Characters And Plot In Austen's Pride And Prejudice: A Narratological Analysis

Published in 1813, Pride and Prejudice establishes Jane Austen as one of the most popular novelists of English literature. The novel's ebb and flow of plot is woven like a musical symphony around the main theme of the courtship of Darcy and Elizabeth. It is universally agreed that the success of the work lies largely in an organic combination of characters with plot. Since the novelist's own days, critics as well as common readers have shown a sustained interest in her works, especially this highly reputable novel, Pride and Prejudice. The criticism of the novel can roughly be divided into three categories. The first category concentrates on studying plot in the traditional sense, i.e. by comparing the four marriages portrayed in the novel, trying to show people what is an ideal marriage is (one that is based on equality and mutual understanding). Another type of criticism is devoted to analyzing characters in the novel. For example, much has been published concerning the characteristics of Elizabeth. The third kind focuses on Austen's style such as the use of irony, the witty dialogues, the presentation of the ordinary exquisite facets of life, etc. These studies analyze the theme, characterization and language features of the novel respectively. However, the whole significating system of the novel, which is made up of all those elements, is ignored. Therefore, the present dissertation sets out to study the relationship between the characterization and the plot development of the novel, from the perspective of the narratological idea about functional characters.Drawing on the narratological idea about the functions of characters, the present dissertation tries to study the two inter-related questions: (1) What roles do the main characters play in the structure of the plot of the novel? (2) In what ways is characterization realized in the process of the plot development? By discussing the relationship between characters and the plot, the present dissertation draws the conclusion that the aim of characterization lies in serving the development of plot. This dissertation consists of six parts. The first part is an introduction, which sets forth the purpose and significance of the present study; the second part is a review of relevant narrative theories and sums up the core point of view of narratology, providing the theoretical framework of this dissertation; the third part analyzes the narratological idea about functional characters, and compares the narratological idea of functional characters with traditional ideas of psychological characters; the fourth part investigates how characters function in the process of plot development of the novel Pride and Prejudice; the fifth part is an analysis of the novel in the light of the traditional theory of psychological characters, its purpose being to further explain the idea that characterization serves the development of plot; and the last part is the conclusion of the dissertation. To sum up, structuralist narratology regards characters as "actors." It regards characters as the result of action: characters "are no more than a by-product of the narrating structure, that is, a constructing entity, not psychological one." In this sense, Elizabeth, Darcy, Jane and Bingley are just signs in the text. More important than those signs is the plot. Why those characters show specific personalities is simply decided by the development of the plot.