Pride and Prejudice is a love story by Jane Austen. This novel has great depth, as it shows the intellectual side to relationships. The main character, Elizabeth Bennet, is the daughter of poor parents. Elizabeth and her four other sisters and their parents live in the village of Longbourn. An extremely rich man, Charles Bingley, moves nearby and brings with him his two sisters, his brother-in-law, and his best friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy.
Over the course of the novel, Elizabeth’s older sister Jane enraptures the heart of Bingley. However, Bingley’s other companions look down upon the Bennet family greatly because of their status and wealth. Darcy participates in this prejudice view at first as well, as his pride gets in the way. Later, Darcy falls in love with Elizabeth, but because of his past behavior, Elizabeth rejects his proposal of marriage. Throughout Pride and Prejudice readers see the struggle of classes in the early 1800’s. Finally, though, Bingley and Jane are united. Darcy and Elizabeth also learn to put aside their differences in rank as they marry each other with great love at the end of the novel.
I do not believe that I have ever enjoyed a novel as much as I have enjoyed Pride and Prejudice. This novel is very captivating, as Jane Austen really makes one understand the emotions running through the minds of the main characters. Although many would think that Pride and Prejudice would be hard to read because it is rather old, the novel was very easy to follow and understand. I liked how Austen showed the fact that no matter what a person’s social standing is, he or she will always have a certain amount of pride and prejudice in him or her. Many lessons can be drawn from reading Pride and Prejudice. One that stuck out to me was that people need to get to know others before assuming the worst about them. This appears in the novel when Darcy says that Elizabeth is not beautiful enough to tempt him. At this point, thought, he had not spent enough time with her to recognize all of her inner beauty. By the end of the novel, he says that he is completely bewitched by her. Elizabeth also makes this judgmental mistake when she considers Darcy to be an indifferent and stuck up man in the beginning. It is not until she really gets to know him that Elizabeth finds out about Darcy’s great generosity and care towards others. I also liked seeing both Elizabeth and Darcy overcome their weaknesses (pride, etc.) to follow their hearts and love for one another. I think that this novel can give other people the strength to humble themselves in order to do what is right. One question that I had about the text, though, was why Darcy, a very wealthy person of elevated rank, would even begin to socialize with Elizabeth, a poor girl from the country. In that time, these classes did not often mix, so it is quite strange for Darcy to spend so much time with someone like Elizabeth. Overall, I believe that Pride and Prejudice is a wonderful novel that is timeless. I give a strong recommendation for both men and women to read this book.
Over the course of the novel, Elizabeth’s older sister Jane enraptures the heart of Bingley. However, Bingley’s other companions look down upon the Bennet family greatly because of their status and wealth. Darcy participates in this prejudice view at first as well, as his pride gets in the way. Later, Darcy falls in love with Elizabeth, but because of his past behavior, Elizabeth rejects his proposal of marriage. Throughout Pride and Prejudice readers see the struggle of classes in the early 1800’s. Finally, though, Bingley and Jane are united. Darcy and Elizabeth also learn to put aside their differences in rank as they marry each other with great love at the end of the novel.
I do not believe that I have ever enjoyed a novel as much as I have enjoyed Pride and Prejudice. This novel is very captivating, as Jane Austen really makes one understand the emotions running through the minds of the main characters. Although many would think that Pride and Prejudice would be hard to read because it is rather old, the novel was very easy to follow and understand. I liked how Austen showed the fact that no matter what a person’s social standing is, he or she will always have a certain amount of pride and prejudice in him or her. Many lessons can be drawn from reading Pride and Prejudice. One that stuck out to me was that people need to get to know others before assuming the worst about them. This appears in the novel when Darcy says that Elizabeth is not beautiful enough to tempt him. At this point, thought, he had not spent enough time with her to recognize all of her inner beauty. By the end of the novel, he says that he is completely bewitched by her. Elizabeth also makes this judgmental mistake when she considers Darcy to be an indifferent and stuck up man in the beginning. It is not until she really gets to know him that Elizabeth finds out about Darcy’s great generosity and care towards others. I also liked seeing both Elizabeth and Darcy overcome their weaknesses (pride, etc.) to follow their hearts and love for one another. I think that this novel can give other people the strength to humble themselves in order to do what is right. One question that I had about the text, though, was why Darcy, a very wealthy person of elevated rank, would even begin to socialize with Elizabeth, a poor girl from the country. In that time, these classes did not often mix, so it is quite strange for Darcy to spend so much time with someone like Elizabeth. Overall, I believe that Pride and Prejudice is a wonderful novel that is timeless. I give a strong recommendation for both men and women to read this book.
Of the many novels I have read, Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorites! After my neighbor introduced me to movie adaptation of this remarkable novel, I fell completely in love with it, and have read the book several times. This is a wonderful novel with many important themes. I feel, like Caroline, that one of the most important themes one can learn from this novel is regarding pride and the results of quick, ignorant judgments. Although Austen can sometimes go off on far-fetched and longwinded rambles, overall, the book is easy to read and is a novel packed with humor, wit, and romance.
ReplyDeleteI have always heard people talk about Pride and Prejudice and how great of a movie and novel it is, but I never knew it was a love story involving complex characters in such an interesting time period. Romance novels are my absolute favorite, and I could never pass up a remarkable romantic tale like this one. After reading the post, I will definitely be buying this novel next time I am at Barnes and Noble. It seems to have a wonderful lesson along with interesting characters that will keep my attention all the way to the end.
ReplyDeleteI feel compelled to read Jane Austen’s “ Pride and Prejudice,” not only because it is a classic novel, but because the characters and the story itself sounds so intriguing. Each character is a study of their complex personality and the story line is that of a true romantic classic. Even though this classic depicts a lifestyle that has long past, many of the issues addressed throughout the book are still relevant in today’s modern society. Pride and Prejudice is also my mother’s all-time favorite book. She reads and rereads it saying she finds or learns something new every time she reads it This book definitely sounds like one of the more interesting classics to me and I am looking forward to reading it.
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