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Pride and Prejztdice, I8I 3 Tdnc Xustcn 1s the nld\rcl of the l~llldnic notel She publlshcd t i \ b ~ l t 11,id \Ilc IT ritteil 0111~' Pi zdc aiid P$C~LIAICC I 8I i l-icrCOIIImdnd of rhc f a n 1 \\auld be lndlsyut~blcFol thl\ ledson I'izdc aiid P$cjtidzrc tcrxeil ,I\ rl-ie c,itc ttudr 111 P,i~r I1 to ~ l l u t t ~ ~ i t c rl-ie C ~ C I I ~ C I ~ ~ S of the l.Ollldl3iC no\,cl. 1 rcrurn ro her here in pdrr bcc,iuse rl-ie brief disiussion in P,irr I1 of b,irricr ,ind poiilt of rit~ldldcdth, the lenses through \\.hiih 1 ~ ; ~ L I S nl\. ~ndl~.sis of the ronl,incc, dclibercirclyignored ,I l,irge scgnlant of rl-it - 1 3,irricr ~ n d did nor clccyl\. cxylorc the signifii~nic of rhc point of ritu ,il de,irl-i. I ,ilso reruril to this work bcc,iuse the form of Xustcn's no\ cis hds ~ t t r ~ i t c d iritiidl drtcntion. Here 1p l d i ~ the ,in,ilrsis of her ,iihiercmcnt ill tl-ie rom,iilie norcl form ill the iontext of the i r i r i i ~ l d c b ~ t c 013 X~~stcn's \\.arks. I \ ~ l ~ t e i ~ ,iii~~r,ircIr desiribcd this p,irriiill,ir ilorcl ,is "light ~ n d bright 2nd sy~rkling." \\.orr\.ing,nccdlc~sl~.. thdt ir \\.AS too n~ilchso. "msrcn's f,inlili,irirr n-irl-i the rom,inic norel n-,is rl-ie res~11rof her \.ordiio~~s rc~ding,2 hlllil!. t r ~ i t .Her rc~ding Irould l-i,ire iililudcd r,irious lesser ilorclists frhom she p,irodied in LOVC aiidficzi~dsbip [sir] ~ n d other burlcsclucs \\,rirtcn A S 2 reei~,igcr:,,is well ,is, inlporr,inrlr. Riih,irdsoi~.She set his Szr Cbal-its 61.ai1dijoii for rhc s t ~ g c : J I I ~ ~ C C L I ~ thc.itriidls \\.ere J pirr of tl-ie"msrcn l-iousehold:. The ih,ir,icters of rl-iis,his 1,ist norel Irere her "liriilg friends" ,ind prorided iilspir,ition for P1-idc aiid Prcl~~dicc; l-ier o~ril geiliils nl,ide "mstcn's the bcttcr book :H,irris. " I i l f l ~ ~ ~ i l i ~ " 94:. P1-zdc and Pl~jtiAzccIT.,IS ~rcllreric~reilc i ~ ~ d 111~1cl-i t,ilkcd ,ibout. It sold out its nloclcst first printing 2nd its influence cxtcndccl ~s tlir ~s rhc Prinic Rcgcnt, \\.ho dskccl r h ~ t ,Ausrcn's next \\ark be dcdic~tcclro him. Etiltila inclccd is so dcclii~rcdb\. "His Ro1.21 Highncss's L>utih~l~ n c lObcdicnr Hunlble Scrr,int," but ,\ustell nl,idc the dedic,itioi~ rel~lct,intlv-the Prince Ir,is ,I r,ikc ,and sl-ie sided ~ r i t h his ~ r r o i ~ ~ c d wife :H,ilperin 310. 383:. Uillikc Szr Cbu~1c.iC~aiidijoil,Przdc uiid P1-cltidicc f~itlscs oil the l-ieroinc. It iontdins the 111osr i0111plere cxplor~rionof ~ l l ~ r r i ~ g c in 211 of Xustcn's \\.arks. Indccd. Julie Shdfkr notes r h ~ t rhc no\cl "rc\ol\,cs ~ l m o s t obscssi \ el\ drouncl mdrridgc" 2nd finds r h ~ r it dcmonsrrdtcs the proposition r h ~ r " S O I I I ~ric~rs of 111,irri,i~c ,ire less ciLlcqil,ite tl-i,ii~ otl-icrs,but ,ilso tl-i,it110 rien. of nl,irri,ige sl-iould be ambr,iccd ~ritl-iout ilucstion" 'C:oiEfioiztiiziS I 39--f0:. ,111 of,\ilstei~*s 110rcls c11d ill O I I ~ or lnorc ~~i,irri,i~cs. , i i l L l Llcpict tllc p,itl~ ro those mdrri~gcs.1'1-idi. aiid I'~.i.~z~din, rllorc thdn A n ! . of rhc orhcr fi\,c, cxplorcs nl~rridgc itself ~s the p r i n l ~ r ~ . theme of rhc \\.ark. Xusrcn \\.AS 2 genius. Her chosen form \\.AS rhc rorlldnic no\,cl. ~ n d she nercr dcri,itcd from it. ,\s ,i result sl-iel-i,is,of course. ,ittr,icted the s,ime sort of criticism t11,it ~ r c l-i,ire see11 directed to~r,irdtn-cntietl-i-ceilttlry pop~ll,ir rolll,iilce 110rc1s ,iild Ri~I-i~irds011'~ PUII~CIU...

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