Something of the full structural possibilities of the formal social occasion is revealed by 'Pride and Prejudice'. In this novel, Jane Austen creates a tripartite structure, each section of which is controlled by a different social ritual. The opening chapters are organized around four invitaions to dance which create a pattern of approach and rejection emblematic of Darcy's frustrating relationship with Elizabeth. Then in order to bring her heroine to an understanding of the aristocracy, Jane Austen takes Elizabeth to the diametrically opposed worlds of Rosings and Pemberley. Finally, the ritual of marriage takes control, and the unions of Wickham and Lydia, and Bingley and Jane prepare the way for Darcy's marriage to Elizabeth.
Courtship is relegated to the periphery of 'Sense and Sensibility', but it assumes a very central position in 'Pride and Prejudice'. At the centre of this web of courtships is that of Darcy and Elizabeth, for it is through the development of their relationship that the novel makes its main statement. The other love affairs are subordinate and their function is largely exhausted once they have fulfilled the role of expanding the issues raised between hero and heroine.
To add a feather to the novel, 'Pride and Prejudice' is much cleaner in its structural lines than either 'Northanger Abbey' or 'Sense and Sensibility'. In both of these novels, patterns have to be extricated from an often confusing plethora of formal social occasions. But 'Pride and Prejudice' readily divides into three secctions, each controlled by a different and thematically appropriate social ritual- dancing for the problems of courtship, the visiting for the broadening of social horizons and marriage for the resolution of conflicts. Thus, form and content are truly united in this master-piece of Jane Austen work.
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