Mr Bennet purposefully asks such a question in order to satirise Mr Collins and due to this, it shows that Mr Collins prepares compliments and tries to not make it known that it is rehearsed, portraying his pretentious nature. Whenever Mr Collins is present, the reader is made aware that he will say or do things that will show how superficial and pompous he is. When recounting that he told Lady Catherine “her charming daughter seemed born to be a duchess, and that of the most elevated rank”, he told the Bennets that “these are the kind of little things which please her ladyship” and that he is “happy on every occasion to offer those little delicate compliments” that “are always acceptable to ladies”. Through saying this, it is made clear that Mr Collins may not always be complimenting Lady Catherine, because he truly believes in what he says, but because that is what Lady Catherine wishes to hear; this illustrates to the reader how pretentious he is. Again, through Elizabeth and Mr Bennet, the reader is made to realise the insensible and pompous nature of Mr Collins.
His diction, that her imaginations are “queer” and “filled with suffering patients,” contradicts the “healthy,” ordinary actions of her sister. Florence Nightingale's will to realize her dream of becoming a nurse was so strong that she resisted pressure from “high society” and family to fall into her seemingly natural position in life, as a wife of some gentleman of high rank and birth order. Ms. Nightingale, with “amazing persistency,” was able to learn and educate herself, and “there was hardly a great hospital in Europe with which she was not acquainted,” despite the forces in her life acting to achieve an opposite goal. From this paragraph, the reader can glean the devotion that Ms. Nightingale had to a life of intellectual pursuit, using her “spare time so well” that she was able
Austen’s shows off her genius in her creation of characters when Lady Catherine’s arrogance is taken to new spheres where she even claims to predict the weather. Although Lady Catherine is a woman of social standing, ironically even Mr Darcy is “ashamed of his aunt’s ill-breeding”, after she ‘welcomes’
In this process of „othering,‟ the novel inescapably draws attention to the plasticity and vulnerability of its own ideologies. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Recent scholarship has identified Sherlock Holmes as more than a master of detection. Arthur Conan Doyle‟s legendary creation has become viewed as an enforcer of the ideologies of his time, particularly those concerned with gender roles. In an analysis of “The Speckled Band,” Rosemary Hennessy and Rajeswari Mohan envision Holmes as symbolizing the patriarchal values of Victorian England. By foiling the wicked stepfather‟s plan to murder his daughter, Holmes replaces him and assumes the role of patriarch—a process symbolic of state-sponsored initiatives to act within the private sphere and protect Victorian women from men and, presumably, themselves.1 I want to argue that a similar process occurs in Doyle‟s second Holmes novel, The Sign of Four: potentially
Wilde: Flaunting Societal Flaws with Literary Device The Importance of Being Earnest is a product of the “sober and dutiful earnestness” that (Tosh 12) commanded the times coupled with the author's palpable disdain for the same. Like his main characters Jack/Ernest Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, Oscar Wilde relies heavily on a purposeful duality; as an effective mechanism of humor, he stands the societal mores of the day on end, while the subtext beneath the comedy, fluff and wit, fingers the despicable hypocrisy of Victorian Society that ultimately brought Wilde to personal ruin (Grill 7). Wilde's writing reflects his own philosophies, namely his devotion to art above truth, and his highly prized individualism (Gale 1201). He himself has described The Importance of Being Earnest as "about characters who trivialize serious matters and solemnize trivial matters,” the very epitome of Victorian manners (Mitchell 262). Along this vein, Wilde calls on an arsenal of literary devices with which he reproaches a puerile Victorian society for holding ideals absent of sincerity, it's use of marriage as the currency of social status, and for maintaining the class divide.
Oscar Wilde is credited for being a provocateur for change in nineteenth century England. Wilde provides his audience with the opportunity to witness the inner-workings of Victorian society and their rebellion against following the social norms. Oscar Wilde uses the fabricated identities of Jack and Algernon, the main characters of the play, to show the rebellious nature of the aristocracy. Wilde portrays the Victorian upper-class as rigid and the secret lives are necessary to provide the freedom to express who they really are. While the middle-class of England looks up to the upper-class Victorians with respect and envy, both Jack and Algernon dislike the propriety of it all.
What good is social class and status? Truthfulness is measured within. Pride in one's status is like poison - holding it in your hand and eating it, you shall die.” These words come from the Adi Granth, the religious text of Sikhism, but they show perfectly the failing of society Dickens laments on in Great Expectations. Class is an arbitrary division, based not on the character of an individual, but rather their possessions and wealth. Dickens castigates this class system through the foils of Estella and Biddy, Magwitch’s generosity, and Jaggers’ coolly indifferent ethics.
Act 1 sees Lady Bracknell converse with Jack about his engagement with Gwendolen. The humour is sustained by Wilde’s mockery of Lady Bracknell and the ideals that Victorians in general deem important but are in fact trivial. The witticism embedded in Lady Bracknell’s comment that “ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone” ironically alludes to her haughty and arrogant airs and graces that is so typical of the upper-class of Victorian England. Her further realisation, that in England,
Their characters are similar in that they are both in love with wealthy young gentlemen of fortune and high circumstances, but their own fortune is of a lower class. The Bennet’s have no son in the family, thus the inheritance is passed onto a male relative, leaving the Bennets’ desolate and poor. The Dashwood’s also have no son in the family, but were left with a broken promise and a greedy woman kicking them out of their own home. The two female protagonist are unsure of their feelings for the young gentlemen: Elizabeth cynical towards true love and Elinor cautious of her feelings for another when it might impact her family. Their contrast occurs as Elinor is willing to undergo
L’inteligencia was a social class that believed in intellectualism and had little faith in the church or religion, a distinct characteristic of this class was their belief of being superior to other classes/people. Flaubert was at first born into the Bourgeoisie; this is where his knowledge of their shortcomings stems from, and through this deep rooted knowledge he can make a more personal and more accurate criticism of their social conventions. The fact that he managed to overcome this and become a member of L’inteligencia also adds to his feelings of superiority. Flaubert is also from Rouen, which is the same place Madame Bovary comes from, this means he can give very realistic points of view and descriptions, as he can draw on personal memory to write. This means the novel’s descriptions have a more personal feel and make you feel more like you were there.