In writing, one can express feelings they can never convey aloud. Letters allow one to reveal their thoughts more personally and intimately than they can in person. Staring at a blank page of paper is definitely less intimidating than looking into someone's eyes. Communication is such an important vitality, and letter-writing the lacks loss of words, stuttering, awkward silences, and uneasiness that conversations can sometimes carry.

In the novel Pride and Prejudice, letter-writing is almost as much a form of communication as face-to-face conversation. In fact, letters provide some of the most intense and important climaxes in the story, not to mention some of the most intense secrets. This method that Austen uses effectively conveys the situation without any interruption or delay.

The most obvious example of a letter revealing intimate feelings is Darcy's letter to Elizabeth. After Lizzy accuses Darcy of being greedy and lying, he leaves immediately without justifying his actions. In the letter he writes her after their meeting, he explains, "You may possibly wonder why all this was not told you last night. But I was not then the master enough of myself to know wha

"...if he (Bingley) had at all cared about me, we must have met long, long ago... I cannot understand it. If I were not afraid of judging harshly I should be almost tempted to say, that there is a strong appearance of duplicity in all this." (pg. 102)

After the news is said of Lydia's running away with Wickham, Mr. Collins writes Mr. Bennet another letter, stating, "the death of your daughter would have been a blessing in comparison of this." (pg. 198) And, in yet another letter, he writes,

Letters are not only used throughout the novel to convey feeling, but to also provide important developments. The first we hear of Lydia Bennet running away with Mr. Wickham is through a letter from Jane explaining to Elizabeth, "An express came at twelve last night...from Colonel Forster, to inform us that she (Lydia) was gone off to Scotland with one of his officers; to own the truth, with Wickham!" (pg. 182) This occurrence is a great surprise because not only is Lydia less than sixteen years old, but Wickham was, at one time, pursuing Elizabeth. The news is one of the most scandalous events in the novel, and by presenting it through a letter, Austen can more blatantly present it without any distraction or interruption.

Through this letter, and many others Jane wrote to her sister, she reveals her feelings of betr

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Approximate Word count = 892
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)