Jane Austen: Art of Characterization

Jane Austen began to write stories in her early years. The novel Pride and Prejudice first come with the title of First Im ression but got fame under the title of Pride and Prejudice. !er true talent revealed through her gifted ability for the de iction and ortrayal of situation and characters in a dramatic way. "he ortrays her characters truthfully and realistically. "he is insightful to every minute level of manner and behavior and as well as to any variation from the standard. "he has narrow range of characters and thus# limits herself to the landed gentry and hardly touched the aristocracy until or unless to satire them. Her Characters are never repeated$ des ite such a narrow range. %ot a single character has been re eated in any of her si& boo's. The snobbishness of the (icar# )r. *ollins in P+P is unli'e that of )r. ,lton# the (icar in ,mma. "imilarly# there is a great difference between the vulgarity of )rs. -ennet and that of )rs. Jennings. )acaulay declares that her characters are common lace# . Yet they are all as perfectly discriminated from each other as if they were the most eccentric of human beings./ "tate different sychological habits and emotions of 0arcy# ,li1abeth# Jane# )rs. -ennet. Her characters individualized yet universal $ Jane Austen has so com rehensive and searching a view of human nature that she invests them with a universal character. !er characters are universal ty es. Thus# when )r. 0arcy says# .I have been selfish all my life in practice but not in principle/ he confesses the wea'ness of high minded dominating males in every age and climate. 2ic'ham re resents all leasant3loo'ing but selfish# un rinci led and hy ocritical flirts. )r. -ennet is a ty ical cynical father. These 4ualities of Austen/s characters ma'e them universal and individuali1ed. Realistic portrayal of her characters $ !er characters im ress us as real men and women since they are drawn to erfection. They are never ideali1ed. ,ven her most virtuous characters have faults. Jane -ennet# being a virtuous and sweet3nature girl# never thin's ill of others. This ma'es her lac' ro er judgment. ,li1abeth# herself is a conventional heroine. "he has faults of vanity and rejudice. !er

mother# at a such a high level of res onsibility as a mother# e&hibits vulgarity and indecorous manners. 0arcy and 5ady *atherine/s manners reflect aristocracy so realistically. The im artiality with which Jane Austen de icts her characters im arts a touch of realism and volume to them. Her characters are three-dimensional $ !er world of reality is never disturbed for all its romances# elo ements and dejection because of the convincing reality of her characters. !er characters are three3dimensional ortraying various human traits. *ollins doesn/t commit suicide when her ro osal is rejected by ,li1abeth# but settles down with *harlotte. 0arcy shows his une& ected trait after his ro osal is rejected. The sychological and realistic ortrayal of her characters is what ma'es them according to 0avid *eil# .Three3 dimensional/. The characters come alive in flesh and blood as it were because of their realistic ortrayal. Jane Austen reveals her characters dramatically through their conversations# their actions# and their letters or gradually through a variety of oint of view and this adds to their three3dimensional effects. Characters revealed through conversations$ "he ma'es very careful use of conversations. Thus# the dialogue between ,li1abeth not only reveals effectively the antagonism between the two of them# but also the intelligence of the both. *ollins and 5ydia are revealed through their letters. And we learn of ,li1abeth -ennet# the most stri'ing of Jane Austen/s heroines through her s eech and actions and the remar's of such eo le as )r. 0arcy# her father and )iss -ingley. Thus# in the first cha ter of P+P the vulgarity and stu idity of )rs. -ennet and the sarcastic humour of )r. -ennet have already been revealed in their dialogues. The characters of Austen fre4uently gossi with one another about other characters. This ma'es the lot even more gri ing# realistic and touching. Revealed through comparison and contrast $ 5ady *atharine balances with )rs. -ennet. 2ic'ham serves a contrast while -ingley a foil to 0arcy.,li1abeth with Jane. In P+P# ,li1abeth echoes Austen/s own sense of humor and ironic wit and the ability to laugh at whims and inconsistencies# but it is re osterous to assume that Jane Austen herself suffered from such rides and rejudices. The sym athy and artial identification hel Jane Austen in delineating the character faithfully. Elizabeth: Jane Austen said of her heroine# I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print. To create a charming heroine is one of the rarest achievements in fiction.

Jane Austen/s li'ing is borne out by the countless other readers who have fallen in love with her for more than a hundred and thirty years. A.*. -radley wrote# I am meant to fall in love with her and I do . !er charm arises to a great e&tent from her intricacy# her intellectual com le&ity. "he is rofound and erce tive with the ability to discern eo le and situations e&traordinarily well. "he com rehends the merits and demerits of the -ingleys almost at once6 she 'nows )r. *ollins to be an affected fool and judges 5ady *atherine at the first meeting. "he understands her family is conscious of the vulgarity of her mother. "he has the ready gift of re artee and a erfect command of e igrammatic e& ression. "he is not intimidated by 5ady *atherine to her en4uiry whether 0arcy had made a ro osal to ,li1abeth and she answers# Your ladyship has declared it to be impossible. 0es ite all these characteristics# ,li1abeth is not an ideali1ed or erfect heroine of a romantic novel. "he is rone to errors and mista'es of everyday life. !owever# she learns from her mista'es and tends to correct them. It is true that ,li1abeth blinds herself absurdly because of rejudice. Thus# her intelligence# high s irit and courage# wit and readiness# her artistic tem erament and her ability to laugh good3 humouredly at herself is the s ecialty of ,li1abeth. Indeed# the o ularity of the novel rests on the brilliant ortrayal of its charming and ca tivating heroine. Darcy: to many readers and critics# the great blot on the boo' is the author/s ortrayal of 0arcy. To all a earances# there are two 0arcys that we meet in P+P# the 0arcy in the first half of the lay 7 roud# cold# haughty and unfriendly and the 0arcy of the second half 7 warm# loving and considerate# 'ind# hos itable and eager to lease. These seeming incorrigible as ects of 0arcy/s character are ta'en to be a failure on art of Jane Austen/s art of characteri1ation. Jane Austen was in her early twenties when she wrote P+P# so this failure is as a result of her immaturity. !owever# critics believe that 0arcy is a credible character and has these incorrigible as ects as a result of our misread 0arcy/s character along with ,li1abeth. 0arcy is roud in the beginning. !e ac'nowledges his own. At %etherfield# he tells ,li1abeth# )y o inion once lost is lost forever. And finally his ro osal to ,li1abeth at !unsford arsonage is more elo4uent on the subject of ride than of tenderness# but he is sensitive# intelligent and com le&. !e is not morally blind either and recogni1es the vulgarity of ill3manners of the -ingley sisters and is as much embarrassed by 5ady *atherine/s behavior as he had been by )rs. -ennet/s vulgarity.

Jane !ingley: At first glance# it is -ingley and Jane that ca ture our attention as the main characters and become the center of attraction for every one. ,li1abeth says of Jane# You are too good. Your sweetness and disinterestedness are really angelic . Jane is a foil to ,li1abeth. "he# however# enjoys the admiration of both ,li1abeth and 0arcy and highlights their ride and rejudice. "imilarly# -ingley is only a foil to the more forceful ersonality of 0arcy des ite all his cheerfulness. The Jane3-ingley romance also resents a contrast to the turbulent relationshi of 0arcy and ,li1abeth. Their relationshi is based u on harmony arising out of a similarity of natures. Jane and -ingley are both characters# not intricate or com le&. Conclusion$ Jane Austen/s major characters are intricate6 however# there are some failings. 0arcy is real and convincing# but a ears only in scenes with ,li1abeth. The minor characters are usually flat but they also develo when we meet them. Thus each of these wide range of characters are multi3dimensional with a mi& of the good and bad 4ualities# e&hibiting strong individual idiosyncrasies and traits# at the same time ty ical of universal human nature.