Bits of Life 2

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deal with the ramifications, but his sense of guilt soon overwhelms him to the point of psychological illness.

It is only in the epilogue that he realizes his formal punishment, having decided to confess and end his alienation from society.

Like in Charles Dickens’s novels we see the city of St. Petersburg painted in all its squalor, poverty and as a city of unrelieved poverty; "magnificence has no place in it, because magnificence is external, formal abstract, cold".

We notice that according to F. I. Evnin, Crime and Punishment as the first great Russian novel "in which the climactic moments of the action are played out in dirty taverns, on the street, in the sordid back rooms of the poor.


Among the most popular writers that still holds many readers, scholars and students alike under her sway is Jane Austen. People love her language, especially the conversations she created in the drawing rooms of both the rich and middle class households.

Exploration of the theme of love is one the main attractions of her novel galore. Whether it is the ever- green Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Emma, Sense and sensibility, Mansfield Park the theme of love stand out.

My devotion to Jane Austen’s writings could be because we had them all for our studies and exams. Exams apart, to tell the truth, we were absolutely mesmerized by her characters and story lines.

Liz Bennett and Darcy are the striking central characters pitched against each other for ego reasons. Realization dawns by the end of the novel and much to their shock and surprise, they couldn’t life without each other. Indeed what a tangled web we weave!

Jane Austen kept up the tempo, the style, the setting in the beginning, the middle and at the end of the novel with her masterly narration and deep understanding of the human mind. Each of her characters is from real life and nowhere had I found their behavioral patterns exaggerated or underplayed.

The very first line of Pride and Prejudice has become world famous.

““It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

The opening line to Jane Austen's most famous novel is one of the best known lines in literature, and for good reason.

The first sentence of Pride and Prejudice is ironic because it suggests that wealthy single men inherently seek wives, reflecting societal expectations rather than personal desires. Austen's use of irony highlights that society projects its desires onto these men, assuming they want marriage.

Besides the concerns of a mother of five daughters, there are other themes, which bear equal importance in understanding the climate and milieu of Jane Austen’s times.

For example, music is of great importance in Austen’s novels.

Music must have helped her to live joyfully, facing the changes and tragedies of life. Music perhaps was not only her passion and hobby, but also a definite therapy and a motivational force that helped her to be cheerful and hopeful. Her enthusiasm to learn music for the country dances and play it for her nephews and nieces is so charming and sweet.

It is no surprise therefore, that music is a significant tool for portrayal of several characters and eventful turns in her plots. Jane Austen’s musical talent is evident in characters like Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill in “Emma”, Marianne Dashwood and John Willoughby in ‘Sense and sensibility”, Mary Crawford in “Mansfield Park”, Anne Elliot in “Persuasion” and almost all the characters in ‘Pride and Prejudice”.

In “Pride and Prejudice”, Elizabeth was asked to play the piano by the colonel. We see Darcy joining them. Soon, they engage in spirited conversation, in which Lizzy accuses him of not being social and his reply that he is not inclined to speak to strangers.

Again we see her playing the pianoforte at Lady Catherine's estate.

“Moving with his usual deliberation towards the piano forte, Darcy stationed himself so as to command a full view of the fair performer's countenance. Elizabeth saw what he was doing, and...turned to him with an arch smile”.

Her feelings for Darcy are evidently undergoing a change. And so are his sentiments for her.

Similarly, the difference between well laid gardens of Japan and those of wild English parks is obvious in her novels.

If you observe carefully, you can see that all important conversations take place in the open grounds. Both Elizabeth Bennet and Darcy record shock when he accidentally discovers her presence at Pemberley as he was returning from a restless dip in the lake.
Darcy expresses his love and desperate need to marry


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