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reading of Letters to Alice changes the modern responders understanding of Pride and Prejudice.

Discuss with reference to both texts.

Fay Weldons Letters to Alice on First reading Jane Austen, through the didactic literary form of anepistolic novel, serves to encourage a heightened understanding of the values and contemporaryissues of Jane Austens cultural context. In doing so, it inspires the modern responder to adopt more

holistic appreciation for the plight of the characters and the value s inherent in Austens Pride andPrejudice. Through the inclusion of relevant contextual information from Austens time and didacticassertions of the fictional character Aunt Fay, Weldon implores the responder to accept her opinions

on the values and issu es of Austens context. Weldons discussion of these, which include marriage,social class and the role and expectations of women within society, transforms a modern respondersunderstanding of the themes and morals explored in Pride and Prejudice, and moreover, alters the

way in which the responder perceives the events and decisions of the characters within the novel.

The fundamental importance and value assigned to marriage in the context of Jane Austen and Pride

and Prejudice is reinforced through Weldons discussion of the options for women outside marriageand its purpose of providing financial security for women. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen constructsCharlotte Lucas as a character who does not think highly of either men or matrimony, and he nceshe marries Mr Collins despite not loving him, to ensure her financial security and elevate herposition within society. Mrs Bennet echoes Charlottes sentiments, as the business of her life was toget her daughters married, because she knew they wou ld not be provided for after the death of her

husband. In Letters to Alice, Weldon asserts that before reading Jane Austen, Alice Mustunderstand.. the world in which Jane Austen was born. As contemporary responders, this advicerings true as only a smal l glimpse into Austens world is given through Pride and Prejudice, hence, itis difficult to understand why marriage was so important to the women of the time. Weldon assiststhe responder to comprehend the significance of Marriage as a theme in Pride and Prejudice and asthe ideal state of existence within the time, by highlighting the differences between thecontemporary value assigned to marriage and the value assigned in Austens time. She satiricallycomments that marriage is the stuff of our womens magazines, but it was the stuff of their life,

their very existence.

Weldon also assists the responder by including relevant contextual information and statistics to

encourage the responder to see Mrs Bennets desperation to ensure her daughters marri ed welland Charlottes decision to marry without love in a more holistic manner. Weldon informs theresponder that Only 30% of women marriedSo to marry was a great prize and women only livedwell by their husbands favour. She also reinforces the few respectable options available outsidemarriage by including the fact that there was 70,000 prostitutes in London in 1801, out of a femalepopulation of some 475,000, and asserting that Charlotte married so as notto be left on the

shelve. This enabl es the responder to see the greater social and financial meaning behind

Charlottes decision to marry without love, as the threat of facing life unsupported financially,eternally labelled as an old maid, was very real to her. On a second reading of Pride and Prejudice

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with Weldons comments in mind, Charlottes choices, as well as Mrs Bennets desire to see one of her daughters happily settled at Netherfield, and all the others equally well married appear morerealistic and sensible to the responder. Th e didactic achievements of Weldons text lie in thisacceptance of Aunty Fays assertions and judgements, and the transformation of Alices, and byextension the responders view of the theme of marriage and the value assigned to it within Pride

and Prejudice.

Weldons exploration of the way Austen perceived class within the time assists and ultimatelycolours the responders understanding of the theme of social status and the value of stability and

how these are expressed and criticised in Pride and Prej udice. In Austens novel, the distinctionsbetween classes and the sense of stability and order created through a rigid class system arepresented to the responder. This is seen when Elizabeth advises Mr Collins that the honour must

belong to Mr Darcy, th e superior in consequence, to begin the acquaintance when he tries to break

protocol and introduce himself to Mr Darcy. However, it is also important to remember that whilstthe characters of the novel conform to this innate value for class-based society, Austen also hints at

the breaking down of the class system through Mr Darcy, as Weldon phrases it marrying where heloved and not where he ought. Weldon seeks to explain to the responder why and how Jane Austenexplored this breaking down of the social hierarchy where she asserts one of her strongly drawn and

confidently argued opinions to the responder. Weldon asserts that Jane Austen likes to see thedivision between nobility and gentry broken down, and adds that Elizabeth Bennet broughtneither land nor money to Mr Darcy- but she brought intelligence, vigour and honesty. Through this,

the responder is persuaded to adopt a new understanding of why Austen explores and criticisessocial class in her novel. On a second reading of the novel, the effect of this is that the responder isable to recognise that Austen through Elizabeth Bennet is attempting to expose the flaws and

superficial nature of class divisions, and thus triumph personal traits such as intelligence and honesty

over the established conventions of class within society.

Weldon, through presenting an overview of what life was like for a woman in Jane Austens time,serves to enhance the responders understanding of the gender roles and expectations implicitly andexplicitly referred to in pride and prejudice. In Pride and prejudice, Mrs Bennet is constructed as awoman in an ill-suited marriage who has the supposedly enormous task of ensuring her daughters

are married. Her only solace, Austen tells the responder in a satirical tone, was visiting and news.The responder is encouraged to laugh and look down upon Mrs Bennet by Austen, more so than herhusband even though he is equally as ridiculous in his own way. In Letters to Alice, Weldonencourages the responder to put themselves in the position of women such as Mrs Bennet who hadto endure a marriage without love and childbirth, which assists the responder to reshape andchallenge their understanding of a womans role in Pride and Prejudice. She contextualises what life

was like for a woma n through a description of the stages of life, emphasising that if the choice atchildbirth was between the mother and child, the mother was the one to go. Weldon also plays onAlices and the responders understanding of the role of women within the mod ern context toreinforce the difficulties women faced in Austens time where she asserts Alice, by your standards,it was a horrible time to be alive. The combined effect of these assertions by Weldon is the

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facilitation of a more holistic understanding of the plight of women within Austens time by theresponder, and on a second reading of Pride and Prejudice, a greater empathy for women such as

Mrs Bennet and the issues that confronted women of the time.

Through contextualisation and discussion of some of the significant issues and values of JaneAustens time, Weldons Letters to Alice serves to enhance and colour the responders

understanding of the themes and morals evident in Pride and Prejudice. Weldons discussion of these fundamental themes and values which include marriage, social class and the role andexpectations of women within society, provide the contextual background for a more holistic

appreciation of the main characters actions and values within the novel. This in turn, encourages aheightened degree of empathy for the characters and a deeper understanding of the issues and

themes explored and questioned by Austen in Pride and Prejudice.