傲慢与偏见中达西求婚被拒后给伊丽莎白的信的作用(英文)

The function of the letter that Mr. Darcy wrote to Elizabeth after his

failure of proposal

[Abstract]: Under the influence of epistolary story, Letters are very important in the

writing of Jane Austen’s

Pride and prejudice

. Among so many letters in the novel, the

letter that Mr. Darcy wrote to Elizabeth after his proposal was rejected was a turning

point of the plot of the whole story, showing the reader the real characteristics of the

main character, promoting the sudden change of the romance between Mr. Darcy and

Elizabeth Bennet, exciting the reader further more in the course of reading.

[Keywords]: Pride and prejudice, letter, turning point

1.

Introduction

Jane Austen was a famous

English novelist

whose works focused on

women’s

marriage and life. Her sensitivity to human emotion, her keen observation to life and

her vivid language contribute to her success of writing.

Pride and prejudice

, one of

her masterpieces, is a love story of a country gentleman’s daughter, Elizabeth Bennet,

mirroring

the

reserved

life

of

the

Englishmen

at

the

end

of

the

18th

century

to

the

beginning of the nineteenth century.

Letter

is

the

only

way

of

communication

apart

from

language

communication.

According to the existing literature, there are more than thirty letters in the novel

[1]

,

which play a significant role in the portrait of the characters, the development of plot

and

the

transformation

the

point

of

view

[2]

.The

letter

that

Mr.

Darcy

wrote

to

Elizabeth after his failure of proposal is viewed as the most important letters in the

novel. There is still little study about this letter, so this paper will explore the function

of this letter in terms of portraying the characters and forwarding the plot to confirm

the previous study by analyzing the letter in depth.

2.

Introduction the letter

The letter was given to Elizabeth by Mr. Darcy the following day of the failure

his proposal. In the beginning of the letter, Mr. Darcy asked for Elizabeth’s pardon for

the bother brought by the letter. The letter consisted of two parts. The first part was

Mr. Darcy’s explanation of his conduct of preventing the connection of Mr. Bingley

and

Jane,

while

the

second

part

was

Mr.

Darcy’s

description

of

the

relationship

between Mr. Wickham and Darcy’s family.

3.

The letter indirectly portrayed the characters.

Actually, letter is the writing form of words

[3]

, in which the character’s feature is

implied.

Mr.

Darcy’s

letter

reflected

that

he

was

well

-educated,

arrogant,

caring,

kind-hearted, frank and intelligent.

Well-educated

Instead

of

coming

straight

to

his

point,

he

at

first

placated

the

potential alarm and unpleasure of Elizabeth, showing his gentility and courtesy. In the

letter, he used formal language including relative clause, preposing structure

[3]

.

E.g. I

had,

in

defiance

of

various

claims,

in

defiance

of

honour

and

humanity,

ruined

the

immediate

prosperity,

and

blasted

the

prospects

of

Mr.

Wickham.

--

Wilfully

and

wantonly to have thrown off the companion of my youth, the acknowledged favourite

of

my

father,

a

young

man

who

had

scarcely

any

other

dependence

than

on

our

patronage, and who had been brought up to expect its exertion…

Arrogant

From 1800 to 1830, a special type of men appeared in London. They

dressed gracefully, behaved courteously, with a little blue facial expression; they were

cold

and

poignant

in

their

words;

they

had

excellent

temperament

and

intelligence;

they made light of the bourgeoisie, considering them as ignorant and indelicate

[2]

. Mr.

Darcy was one of them: he was well-born (which he was very proud of) and attached

great importance to marrying a woman of his own class. What he could not bear most

was the Bennet’s ungracious conduct, especially Elizabeth’s three younger sisters. In

his eye, this kind of bourgeois family who were badly- educated, vulgar, passionate

and

direct

(like

animals)

did

not

match

his

class

at

all.

For

him,

etiquette

was

the

standard of judging a person, even the standard of judging things and reason

[2]

. That

was why he had tried his best to restraint his feeling towards Elizabeth.

Caring

As a friend of Mr. Bingley, he showed great concern over his love affair

and

marriage.

He

know

Bingley

very

well,

who

he

was

tend

to

fall

in

love

with

a