It's time to rediscover the wonderful books we all cherish.
Originally published anonymously in 1813, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is one of the most widely read and most popular novels in the English language. The courtship between the independent Elisabeth Bennett and the handsome yet arrogant Mr. Darcy illuminates the page in this wonderful novel of comedy and manners.
Amazon.com Review: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."
Next to the exhortation at the beginning of Moby-Dick, "Call me Ishmael," the first sentence of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice must be among the most quoted in literature. And certainly what Melville did for whaling Austen does for marriage--tracing the intricacies (not to mention the economics) of 19th-century British mating rituals with a sure hand and an unblinking eye. As usual, Austen trains her sights on a country village and a few families--in this case, the Bennets, the Philips, and the Lucases. Into their midst comes Mr. Bingley, a single man of good fortune, and his friend, Mr. Darcy, who is even richer. Mrs. Bennet, who married above her station, sees their arrival as an opportunity to marry off at least one of her five daughters. Bingley is complaisant and easily charmed by the eldest Bennet girl, Jane; Darcy, however, is harder to please. Put off by Mrs. Bennet's vulgarity and the untoward behavior of the three younger daughters, he is unable to see the true worth of the older girls, Jane and Elizabeth. His excessive pride offends Lizzy, who is more than willing to believe the worst that other people have to say of him; when George Wickham, a soldier stationed in the village, does indeed have a discreditable tale to tell, his words fall on fertile ground.
Having set up the central misunderstanding of the novel, Austen then brings in her cast of fascinating secondary characters: Mr. Collins, the sycophantic clergyman who aspires to Lizzy's hand but settles for her best friend, Charlotte, instead; Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. Darcy's insufferably snobbish aunt; and the Gardiners, Jane and Elizabeth's low-born but noble-hearted aunt and uncle. Some of Austen's best comedy comes from mixing and matching these representatives of different classes and economic strata, demonstrating the hypocrisy at the heart of so many social interactions. And though the novel is rife with romantic misunderstandings, rejected proposals, disastrous elopements, and a requisite happy ending for those who deserve one, Austen never gets so carried away with the romance that she loses sight of the hard economic realities of 19th-century matrimonial maneuvering. Good marriages for penniless girls such as the Bennets are hard to come by, and even Lizzy, who comes to sincerely value Mr. Darcy, remarks when asked when she first began to love him: "It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley." She may be joking, but there's more than a little truth to her sentiment, as well. Jane Austen considered Elizabeth Bennet "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print". Readers of Pride and Prejudice would be hard-pressed to disagree. --Alix Wilber
Worth paying for on the Kindle Kindle owners hopefully are aware of the wealth of free editions of the classics which are available through Feedbooks and other sources.
I obtained a copy of P&P from feedbooks originally and while it was easy to get and the price was right, the overall quality of the text is not great. I've found several typos, presumably the result of OCR errors and it's somewhat distracting.
Since P&P is one of my wife's favorite books, I was delighted to see Penguin had released an electronic edition for $0.50 complete with the usual footnotes, essays and maps that one's used to finding in textbook editions of the classics.
The table of contents is pretty minimal. The headings include the editor's material, and the three volume headings.
What a Year for the Bennets As much as this book revolves around three of the four daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, all of those characters revolve around Mr. Darcy - whose personality and character matures and unfolds before you.
Neither poor nor rich, the Bennets cannot establish great wealth and comforts for their children - and Mrs. Bennet's hard opinionated character further deprives the lovely lasses of possibilities for advancement. But, through the character weakness(es) will come happiness in all levels - where some smile and others are more joyous and laugh. And, thee events happen quickly, all within one year's time.
Darcy, who adores his 10-years-younger sister Georgiana, is the proper gentleman who has never raised his voice during his 28 years. Elizabeth, her father's favorite and mother's least, befriends Mr. Darcy and soon aggravates his senses and challenges him to make it to 29 without harsh verbal exchange or raised voice.
After some embarrassingly wrong misconceptions of his character, and equally wrong characterizations about a person whose life has plagued Darcy's, Elizabeth watches the young man blossom as he singlehandedly controls her family's pitfalls, confronts those who attempt to deliver her family to near disasters and financially saves the family from other possible misfortunes. In such actions, Darcy has to befriend an enemy, deliver embezzled money, negotiate with creditors of his enemy, and more. And, all for love - and who ever said love would be easy?
Pride is swallowed not only by Darcy, but by so many others in this novel. "Pride. . . is a very common failing. . . Human nature is quite proud of some quality or other, real or imaginary." We learn, "Vanity and pride are different things." "Pride rises from a good opinion of ourselves; vanity from what we would have others think of us."
We are wrongly told ". . . almost all his [Darcy's] actions may be traced to pride, and pride has often been his best friend." In the end, we learn Darcy ". . . has no improper pride."
Interestingly, prejudice is not a word defined, used or explained like its title counterpart. But, prejudice is a concept belying each page, each acquaintance, each personal affront, and somehow is easily overcome by youthful passion. Prejudice helplessly loses amidst the betrothing of the three daughters full of young passion.
In the end, a Cinderella-like conclusion befits the young hearts' defiance to prejudice through passion. And, in the persuasive methods of young Elizabeth, the originally perceived overbearing pride of Darcy evolves into what she describes to be proper pride.
If there is one thing this reader enjoys in this Austen book it is the dialogue. Whether it be the hindered ire of Darcy in civilly responding to Elizabeth's overzealous impertinence, or Elizabeth's steadfast refusal to succumb to Lady Catherine's requests that she never wed her nobleman nephew, the calm and polite retorts are deliciously phrased and eloquently presented. Few plays can match such work.
as always, better than the movie I enjoyed this book thoroughly. It takes a little bit of time to get used to the language used, but once you get into it, it is hard to put down. A true romance. Why doesn't it happen like that anymore? :)
Pride and Prejudice It seriously does not get any better than this! This book unfolds slowly allowing you to fall in love with the characters and get a feel that world and time. An amazing love story, it leaves you wanting more!
Boy oh boy was I ever wrong about Lady Jane!!! "Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves; vanity, to what we would have others think of us." Jane Austen
I let my own foolish pride, my own ignorant prejudices; deter me from ever picking up a Jane Austen achievement until about a month ago when I finally decided to give her a shot. This classic novel was definitely not on my `must read' list, but somehow, someway, it landed on my lap one afternoon and I decided to at least take a quick peek at it while no one else was looking. After all, a man's man like myself (whatever that means nowadays) has no time to read early 19th century Chick Brit Lit., let alone a sweet, love story like this one. Especially during football season! I could almost hear Bukowski's ghost laughing at me when I opened up the first page and read those unforgettable first lines regarding man and marriage. However, I forged on, just Jane and I, and when it was all said and done - I can't believe what a fool I've been all these years! Yes, this classic is a thing of beauty. And like Jane's main protagonist and narrative voice in the novel - Elizabeth Bennet - I too learned a valuable lesson about not judging a book by its cover. Isn't evolution great?
Don't make the same mistake I did. I love classic literature, but for too long now I avoided such greats as the Bronte's, Wharton, Cather, et al... because of my foolish male ego, my ridiculous machismo pride. My biggest regret though, was avoiding Austen all these years. Now, I may not go out and rent the movie anytime soon, but I will definitely be purchasing some more of Jane's classics (Emma, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, etc...) and if they are anything like this pleasant surprise, I am going to be one happy camper.
Never a dull moment, never a page not worth perusing, simply put - Austen is awesome!
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