Analysis Of Letters To Alice

Fay Weldon’s monologic epistolic novel Letters to Alice on First reading Jane Austen provides a heightened understanding of the values in Jane Austen’s seminal classic Pride and Prejudice. Through creative reshaping of the core values of the middle class in 19th century in Pride and Prejudice, Weldon supplements Austen’s novel and modifies it in a contemporary light. By studying these two novels in reference to each other, the reader gains an understanding that cannot be found in one novel alone.

Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, is set in the early 19th century in England and is focused on the upper-middle class Bennett family. The main character, Elizabeth, is intelligent and witty, but quick to judge and stubborn. Although her own life is circumscribed by societal expectations of women, Elizabeth herself is prejudiced about how others should behave. She is a complex character and the novel traces her journey of self discovery when it pits her against another complex character, Fitzwilliam Darcy.

One of the key values of Pride and Prejudice is marriage. Few women at

She tells Alice what to write about, how to write, and even what instrument to write with (a pen, not a word processor). Both novels are didactic. Weldon uses explicit instructions, with imperatives and declarative statements, while most of Austen’s moral teachings come through the characters and what they say and do.

Letters to Alice creatively reshapes the irony in Pride and Prejudice. The irony of Aunt Fay being blinded by her prejudice highlights the same characteristics in Elizabeth towards Darcy. xxx

“She is a selfish, hypocritical woman and I have no opinion of her” Mrs Bennett.

“Be wary of anyone who tries to teach you how to write.” Aunt