-cover. Great tale on love and friendship, abandonment and belonging. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bean Trees : A Novel > Customer Review #2: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BEST NOVEL EVER I read The Bean Trees, as a junior in high school, and now as a freshman in college, it still sticks out in my mind as the best ... novel I have read. The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, is a magnificent nov...

• Word Count: 580
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... house, wishing her health and happiness. Darcy's air about him throughout the proposal, especially up to the point of her rejection, accurately displays his attitudes. From the beginning of the chapter, Darcy's exhibits his arrogance. Darcy shows up at Elizabeth's house without giving notice and enters through the door as soon as she opens it, without invitation. This shows Darcy's disregard ... , her rejection of Mr. Darcy's hand in marriage is frank and forthright, displaying an unfailing characteristic of outspokenness in her personality. Austen accomplishes much more than a climactic...

• Word Count: 622
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... in a person's life, especially a woman's because she had no other way to support herself other than to have a husband. Various characters in the novel married their spouses for money or other reasons but not for love . In our society, most people marry for love rather than money and marriage outside a ... economic class is not frowned upon. Also, today divorce is an option and women can support themselves just as well as a man can. Characters in novel marry for other reasons that are not based on love however, some characters married for love regardless of the prejudices against a certai...

• Word Count: 434
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... transition that renounced revolutionary ideals. This period of societal enlightment, which preceded the class struggles among the aristocracy and bourgeois, is a prominent and reoccurring theme in the novel. The characters influenced by these societal changes respond differently, while most are moderates, others are either radical or reactionary in their approach to these changes. Elizabeth Bennet ... receives audience support throughout the novel based upon her performance in response to these conservative and reactionary influences mainly expressed through close relations. A thorough a...

• Word Count: 1088
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Jane Austen was writing, it was essential for a woman to get married and Austen understood this only too well because she never married. The novel is et in a small English country town called Meryton, but most of the action happens at Longbourne. Jane Austen's views are portrayed through Elizabeth Bennet. The ... novel is quite different when compared to other romantic novels written at the time as Austen has added some comedy, mostly in the form of irony. ... to all real affection for her." "Elizabeth, however, had never been blind to the impropriety of her father's behaviour as a hus...

• Word Count: 755
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... and moral responsibility in the ball scene and the dance scene in 'Emma' and 'Clueless' respectively. The high angle camera shot on Harriet as she is approached by Knightley emphasizes her vulnerability, while the low angle and middle shot on Knightley, subtle as it is, gives us a sense of his powerful and heroic nature. Knightley is acutely aware of Harriet ... ...

• Word Count: 966
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Austen consciously refers to and comments on the standards and conventions of the gothic genre in her novel Northanger Abbey. Throughout the entire narrative she portrays her main character, Catherine Morland, as ordinary and the opposite of the heroines customarily ... of attention to such a mundane compliment given from a father to his daughter. The characterization of Catherine Morland serves to direct the form of the novel to garner a more realistic approach, and to steer it away from the sensational nature of works like The Monk and The Italian. Austen feels that readers ... of the...

• Word Count: 777
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Discuss the characterization of Emma Woodhouse in the first chapter of Jane Austen's Emma. Introduction and short summary Jane Austen began writing Emma in 1814, and the book was published anonymously for the first time ... for a new friend and becomes acquainted with the seventeen year old, illegitimate girl Harriet. The characterization of Emma Woodhouse The first chapter of the book introduces the protagonist of the story, Emma Woodhouse, a twenty-one-year-old girl. She lives with her father, her mother already died at a very young age. So Emma was raised from ... the day of her fifth bi...

• Word Count: 906
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... contrast with Marianne's impulsive candor and warm but excessive sensibility. Both struggle to maintain their integrity and find happiness in the face of a competitive marriage market. Sense and Sensibility This novel contrasts two sisters: Marianne, who, with her doctrines of love at first sight, fervent emotions overtly expressed, and admiration of the grotesque "picturesque", represents the cult of "sensibility"; and Elinor ... , who has much more "sense", but is still not immune from disappointments. Despite some amusing characters and true Jane Austen touches, it is not generally co...

• Word Count: 276
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... "Pride and Prejudice, is a complex web of intricate symbolism, characterization, and a satirical analysis of the social structure of 1900's patriarchal England. The prevalent, underlying theme of the novel, is marriage, and courtship, of which all other significant themes and critics derive stimulation from. Jane Austen possessed extremely comprehensive and non-conventional views for a woman of her era, ... presenting the ideal that marriage should be based on the foundation of love, mutual understanding and acceptance. The notion of this concept is encompassed in the passage of the novel...

• Word Count: 292
• Approx Pages: 1
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... , Anne Elliot, at 27 years old, is older than any other Austen heroine, and the greatest romance in her life has apparently taken place more than seven years before the novel begins. She had been courted by a dashing but penniless young naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, and had accepted him. Then, persuaded by a wary older friend that the marriage would not work ... wrong, not the other way around, as in Emma. Researchers now argue how Austen's failing physical condition during the last year of her life affected her work. Yet Sanditon, the novel she startd a few months before her death...

• Word Count: 375
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... human tendency to judge those below us will continue until the end of time. 2c) The most important word that appears in Pride and Prejudice is "love" (p 82). Through her novel, Jane Austen shows that love is the greatest pleasure as well as the greatest pain, and that love can overcome any obstacle. The reader is able to see that although ... all obstacles presented. The reunion of Jane and Elizabeth with Bingley and Darcy is simply the work of fate. I do not feel that there is more to tell. If the novel were to continue, I believe that both couples would have children and remain blissf...

• Word Count: 701
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The Color Purple is a contemporary, epistolary novel, set in the harsh, segregated world of the Deep South between the wars. Walker's use of letters or 'epistles' exchanged between characters, speaking to each other in an informal colloquial ... the narrative. It is through education and the process of writing that Celie's character begins to raise herself from the position of 'underclass' to a more powerful position. Early in the novel, the reader meets Celie, a woman in a racist and class-conscious society, taught to fear men and devalue herself. Later, Shug Avery helps to educate Celie ou...

• Word Count: 486
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the Longborn estate, home to the Bennett family of five daughters, a mother, and a father. The home does not contain much extravagance; it is classified as a middle class home. Throughout the novel, however, the house is always filled with noise and drama. The Bennett family never experiences a quiet moment in their household. Even when a family cousin comes to visit and hopes to ... girls, he is quickly interrupted by Lydia who proclaims the activity boring. Elizabeth Bennett, accompanied by her uncle and aunt, first lays eyes upon the Pemberly estate later in the novel. Through her ey...

• Word Count: 706
• Approx Pages: 3

... been the factors which contribute towards the behavior of the female characters in this story? E.g. Elizabeth's prejudices, Charlotte loveless marriage or Lydia's elopement. Jane Austen successful portrayed women in her novel pride and prejudice through her women character in order to make sure the plot will be in a good progressing. Pride and prejudice, a clever and tale of the five Bennet sisters ... world. Through this part, now we know that Elizabeth prejudice and the way she feels as the ideally rational character and it is truly portrayed all women characters in this novel. In a n...

• Word Count: 804
• Approx Pages: 3