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Kara Iliff

College Comp I

Mr. Reynolds

Research Paper Intro Draft

Research Paper Introduction

Jane Austen, the author of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, is

one of the most well-known professional writers of her time, raised with her family in

England during the late 1700s. She lived only to 1817, passing away at the age of 41.

She first published some of her works anonymously, under the name “A Lady,” and

therefore did not get much recognition for them at first, and did not receive any awards

or honors for her novels. Her most popular works, along with Pride and Prejudice and

Sense and Sensibility, include Emma and Northanger Abbey. Her works revolve mainly

around romance and drama. Secrecy, reputation, and marriage are key themes in Pride

and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility that are well-shown through the characters

and settings of each book.

Pride and Prejudice begins with the Bennet family’s - Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and

their daughters, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia - discovery that the very rich

Charles Bingley has moved into Netherfield Park, a nearby property. Mr. Bennet

becomes acquainted with the Bingleys, and the family attends a ball to meet Mr. Bingley

and his friend Mr. Darcy. Bingley immediately shows an interest in Jane, but the girls

decide that Darcy is very proud and unlikeable. As Jane and Bingley grow closer, Jane

visits him at Netherfield. While there, she becomes ill and is forced to stay there to

recover, and Elizabeth goes to help her. When Elizabeth is at Netherfield, Darcy
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begins to show an interest in her. But Elizabeth does not return any feelings toward him,

and is pursued by her cousin, Mr. Collins, who has orders from Lady Catherine de

Bourgh to find a wife. He proposes to Elizabeth, and she turns him down for the sake of

their own happiness. Later, Darcy and Bingley inform everyone that they are leaving

Netherfield, and Jane is left heartbroken. As Jane tries to get over Bingley by visiting

London, Elizabeth goes to visit her friend Charlotte, who had married Mr. Collins. While

she is there, she meets Lady Catherine de Bourgh, whose daughter is planning on

eventually marrying Darcy. However, during her stay with the Collins, Darcy makes a

marriage proposal to Elizabeth, but she refuses based on the idea that Darcy was the

one who caused Bingley to leave Jane. Darcy leaves Elizabeth a letter explaining his

reasons for encouraging their separation and the situation between him and an officer,

Mr. Wickham, who claimed to be cheated out of an inheritance from Darcy’s father.

Shortly after, Elizabeth returns home, soon to go on a trip with her aunt and uncle, and

her sister Lydia leaves to stay with friends in pursuit of Wickham. Eliabeth travels with

her aunt and uncle, eventually ending up visiting Pemberley, home of Mr. Darcy. She

briefly talks with him there, but shorty after recieved news that her sister, Lydia, has run

away from the family she had been staying with. Elizabeth returns home, and suspects

that Lydia has eloped with Wickham. She soon finds out that, with the help of Darcy, the

two have been married. Bingley and Darcy then return to Netherfield, to the relief of the

Bennets, and Jane becomes engaged to Bingley. Much to the surprise of her family,

Elizabeth is soon after engaged to Darcy, and both sisters are married.

Sense and Sensibility follows the life of Elinor Dashwood, daughter of Mr. and

Mrs. John Dashwood and sister to Marianne and Margaret Dashwood. With the death of
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John Dashwood, Mrs. Dashwood finds a new home for her and her daughters: a

cottage in Barton Park of Devonshire, offered to them by a distant relative, Sir John

Middleton. While living there, the Dashwood ladies become close to the Middletons and

their company, who included Colonel Brandon, who immediately takes a liking to

Marianne. But she takes no notice, and ends up meeting a man by the name of John

Willoughby. They immediately fall deeply in love, and it seems that they are, or are to be

soon, engaged. Several weeks after they met, Willoughby suddenly informs the family

that he has to leave to London, and may not be back. Marianne is heartbroken. While

Willoughby is gone, Edward Ferrars, Elinor’s close friend who she is expected to

become engaged to, comes to visit them. Elinor worries that Edward does not seem as

attached to her as he used to be. The Dashwood girls then are introduced to Lucy and

Anne Steele, relatives of the Middletons. While talking with Lucy, Elinor discovers that

she has been secretly engaged to Edward for four years. She does not tell her family of

this, and both of the heartbroken girls go to London to stay with Mrs. Jennings, Lady

Middleton’s mother. Marianne is desperate to see Willoughby there, and writes to him

several times, with no response from him. At a party one evening, she sees him there

with another lady who he seems attached to, and he treats Marianne as nothing more

than an acquaintance. He writes to her saying that he did not try to lead her on in any

way, and he did not feel the same way toward her. The girls then find out about his

engagement to the woman at the party, Miss Grey. Marianne is devastated, and wishes

to return to Barton Park as soon as possible. They leave after a few miserable weeks,

and decide to stay at Cleveland on the way back, home of Mr. and Mrs. Palmer, Mrs.

Jennings’ daughter and son-in-law. While there, Marianne falls very ill, and Willoughby
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shows up to talk to Elinor. He tells her why he treated Marianne the way he did, and his

reasoning behind marrying Miss Grey, even though he was still in love with Marianne. It

is only after Marianne has recovered does Elinor tell her what he said to her, but she

has gotten over him. Shortly after, the Dashwoods learn that Lucy Steele has instead

married Edward’s brother, Robert. Shocked and excited, Elinor becomes engaged to

Edward soon after. Marianne goes on the marry Colonel Brandon, and both sisters are

very happy with their new husbands.