Loading…
GCSE English Literature · key term
A novel that explores the behaviour, conventions and social relationships of a particular society.
Used by AQA, Edexcel, OCR and Eduqas
Paper 1
A narrative in which social behaviour, customs and relationships are central to the plot and its criticism of society.
Revise: Lady Catherine de BourghThis comedy matters to Austen’s novel of manners. Lady Catherine possesses high rank but behaves inconsiderately, interrupting conversations and criticising her guest. Darcy’s embarrassment at her ill-breeding separates him from her conduct.
Paper 2
Create a free account to keep every note you open and track your progress.
Austen concentrates on a privileged circle of country families. Their visits, dinners and dances provide opportunities to meet potential partners, but conventions of introduction and proper behaviour regulate those meetings. This is a novel of manners: apparently small social encounters reveal larger questions about power, judgement and worth.
Paper 1
A prose narrative concerned with social behaviour and conventions, such as courtship, politeness, wealth and class.
Revise: Chapters 53 to 61Austen’s novel of manners makes visits, conversations and correspondence forces that can change lives.
Component 2
Fiction that explores a social group through its customs, behaviour, relationships and expectations.
Revise: ContextThe novel is a novel of manners: social customs and everyday exchanges become ways of examining character. Austen’s narrator often uses irony to question the assumptions of this world. In Chapter 1, the narrator opens: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”
A novel that explores social behaviour and conventions, such as courtship, politeness, class and reputation.
A novel concerned with social behaviour, customs and expectations, often showing how these influence relationships and marriage.
