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Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice

Language In Clarissa, Evelina And Pride And Prejudice

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driving Austen' s characters and working its power<br />

throughout the plot.<br />

Daughters and Discourse<br />

Mr. Bennet is in possession of a good fortune and an<br />

estate before he marries. He has every reason to believe<br />

his future is secure. Connected by family to the<br />

Bennets, Mr. Collins, future possessor of Longbourn<br />

through the entail, has no fortune or estate as the novel<br />

opens, though he is looking forward to his future<br />

possession. Looking for a connection to any upper class<br />

family of means, and feeling he has good reason because<br />

of his childhood connection to the Darcy family, Mr.<br />

Wickham finally connects himself with the Bennet family<br />

for want of his own fortune or estate.<br />

All three gentlemen are influenced by the language<br />

and power of inheritance, but they react to their<br />

situations and use that influence differently. Perhaps<br />

the most telling effect of strict settlement is that<br />

Longbourn, the Bennet family home where the Bennets have<br />

been "long born," will pass from Mr. Bennet, born and<br />

bred to care for the estate, will lose not only the land,<br />

but the family name on the land. His successor, Mr.

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