During an Education Week class series, humanities professor Jane Hinckley teaches on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.”
PROVO, Utah (Aug. 22, 2014)—The story of Pride and Prejudice has touched readers over many generations. At an Education Week class series, humanities instructor Jane Hinckley shared the history of Jane Austen and explained the popularity of her novel Pride and Prejudice.
Hinckley explains her lecture series—“Appreciating Jane Austen”—relating that she included the word “appreciate” because of the book’s increasing value in culture.
She started by sharing Jane Austen’s life story, saying, “To appreciate Jane Austen, it is helpful to know her life, family history and family environment.”
Austen’s own family contributed much to her success as an author. Her close relationship with her sister can be seen depicted in her early novels’ sister relations. Austen’s father had a library of over 500 books so, as a young girl, Austen loved to read and write, and her family supported her and enjoyed reading her manuscripts, Hinckley said.
Austen’s novel “First Impressions,” was rejected by publishers, but after many revisions and years later, was published as Pride and Prejudice.
Pride and Prejudice is more than just a love story. Hinckley explained that Pride and Prejudice can be read as a Napoleonic War novel, and therefore, was well loved by men as well as women. “She knew everything about the war, but she didn’t write about the war itself,” Hinckley said. “She wrote about the realities of war for the people. She was aware of the impact of war on the community and on women in particular.”
The effect of war on community makes Pride and Prejudice relatable for many eras. Hinckley explained how Austen’s novels were popular and read during World War I. During World War II, the first film adaptation was produced, with variations to fit the setting of the war. Hinckley explained that the film made Pride and Prejudice a love story between England and America—Darcy is England and Elizabeth is America. She said this was done as England sought America’s help to fight the war.
Hinckley explained how generational and cultural variations have been done with other film adaptations, showing the value and versatility of the Pride and Prejudice story.
The entirety of the lecture series showed the value of studying literature and seeing how it is appreciated in its various adaptations over time. Hinckley concluded by telling class participants, “It has been a delight to share some hopefully interesting useful information about Pride and Prejudice.”
For more information about this class series, contact Jane Hinckley.
—Stephanie Bahr Bentley BA English ’14