1. Reading Pride and Prejudice over Fifty Years

This chapter examines some of the techniques Jane Austen uses to enable readers to identify with, as well as feel through and alongside, her characters (particularly Pride and Prejudice’s Elizabeth Bennet). Bartlett explores the way in which one's reading changes at different stages of life; the roles of silence and listening in Austen's novels; and whether the novel is seen as presupposing, or addressing, a female reader. There is a look at characterizing Austen's narrative voice/voices; her use of dialogue and grammar; and the influence of Fanny Burney's Evelina. Finally, Bartlett discusses Austen as a "physical" novelist; Elizabeth Bennet's (and her father's) humour; and the distancing of the reader from Mrs. Bennet.