Pride and Prejudice (Penguin Classics) by Jane Austen
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Book Reviews of Pride and Prejudice (Penguin Classics)
Book Review: Austen Rocks
Summary: 5 Stars
And the Penguin editions are always the nicest!Book Review: Which is worse - pride or prejudice? or is it stubbornness?
Summary: 4 Stars
I welcome this new edition from Penguin Classics with expanded notes.How does one demarcate pride and prejudice, or bias and stubbornness? In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen deftly exposes the folly of and further ridicules judging by first impressions.
When Elizabeth Bennet first met the fine, tall, handsome eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she immediately deemed him arrogant, conceited and utterly obnoxious. Her first impression of Darcy, who was initially looked upon with prodigious admiration, was quickly assured as his conceited manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity.
Darcy's conceit and selfish disdain of the feelings of others formed the foundation of Elizabeth's disapprobation on which succeeding events had built so inevitably a hatred. When she later found out Darcy had deliberately altered Bingley's opinion of her beloved sister Jane and determined to separate them, she was determined to exasperate herself as much as possible against Darcy.
In the comedy of manners that follows, Austen, in a superb manner and prose so elegant and lyrical, verbalizes the stubbornness, bias, and prejudices of Elizabeth toward a man whom resolved to be particularly careful that no sign of his admiration for her escaped him. Despite the fact that he struggled to maintain his composure, in his breast there existed a powerful feeling toward her, which soon procured her pardon and directed his anger elsewhere upon Elizabeth's weighty accusations of him.
Pride and Prejudice presents us a romance comedy with a modern feel and touch. The opening of the novel Fitzwilliam Darcy is blackened as the most obnoxious snob for whom "there is not another woman in the room who it would not be a punishment" to him to stand up with. To Elizabeth, almost all of Darcy's actions "maybe traced to pride" and "pride had often connected him to virtue." No sooner had Darcy's superiority of mind (pride) been fully exposed than Elizabeth's prejudice was revealed.
Unlike her sister Jane, Elizabeth was more hasty in censuring anyone (especially Fitzwilliam Darcy) and never supposed the possibility of any extenuating circumstances in the case, let alone urging the possibility of mistake and misunderstanding. In confronting Darcy of his inexcusable act of separating Bingley and Jane, Elizabeth judged from assumptions, suspicions, and the biased first impression. In a sense she sought to discredit Darcy and the relation of events that might be capable of a turn which must render Darcy blameless throughout the whole affair.
When Elizabeth finally considered how unjustly she had condemned and upbraided Darcy, her anger and indignation was turned against herself and Darcy's dejection (more or less disappointed feelings toward her) became object of her compassion. Elizabeth's folly and rashness also become object of our compassion. How awful her petulance and acrimony of her manner in rejecting Fitzwilliam Darcy.
Pride and Prejudice evokes the fact that human nature is prone to pride and very few of us do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or another. Pride usually relates more to our opinions of ourselves, of which Elizabeth has epitomized. Pride is the real superiority of mind, when along with stubbornness, bias, and determination, would casue irremediable regret. The novel also evokes the friendship, the values of marriage, and snobberies of English middle-class life in the early 19th century. 4.5 stars.
Book Review: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen
Summary: 4 Stars
It is beneficial at times to step away from our classics of literature from time to time, to take them down from their high pedestals and look at them without pretension. No novel, no matter how well-regarded, is universally esteemed - Twain, Emerson, and Charlotte Bronte all savaged Pride and Prejudice in print - so let us, for a few moments, stop treating it as holy writ and just look at it as a novel, at how it holds up to a modern casual reader.
Pride and Prejudice (1813) is Jane Austen's novel of manners - it thoroughly explores the ins, outs and economics of nineteenth-century courtship. The novel's central character is Elizabeth Bennet, one of five daughters, whose family lives in a country village. Two wealthy, eligible bachelors move to town, and romance, confusion and animosity ensue.
Austen populates her novel with all manner of flawed characters. Many of them are annoying - that is, they behave badly and are antagonistic toward the main characters - but they all show at least some depth. No one here is without flaw, but no one here is without virtue, either (except Mr. Collins, the most ludicrous of them all). And this is why the novel works: because Austen treats her characters and their social milieu gently, delicately (well, except Mr. Collins). If she had done otherwise, if she had been more cutting, she would have lost the sympathy in the reader that many of these characters engender.
To the modern audience, Austen's plotting is rather sluggish, although it must be recalled that novels moved at a rather more leisurely pace then. At any rate it often seems that there is one too many side plots, or perhaps one too many visits to relatives, and there are patches that can be quite hard to get through. But you don't go to Austen for plot - you go to her for clever dialogue, for a delightful turn of phrase. That is what she thrives at, and that is what she is best remembered for. And in spite of the novel's overlength, Austen delivers a full and completely satisfying payoff. Rarely is a happy ending so fulfilling, and it may not be until the last few pages of the book that it becomes evident to the reader how masterfully Austen has set it up. And this is a large reason why the novel has such enduring appeal.
Much of the nuance in Pride and Prejudice may be lost on casual modern readers. For example, the character of Mrs. Bennet is the object of great scorn from many readers, and this has only been exacerbated by the film adaptations of the novel. But while marrying for love is the norm today, then, it was not; Mrs. Bennet is the only one looking out for the Bennet family's financial future.
Pride and Prejudice is, on the whole, a satisfactory and clever novel, and, at present, one whose merits are diminished mostly by readers too far removed to understand it in its fullness, or whose tastes have diverged too far.
Book Review: The power of prejudice and first impressions
Summary: 4 Stars
This timeless classic by Jane Austin is probably the best illustration of why we should not let ourselves be guided by first impressions. Most previous reviewers have considered only prejudice itself to be the theme of this book, but I am convinced that this was not all of Miss Austin's theme (though it was a major part of it), but rather she was also showing the folly of judging people by our first impressions of them. Elizabeth (the main character), judged Mr. Darcy by her first impression of him (which was bad). She let her opinion of him be decided by this first impression, thus she was prejudiced against him. I think most people tend to focus on the prejudice and pass over the step that leads to it. Also, the same thing happens with Mr. Wickham. She lets her first impression of him (which was good) guide her opinion of him, which later turned out to be completely wrong, just as she had been about Mr. Darcy.
Now, do not mistake me, prejudice is a major part of this book, but I think it is important to note that Miss Austin is not just showing us the effects and foolishness of prejudice, but even deeper, she is showing the precursor to prejudice, which is (in many cases) judging by first impressions.
As for the form of this book, I thought it was very well written. There was no action whatsoever, unless you include going for a walk in your definition of action. I found it incredible that Miss Austin was able to write in such a way as to keep one's attention for hundreds of pages while including (almost) nothing but dialogue and very minor events.
I also loved the believableness of her characters. Almost every character strongly reminded me of someone I knew, they were so like real people, which is very rare in novels, especially in Miss Austin's era. I think that Mr. Bennet quickly became one of my favorite fictional characters with his wit and dry humor, and Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy were very good characters as well. Mrs. Bennet was, as I suppose was Miss Austin's intention, very annoying and frustrating, even to the reader. Somehow the characters in this book were just more "real" than they are in most books.
Book Review: Pride and Prejudice
Summary: 4 Stars
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is a book based in the 19th century in England. It was based on the era when money, pride, love, and marriage arrangements had to be the best and the most important thing. In this book the major conflict was their pride and prejudice of the main characters. The book's main characters were the Bennet Family, Bingley, and Darcy. The Bennet family consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, their daughters Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. As this story starts we meet all of them along with others minor characters. We find out that they are all concerned about social classes.The best chapter in this book is when Darcy and Elizabeth become engaged. To me it is the best chapter because that shows that they overcame their pride and prejudice. These two characters were deeply in love but couldn't show it to each other not only because of their own pride and prejudice, but also because their family and acquaintances had influenced them wrongly.
The literary device I appreciate is comedy. A comedy, in general, is a story that ends happily. The hero or heroine of a comedy is usually an ordinary character who overcomes a series of obstacles that block what he or she wants. It's usually a plot where two young people meet and fall in love. The young lovers must face obstacles to their marriage. At the end of the story Elizabeth and Darcy overcome their conflicts to get together and be able to show their feelings towards each other.
I like and recommend this book to anyone who likes to read love books with a little comedy. This book is age appropriate for teens and older people because it gives you a chance to appreciate the differences in lifestyles and beliefs in the 19th century from those of today. This book makes you think of how people believed women had only one future
in life, and that was getting married and raising a family.