Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice

it had been executed outside its legal term limit.
Knight won the case, but Mrs. Austen was left alarmed by
the real possibility that she could have lost her cottage
and her home had her son not won the suit (Nokes 438-
Strict settlement affected Austen' s life personally,
as it did the lives of those around her, especially the
women. They were touched often by the "harshness" of the
economic circumstances that developed from marriage
settlements and strict settlement. Austen' s female
characters reflect the constant disruption inheritance
practice and marriage settlements could make in life.
These same practices, however, often disrupt male
characters, as well. Both Austen and her characters were
always aware of the precariousness of their situations,
and they were caught by the power settlement practices
had over their lives.
Inheritance practice and its language disrupt not
only the lives of nearly every character in Pride and
Prejudice, but also their ability to communicate,
silencing some and emboldening others. Inheritance
practice becomes part of the motivation for the pride and
the prejudice in those who either have or have not,