Pride and Prejudice: AS & A2 York Notes

Chronological narrative following events in the characters' lives. Novel structured into three volumes (cf. a three-act play). Letters are used to move the action forward.

A realistic novel with a carefully developed plot and happy ending. The narrative point-of-view moves between omniscient narrator, Elizabeth's consciousness and character interactions through dialogue.

Abstract nouns and adjectives matter more than concrete ones because qualities matter more than things. Paradoxically the abstractions are so powerful that they almost feel concrete.

Austen's work was designed to be read aloud. Her "Letters" reveal she regularly read aloud in her family circle, and we can hear her ironic tone in the rhythm of her sentences and through comic effects such as bathos.

Words are not always adequate. Body language (looking up or looking away, moving closer or drawing back, changing colour) expresses powerful, inarticulate emotion.