Have you ever read a very popular or famous literary text that you simply did not like? How can this be? Perhaps the writer of the text did not have you in mind when writing. Perhaps the writer had a different target audience in mind. Perhaps the writer lived in a different time and culture than yours. We all make our own interpretation of texts based on personal experiences, our cultural values and our current setting. You read in what is call the 'context of interpretation'.

In this lesson we will explore how meaning is constructed in a text by Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice from 1813. As you read, you will see that there are differences between your cultural values and those of the target audience. 

Constructing meaning

It is difficult to define the one true interpretation or 'meaning' of a text, because there are several unknown factors involved in textual analysis.

1. We do not always know about the context of composition, i.e. the times in which the writer wrote.
2. We do not always know about the target audience, whom the writer had in mind when writing.
3. We are all unique individuals, shaped by different experiences and cultures, and so it is difficult to generalize about the context of interpretation.

One could say that the 'meaning' of a text may be found somewhere in the middle of this Venn diagram.

Them and us

How are you different from the target audience? How can you define the cultural values of the target audience based on the literary text? As you read the following text from Pride and Prejudice make a list of cultural values that you find strikingly different. Give evidence from the text to explain your findings. 

 Context of interpretation

Cultural differences	Evidence from texts
Bachelors with money today do not necessarily want to have a wife.	"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."
In the early nineteenth century, wives treated their husbands with much more respect and servitude that they do today.	Mrs. Bennet refers to her husband as "Mr. Bennet", which seems rather formal and obsequious today.
Mothers had a role in arranging marriages for their daughters. Fathers may have been more obtuse to these arrangements.	"Oh! single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!"
Women married older men then, and lived at home until they were married.	Even though the text states that Mr. Morris is 'young', he is old enough to own a piece of property. It seems as if all the daughters are living at home.

Find the cultural values

Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen
1813

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.

"My dear Mr. Bennet," said his lady to him one day, "have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?"

Mr. Bennet replied that he had not.

"But it is," returned she; "for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it."

Mr. Bennet made no answer.

"Do not you want to know who has taken it?" cried his wife impatiently.

"You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it."

This was invitation enough.

"Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week."

"What is his name?"

"Bingley."

"Is he married or single?"

"Oh! single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!"

"How so? how can it affect them?"

"My dear Mr. Bennet," replied his wife, "how can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them."

"Is that his design in settling here?"

"Design! nonsense, how can you talk so! But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes."

"I see no occasion for that. You and the girls may go, or you may send them by themselves, which perhaps will be still better, for as you are as handsome as any of them, Mr. Bingley might like you the best of the party."

Analysis

After making an inventory of cultural differences, you will want to work towards an informed analysis. How might you comment on the meaning of this passage from Pride and Prejudice?

Sample analysis

This extract illustrates the existence of very specific roles, and possible actions, for men and women. The first line, which on initial reading excludes all irony because of the surety of tone (universal truth, must), defines what appears to be a law of social relations. A man fitting such a description wants a wife. This does not entirely limit his options for social existence in other spheres (he may also wish to pursue fishing, or write poetry, or entertain male friends at the pub) but it posits a relationship with a woman in the form of a marriage as a necessary part of his gender and social position. 

Only after the dialogue between Mr. and Mrs. Bennett could the reader possibly read the first lines as ironic. This statement seems to be the assumption of Mrs. Bennett, but not Mr.'s. The notion of gendered identity becomes immediately more complex, as this assumption is made on the part of a married woman. Perhaps this is the necessary line of thought of any woman of a given social class when considering her status in front of an unmarried, wealthy man. Mrs. Bennett's exclamation 'What a fine thing for our girls!' shows that she considers Mr. Bingley's arrival as having an immediate effect on the status of her daughters. They are all suddenly potential wives-to-be. 

Through Mr. Bennett's mild mockery of his wife, Austen allows the reader to distance herself from the motherly assumption and obsession. The man knows better, the woman is locked into her tunnel-visioned view of men. However, Austen also shows, through the development of the novel, that the identity of married woman, of wife, is indeed the social aspiration that guides females in their interactions with men, and permeates the female's sense of identity, throughout the book.

Towards assessment

Paper 2 - On Paper 2, you will find questions that focus on the context of interpretation. In the guide you will find several sample exam questions that explore the notion of the context of interpretation:

• "What do you think of the assertion that the meaning of a text is fixed and does not change over time?"
• "How can we explain the continued interest in a particular work in different contexts and at different times?"
• "How is our critical perspective on literary texts affected by cultural practices?"

Write a practice, take-home Paper 2 on one of these titles in light of the discussion that you have had on the context of interpretation and the importance of the target audience.

Written task 2 - One of the questions for written task 2 reads, "How could the text be read and interpreted differently by two different readers?" You could compare a reading of Pride and Prejudice or any other work by readers from 'then' and 'now'. Another questions reads, "If the text had been written in a different time or place or language or for a different audience, how and why might it differ?" You could explore how the author would have tried to achieve the same purpose, if he or she wrote in today's times.