pride and prejudice

As I was reading Pride and Prejudice, I began to think that Jane Austen is a social critic like Ibsen. I’m not sure if she can be classified as a social critic but I think there’s enough evidence in the book to support my claim. The concepts of entailment and marrying based on financial situations are criticized by Jane Austen. Jane Austen clearly ridicules the concept of entailment by highlighting Mr. Collin’s ridiculous nature. Due to the law of entailment during the time which the novel was written, the Bennett fortune and estate would not have been able to pass directly to the Bennett girls because of their gender. Mr. Collins suggest that he be the one who inherit the property and Mr. Bennett reluctantly agrees. It is clear as the novel progresses how outrageous Mr. Collins is. Although his male status should make him more “fit” than the Bennett girls to inherit the fortune, it is clear that any of the Bennett girls should inherit the fortune. Mr. Collins is portrayed in the book as such a ridiculous character so that the readers can realize that the concept of entailment is flawed. It should be the Bennet girls, not Mr. Collins who is more qualified to inherit the property. However, the concept of entailment prevents that from happening.
The idea that marriage should be based on financial situations was prevalent during the era in which this book was written. I believe that Jane Austen is against this idea as she uses Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. Their relationship starts as a bitter one. Mr. Darcy is pompous and arrogant in the beginning of the novel. His good looks and height are shadowed by his negative personality. At first, Mr. Darcy tries to pry away Mr. Bingley from Jane as he considers the Bennett household too poor to be a suitable match for his friend. However, as the novel progresses, Mr. Darcy starts to develop feelings for a common girl like Elizabeth. He starts to linger around her a lot and there are many instances where there is awkward silence between the two. Mr. Darcy eventually confesses his love to Elizabeth in a condescending way and Elizabeth becomes indignant. However, through his letter he wrote for Elizabeth, she forgives him. The readers then reazlize even an aristocrat like Mr. Darcy can change in the face of look and over come the financial barrier that seperates the two love birds. It is through the relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth that Austen criticizes the concept of marrying based no financial situation instead of love. She is trying to create a model couple that marries based on love. In essence, the relationship between Mr. Collins and Charlotte is the foil to the relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy

The Doll's House

The character Nora in the Doll House amuses me. She is a very deep character who is confusing to understand. To most people, Nora is just a childish woman who is the typical mother. She is beautiful and she knows this as well. She uses her beauty to act like a child so that she can get what she wants from Torvald. However, beneath her superficial surface lies a deeper side of her. During the play, it is revealed that she committed forgery to save her husband’s life. She borrowed a large sum of money from the bank by forging her father’s signature. Her action can be seen as both a noble and foolish one. Her desire to save her husband’s life at the cost of breaking the law can be seen as a loyal and passionate action. However, it is revealed in the play that at the time Nora borrowed the money, she did not know of the financial terms that were within the loan agreement. She had no idea that the money she borrowed would grow exponentially due to interests. In this financial sense, Nora can be seen as a childish and foolish character. Her complexion arises out of cases like this where her actions are ambiguous; whether the actions are noble or foolish.
Her husband Torvald is beginning to become too creepy for me. It seems like he is a demented character who treats Nora as a little doll he likes to play with. He does not genuinely love Nora and considers her his trophy. This view of her can be seen when at the dance party he made Nora perform the tarantulla dance. After she dazzled the crowd, he quickly departs with Nora despite her objections. Then he proceeds to say that if they lingered any more, the effect would wear up. His response reveals the fact that Torvald’s male dominance is expressed through him showing his trophy wife Nora to the public. He even goes on to claim that Nora is his greatest prize. In essence, Torvald does not consider Nora as even a human being let alone his love. Nora is like a doll he loves to play with. He can dress her in anything he wants, play with her whenever he wants, and show off his pretty doll to the public. The initially humorous conversation between Torvald and Nora is definitely becoming twisted and demented now. I initially thought that the reason why they talked to each other in such a bubbly and superficial way was because of the fact that they were in the puppy dog love stage in their relationship. But it is clear that this is not the case and that the reason is something much more demented. Torvald’s desire to make Nora his Barbie doll is the real reason why they talk to each other in such a superficial fashion. I become creeped out whenever they talk now because I realize that Torvald is twisted in the brain.

ATKM Tragedy

The novel All the Kings Men like many other literature works is tragic. I’m going to discuss what makes the novel so tragic. The main reason why the novel is tragic is because of the fact Willie appeared to be on a path of redemption. The novel started with Willie being obsessed with justice. He also had a genuine desire to help the common people. He spent many sleepless nights preparing speeches that actually contained a lot of information that could help people. Although his public speaking skills were painfully abysmal, his sincerity shone through to the public. People still came to his speeches and supported him even though he was a terrible speaker. The moment he finds out that he was never going to be the governor, he becomes blind to everything except his political career. This blindness contorts Willie into a power-hungry monster who uses anything to get what he wants. He now uses corrupted political methods such as black mailing to control his opponents and get what he wants. Unfortunately, Willie’s corrupted ways get him what he wants every time. Believing in his corrupted ways, he fails to realize what he’s doing is set on a path of destruction. Willie’s blindness causes him to neglect his fatherly duties as Tom becomes an arrogant snob who thinks that no one can tell him what to do. Willie is finally made aware of his blindness after Tom gets seriously injured during a football game. Willie symbolically says he can change a lot of things. Here, he is referring to his life and how he used corruption to get what he wanted. Willie appears to be on a path of redemption for a brief period of time. He tells Tiny Duffy to stop the contract with Larson because it’s corrupted. He even attempts to go back to Lucy. As things are turning for the better, the ultimate tragedy strikes him. Ironically, Adam Stanton believed that he got the director job at the new hospital because his sister had been sleeping with Willie. In reality, this was not the case as Willie really believed that Adam would be the best person to be entrusted with the new hospital. Not knowing this, Adam guns down Willie and Willie dies in the hospital a couple days later. The tragic nature of this novel arises from uncertainty. Readers do not know what would have happened had Willie not been murdered. Perhaps he would have gotten back with Lucy and changed his political career around so he never used corruption. On top of all this, he could’ve helped the common people through legitimate ways. All in all, he could have been remembered as a great political figure who had a mysterious desire to help the common folks. Instead, the readers are left to wonder at what Willie could have done. And therein lies the true tragic nature of this novel.