Pride and Prejudice (Penguin Classics) by Jane Austen
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Book Reviews of Pride and Prejudice (Penguin Classics)
Book Review: Harlequin Books Ain't Got Nothing on This
Summary: 5 Stars
From time to time I read a critical opinion on Pride and Prejudice that, while acknowledging its excellence, wonders why Jane Austen could not in her genius provide some more gravitas. It's rather more observant and intelligent than your run-of-the-mill romance, to be sure, but a romance it is at bottom. No political savvy, no real attempt to face the role of women in Regency England, just a cute love story with an enjoyably satirical bent. Miss Jane herself seemed to agree with that assessment - she once called it "a little bit, two inches wide, of ivory". Decorative, but hardly important.
Would someone please tell me what these people were reading? It certainly isn't the same book that I read. Or the one that thousands of people have fallen in love with and has produced at least four separate movie and television versions (which is a detail that allows me to give away certain plot points below, confident that most people already know them).
It is indeed a very romantic love story, if by romance we mean the attempt of people to open themselves up and accept each other with their good and bad qualities - not only accept each other, but admire each other and want to be together just as they are. That process is difficult enough in this day and age, with the whole lot of us positively encouraged to be as frank as possible. Back in Miss Jane's day it seems to have been a good deal harder, what with the restrictions placed on people in the way of acceptable behavior and the disastrous consequences for breaking the social rules.
If, however, we understand "romance" to mean the story of a woman who doesn't know her own mind, who has been so hurt that she can't stand the thought of love, who is too headstrong to allow anyone to tame her, and/or who eventually finds her way into the arms of a muscular hero type and melts on the spot (which is, after all, exactly what happens in plenty of perfectly good romance novels), that's not precisely what we have here. To be sure, the heroine of Pride and Prejudice does indeed begin the story entirely too headstrong to submit to marriage for its own sake, and she certainly finds her way into the arms of a man she previously despised (offstage, of course), but she doesn't exactly melt. It would be more accurate to say that she learns to think for herself. Whereas before she rejected her society's more foolish standards by reflex, she gradually comes to accept or reject what she's told by thinking it over first. And people think that Jane Austen didn't consider the place of women in her world? That there's no understanding of the big picture in Pride and Prejudice? Baloney.
Now, Pride and Prejudice doesn't mention the big picture very often, although it's always present. The Bennett sisters get into trouble largely because a company of militia moves into a nearby village, and you and I both know that they're there to drill and train because at some point they will probably have to go fight against Napoleon Bonaparte, even though no one ever mentions his name. The sisters also have problems because they have no brothers, and know that a distant male relative will therefore inherit their house when their father dies. Rather than complain about these various disasters, though, the author shows us what their effects are upon the family in its daily life - the temptation to a group of young woman of handsome men in uniform hanging around, the scramble for advantageous marriages, and of course the question of whether one ought to seek a man one loves or a man with money if one can't have both. Great authors know, especially when it comes to two-inch pieces of ivory, that it's much more powerful to show the impact of great historical events than to talk about them. Jane Austen was a very great author.
If she simply showed the workings of her society, though, she would have been simply a very good essayist, not a great author. Fortunately for us, she was also an extraordinary stylist, and she had an enormous gift for irony, very much on display in Pride and Prejudice right from the famous first sentence. That same twinkle remains in Miss Jane's eye right through the first sentence of the last chapter - "Happy for all her maternal feelings was the day on which Mrs. Bennett got rid of her two most deserving daughters." Few authors would dare spend hundreds of pages setting up two weddings and then dismiss them both like that. It's positively delicious. With that kind of language, that sly inclusion of social criticism and such intriguing characters as Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy, you can call Pride and Prejudice a cute little romance if you want, but I'm warning you - it has hidden depths.
Don't let that scare you, though. I told you, it's delicious. Dive in and enjoy.
Benshlomo says, Grown-up readers deserve grown-up books about grown-ups sometimes.
Book Review: First Impressions
Summary: 5 Stars
"Pride and Prejudice" is one of those novels which most people know the plot and the characters even if they haven't read the book. For myself, I had not read it in a long time, and I had also not seen any of the movies made using its plot, with the exception of the musical "Bride and Prejudice" a few years ago. I finally made time for it, and it was better than I had remembered. This was the second of Austen's novels to be published (published on January 28th, 1813), though the original novel (titled "First Impressions") was written between 1796 and 1797. There is no way to determine how much of the original novel remains and how much was rewritten, but clearly the two dealt on a larger scale with the some of the same themes.
The main character of the story is Elizabeth Bennet who lives with her parents and her four sisters in the fictional town of Meryton. Elizabeth is the second eldest of the sisters after Jane. Outside of the Bennets, there is a large cast of characters including the three Bingley's, brother and two sisters, Mr. Collins, The Darcy's, Lady Catherine and her daughter, Colonel Fitzwilliam, the Lucases, Mr. Wickham, and the Gardiner's who are Elizabeth's aunt and uncle. The novel is told in three volumes, the first covers the period at Meryton where most of the key characters meet for the first time, the second covers the period after Bingley leaves Meryton unexpectedly along with those who came with him, and covers the period up to Elizabeth's visit to Mr. Darcy's home know as Pemberley, and the last covers the visit to Pemberley right through to the marriages and beyond.
There are several plots running through the volumes. There is the relationship between Bingley and Jane, which Mr. Darcy tries to put an end to, along with the help of Mr. Bingley's sisters. There is Mr. Collins attempts to marry either Jane or Elizabeth, but ending up with Charlotte Lucas. There is the relationship between Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy as well as between their families. There is Lydia's scandalous running off in volume three. But by far the mail story line is the relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.
In volume one, Mr. Darcy arrives as the guest of Mr. Bingley. Mr. Darcy's prideful manner results in a negative first impression with Elizabeth whose pride is hurt by his attitude and she develops her own prejudice against Mr. Darcy as a result. Mr. Darcy becomes intrigued with Elizabeth, but her own negative impression of him is reinforced by stories told by Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy's silent attitude towards her which she takes as his looking down on her. Thus, first impressions play a big role in the story, though to be sure other first impressions, such as the first impression of Mr. Collins which is shared by nearly everyone are fairly accurate.
In volume two, their relationship develops. Mr. Darcy cannot ignore the feelings he has developed for Elizabeth and this results in three key events in this volume. One is Mr. Darcy's declaration of feelings to Elizabeth. The second is Elizabeth's stern rebuke of Mr. Darcy's feelings followed by an attack on his behavior towards the relationship between Jane and Mr. Bingley as well as Mr. Darcy's treatment of Mr. Wickham. This leads to the third key event, which is Mr. Darcy's letter to Elizabeth where he sets the matter straight about his actions. The second event results in Mr. Darcy writing the letter and changing his behavior, though we don't witness the latter until volume three. The third event is important as the reader is privy to Elizabeth's change in attitude resulting from what Mr. Darcy has told her.
In volume three, their relationship completes its change, as Elizabeth gets to know Mr. Darcy from where he lives, and by those who work for him, and she also learns about his character from actions he takes on behalf of her family, which he never means her to learn about. We also witness the change in Mr. Darcy's behavior, not only towards Jane, but towards her entire family. Of course, it is obvious that the two will end up together, but knowing the end does not spoil the journey.
There is good reason why this book is a classic and why it is still read and enjoyed today. The characters are believable and well rounded for the most part. There is humor, societal and family challenges, and moral lessons weaved together throughout the book. I can also recommend the Penguin Classics edition of this book, as it contains an introduction and notes by Vivien Jones, as well as an introduction written by Tony Tanner for an earlier edition of the book. The introductions are both interesting reading, and the notes are useful as well.
Book Review: It is a truth universally acknowledged...
Summary: 5 Stars
"Pride and Prejudice" is undoubtedly one of the most beloved classic novels in history -- it's had countless adaptations, sequels and homages lavished on it over the years.
And Jane Austen's grand opus is still beloved for a good reason. While it's rather stuffily written much of the time, it has a vibrant core of witty dialogue and strong characters that shine like lanterns in the night -- and the best part of it is the interplay between the two strong-willed main characters, whose initial dislike of one another blossoms into love once they learn how to overcome his pride and her prejudice.
The Bennett family is in an uproar when wealthy Mr. Bingley moves into the neighborhood, and Mrs. Bennett is especially happy when he takes a liking to the eldest Bennett daughter Jane -- since their estate is entailed and there is no Mr. Bennett Jr., a good marriage is considered essential for at least one of the girls. But her forthright, independent sister Lizzie immediately butts heads with wealthy, aloof Mr. Darcy, who scorns the rural village and seems haughty about everything.
A flurry of proposals, road trips and friendships happen over the course of the following months, with Lizzie fending off her slimy cousin Mr. Collins, and befriending the flirty, hunky Wickham, who claims to have been wronged by Darcy. Lizzie believes Wickham's account -- and she's in for a shock when Darcy unexpectedly proposes, and reveals what Wickham won't tell her about both of their past lives, and what Wickham did to offend Darcy.
And finally things take a scandalous turn when Lizzie's idiotic younger sister Lydia elopes with Wickham, while staying with a friend in Brighton. The family is plunged into disgrace, which also wrecks any chances of a halfway decent marriage for the other daughters. The only one who can set things right is Darcy, who will do whatever he must to make amends to Lizzie -- and unwittingly establish himself as the man she loves as well...
Reading "Pride and Prejudice" is a bit like watching someone embroider a piece of cloth with subtle, intricate designs. Lots of balls, dances, visits and drawing room banter between Lizzie and virtually everyone else, and interwoven with some rather opinions from Jane Austen about haughty aristocrats, marriages of security, entailment, and the whole idea of what an ideal woman has (intellect and strength).
The only real problem: Jane Austen writes very much in the style of her literary era -- it's rather formal and stuffy much of the time, and the narrative is kept distant from the characters. So, not for casual readers.
But despite that formality, Austen's brilliance as a writer is evident -- she slowly unfolds the plot one act at a time, with several intricate subplots that tie together and play off each other. She also wrote some unbelievably sharp-edged dialogue with plenty of witty banter between Lizzie and Darcy ("I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine"). But Austen also weaves in startlingly romantic moments between them ("No one admitted to the privilege of hearing you, can think anything wanting").
It's hard to imagine a better fictional couple than Lizzie and Darcy, despite their rocky start (a major-league snub at a dance). Both are witty, smart, and a bit snotty in their own ways, with quick minds and even quicker tongues. Darcy is a selfish, rather haughty man man who gradually becomes warm and kind, while Lizzie is strong, independent, and Darcy's equal in every way. And neither will marry for anything but true love.
It also has a solid supporting cast: the painfully practical Charlotte Lucas, slimy clerics, virtuous-looking rakes, sisters ranging from saintly to snobby, and the lovable Mr. Bingley and perpetually optimistic Jane. Lizzie's family also adds plenty of color to the story, including the screechy and hilariously mercurial Mrs. Bennett and the barb-tongued Mr. Bennett ("Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do").
Despite its mildly stuffy style, "Pride and Prejudice" is the ultimate Jane Austen novel -- a powerful and romantic story about two people who grow and change because of love. An absolute must-read.
Book Review: Fear and desire in Jane Austen fashion
Summary: 5 Stars
Written in the early XVIII Century, "Pride and Prejudice" is Jane Austen's most popular and loved novel - but not really her best. One of the first works she wrote, the novel is sometimes a little undercooked compared to her most complex works, like "Emma" and "Persuasion", however, it is still a joy to read. In this book, she created her most famous romantic hero in Mr Darcy, an unforgettable stubborn who makes a perfect match to Lizzie Bennet. They were meant for each other.
The only problem is that they haven't figured it our. On the other hand, any reader can realize it from the first moment the couple meet. In other words, we do know how the book ends, so why do so many people keep reading, and rereading this novel? One reason is that Austen has created some very believable characters - and also very endearing. That's because they are very human. Lizzie and Mr Darcy have very wrong first impressions of each other when they met and that's why it takes so long for accepting their mutual love.
In this sense, "Pride and Prejudice" is a story about overcoming our prides and our prejudices acquire in the first impression, and changing one's mind. Both Lizzie and Mr Darcy realize before the end of the story they were made for each other - but the problem is that their wrong impressions lead them to make choices that become barriers to their love. The path they will have to follow in order to find the fully accomplishment of their mutual feelings is the strongest plot in the novel.
At the same time, the reader is fed with details about class and courtship from the time the book was written. In Jane Austen's work, her characters are sometimes like small figurines that represent the whole world - or at least England. And the writer does it with charm and style. Her books are a document of a time, tackling its fashions, moral and behavior.
Peguin Classics is probably the best edition, since it has many notes and an extensive introduction, dealing not only with Austen's works in general, but also with an detailed essay on this book. "Pride and Prejudice" is one of those books that will be read forever, and should be read from people in different time of their lives. We find different approaches, and understanding as we grow older.
Book Review: Pride and Prejudice
Summary: 5 Stars
By far one of Jane Austen's most celebrated novels, Pride and Prejudice exists as a groundbreaking novel that paved the way for entertainment today. Think of Pride and Prejudice as a 19th century daytime soap chock-full of deceit and motive. Without the novel, we would probably live in a world free from "Gossip Girl" and "The Hills". Well, I guess that wouldn't be such a tragedy. But overall, Pride and Prejudice displays Austen's precise use of the English language, coupled with intricate interpersonal relationships that are sure to keep readers amused.
Pride and Prejudice centers on the Bennets, a middle class family living in 19th century rural England. The protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, is witty and attractive while her older sister Jane is shy and sensible. Their younger sisters, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia exist as foils; as they are immature and ridiculous. Also in contrast, Mrs.Bennet is scatter-brained and judgmental, while Mr. Bennet is serious and dislikes any frivolity.
The Bennets' world is turned upside down when a wealthy gentleman named Mr.Bingley arrives at his country home in a neighboring town. Accompanying Mr.Bingley are his snobby sisters and his impolite friend Mr.Darcy. It is when the Bennets, particularly Elizabeth and Jane, begin to intermix with their upper class arrivals that the drama is truly set in motion. The characters from both economic classes experience love, heartbreak, deceit, loss, and the side effects of pride and social standing.
For those readers who seek an action packed, plot driven novel, Pride and Prejudice is not for you. The novel relies on character development and there are several chapters where the plot remains stagnated. Also, it is difficult at times to decipher some of the text, due to the fact that it is written in antiquated English. Again, this book is not for you if you do not wish to interpret phrases such as "she fancied herself nervous" (page 7) or "a mixture of quick parts" (page 7).
Although it is more of a difficult read and is often stagnant, Pride and Prejudice has remained a classic for a reason. The novel's romanticism and elaborate depiction of characters has and will continue to make it a favorite among readers.