2025 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen. To celebrate, we will spend a week exploring one of the best and most-loved novels in English Literature, Pride and Prejudice (1813).
We will examine:
- the novel’s genre (is it a romance novel?)
- its form (how does Austen use irony, dialogue, letters in the novel?)
- its characterisation (Austen is renowned for her ability to create realistic but outrageous characters. How does she do this? We will consider the characterisation of Elizabeth Bennet, Mr Darcy, Mr Bennet, Mrs Bennet, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Caroline Bingley, Charlotte Lucas, Mr Collins, Mr Wickham, and Lydia Bennet)
- and how it engages with contemporary issues and themes (the position of women, entails, marriage, female education, parental duty, the war).
The course includes a guided trip to Hampshire, where we will visit key sites in Austen’s life: Steventon (where she was born and first began to write), Chawton (where she published all her novels), and Winchester (where she died and is buried).
This course is part of the Oxford University Summer School for Adults (OUSSA) programme.