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The passing of time in Pride and Prejudice   Written by Benedicte (5/17/2010 4:35 p.m.) in consequence of the missive, Time structure of P&P, penned by Benedicte

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What I feel is very interesting is that there is almost the same length of time between the beginning of the novel and the 1st proposal/letter and the 1st proposal/letter and the end of the novel respectively 6,5 months before and 7 to 7,5 months afterwards(with some leeaps into the past ie. Georgiana's elopement, the old Darcys'deaths, and the future, ie. our heroes'married life).

There is also symmetry in the passing of time around the pivotal event: the more vertical the line is, the more pages are dedicated to a short period of time (or we could say the more eventful that period of time is).

That shows there are 3 main eventful periods: the 1st between the end of october and the end of november (when the Bingleys and Darcy are at Netherfield), the second (though with a slightly less steep slope)at Rosings between mid-march and mid-april, and the 3rd In Derbyshire and then at Longbourn between August and October (with a slight pause after Lydia's wedding).

However that chart also shows that whereas there happen very few really meaningful events during the 1st period of time (see my 1st message) significant events just keep happening in the last spell of time... It is as if JA just would not dwell on them, leaving the readers' imaginations fill in the gaps now that they are well acquainted with all the characters and no longer deceived by 1st impressions (how Wickham and Lydia were spending their time, the conversations between Jane and Bingley, the contents of the various letters exchanged after the announcement...)

All in all, I do not regret making that chart which has given me a fresh view on the novel.


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