BEGINNING OF EXTRACT: ``And so ended his affection,'' said Elizabeth impatiently. ``There has been many a one, I fancy, overcome in the same way. I wonder who first discovered the efficacy of poetry in driving away love!''``I have been used to consider poetry as the food of love,'' said Darcy.``Of a fine, stout, healthy love it may. Every thing nourishes what is strong already. But if it be only a slight, thin sort of inclination, I am convinced that one good sonnet will starve it entirely away.''Darcy only smiled, and the general pause which ensued made Elizabeth tremble lest her mother should be exposing herself again. She longed to speak, but could think of nothing to say; and afte ...view middle of the document...
His answer to this sudden attack was delightful to their mother's ear.``I am perfectly ready, I assure you, to keep my engagement, and when your sister is recovered, you shall if you please, name the very day of the ball. But you would not wish to be dancing while she is ill.''Lydia declared herself satisfied. ``Oh! yes -- it would be much better to wait till Jane was well, and by that time most likely Captain Carter would be at Meryton again. And when you have given your ball,'' she added, ``I shall insist on their giving one also. I shall tell Colonel Forster it will be quite a shame if he does not.''Mrs. Bennet and her daughters then departed, and Elizabeth returned instantly to Jane, leaving her own and her relations' behaviour to the remarks of the two ladies and Mr. Darcy; the latter of whom, however, could not be prevailed on to join in their censure of her, in spite of all Miss Bingley's witticisms on fine eyes. END OF EXTRACTJane Austen adopts a wide variety of narrative styles throughout the novel of Pride and Prejudice. She uses devices such as 'showing' and 'telling' in order to convey aspects of character and to link in the themes of the novel as a whole. Through 'showing' she allows us to witness the individual characters in dialogue with others or through representing their direct speech at particular moments. This serves the purpose of us seeing how the many different people interact, and allows us to assess their characters more intricately. The act of 'showing' the characters in these situations also serves the purpose of concreting what she has already 'told' us. Jane Austen 'tells' us about her characters through using different devices, such as focalization, indirect speech and free indirect speech. Through using the art of 'telling', Jane Austen prepares us for what we are to expect when her characters are involved in differing situations.The passage opens with a 'showing' device, which Bakhtin would refer to as dialogic, taking place between Elizabeth and Darcy. The dialogue concerns one of the many themes of the novel, love. Through this, Jane Austen 'shows' the reader that Elizabeth is quite satirical in her views. Many people perceive romantic poems to be endearing, but Elizabeth is shown to be mocking the whole business, rhetorically questioning 'who first discovered the efficacy in driving away love!'. Darcy responds with a sentiment that is, perhaps, a deliberate corruption of Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night' by suggesting the poetry is the 'food of love'. This is quite an ironic light for us to see Darcy in, who we have previously assessed to be cold and unfeeling. By supplementing 'music' for 'poetry' he is proving himself to be reasonably humorous in an educated fashion.From this, Jane Austen chooses to allow us to perceive what Elizabeth is thinking at this time through focalization. Through using this device we are allowed to focus on Elizabeth's discomfort. This moves the passage into a different direction f...
