In the eighteenth century society where personal interaction was controlled by formal codes of etiquette, the letter represented a rare means of expressing the inner self. Letters were a kind of writing which, more than any other means of communication, exposed the ‘overflowing’ of a writer’s heart. Jane Austen author of “Pride and Prejudice” inherited the epistolary mode of writing novel.
Epistolary is actually a “novel told through letters written by one or more of the characters.” The advantage is that it presents an intimate view of the character’s thoughts without interference from the author and that it conveys the shape of events to come with dramatic immediacy. The characters speak to us and we, therefore, get an intimate point of view of what’s happening. Only the character’s point of view is portrayed and no other. Letters remain in for the inside existences of the characters. We need to learn about the historical backdrop of letter writing in order to find the importance of letters in this novel.
Jane Austin who is the writer of this novel wrote it in 1813. The primary type of correspondence at that point was by letters. They used Mail Coach to send their letters. However, you could also send your mails via ‘express’ where they asked you to pay more in order to send your letters in short time.
As we can see in section 44 mail of Mr. Gardiner was sent by express. Also, they didn’t have envelopes to send their letter in, so they just folded and wrote the address on back side of the paper. On the off chance that the letter was private then the author may have made an envelope which would be produced using basically folding paper.
In part 35 Darcy makes an envelope for his letter to Elizabeth since it is so long. The paper would have been extremely costly in Jane Austen’s era, so the person who is writing would write in the edges ensuring ensures that he has spent every space on the paper.Altogether there are fourty letters either summarized or specifically cited in the novel Pride and Prejudice. Letters are helpful in light of the fact that they give privacy between two characters considering complete protection. They enable the characters to express emotions they can never pass on as anyone might hear, they have sufficient duration to think what to say in their letters. Letters enable one to tell about their views more actually and personally than they can face to face. Gazing at a clear page of the paper is unquestionably less scary than investigating somebody’s eyes.
Letters enable you to talk without voyaging yourself. They are useful for giving invitations to others. Writing letters does not have the loss of words, pauses, unbalanced hushes and uneasiness that discussions can here and there convey. You can read a letter, again and again, each time to pick up a superior comprehension.
In part 36, Elizabeth peruses the letter from Darcy “commanded herself so far as to examine the meaning of every sentence.” She read and re-read with the nearest consideration. They demonstrate that you can examine a letter and read past the surface. The long waiting time for letters creates expectation.
This anticipation and curiosity of what the contents might say caused the arrival of letters to be an important event in daily life. Although the long waiting time can be seen as a hindrance, the anticipation that built up caused letters to be read more closely and have greater value and significance to the receiver. The news inside the letters, whether good or bad, set the tone for the day, for actions and emotions during the rest of the day reflected the contents of the letters. The letter by Mr. Darcy to Elizabeth Bennet is seen as the most important of all the other letters, in fact, the turning point of the entire novel. This letter by Mr.
Darcy showed his true image to Elizabeth, exposed the tricks of vicious Wickham, and showed her that she isn’t a good judge of the behavior of people. Elizabeth repented about how prejudiced she had been towards Darcy after reading the letter a lot of times to actually overcome the real but bitter truth. Darcy’s letter helps the heroine to a new level of self-knowledge as the new understanding of others reveals a self never before visible. His letter to Elizabeth shows that he respects Elizabeth and desires her good opinion despite his insulting proposal since he trusts her with an important piece of family scandal.
Darcy’s letter is the icing on the cake as after receiving it everything changed i.e., opinions of Elizabeth and readers towards him changed its course from ‘proud’ to ‘protective and truthful’ Darcy.
