A representação de personagens leitores em Orgulho e Preconceito

Resumo

This paper intends to make an analysis of the language in the novel Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austen and first published in 1813. More specifically, I will analyse the language used to describe characters who are readers, through an enunciative perspective. It was based on the idea that every choice made by the author (enunciator) of a sentence is meaningful. Therefore, once we understand the choices the author makes when describing a reader, we are able to have a better understanding of what this author expects of his/her readers. In order to carry out the study, I read and selected the parts of Pride and Prejudice which are related to the descriptions of two characters (Elisabeth Bennet and Mr. Collins) as readers. Afterwards, this selection underwent a series of linguistic investigations, based on the enunciative theory developed by Émile Benveniste throughout his books Problemas de Linguística Geral I e II. These investigations enabled an understanding of how Jane Austen conveys her ideas concerning reading/readers linguistically speaking.