Pride and Prejudice Author: Jane Austen | Language: English | ISBN:
149440477X | Format: PDF
Pride and Prejudice Description
Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education, and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England. Elizabeth is the second of five daughters of a country gentleman living near the fictional town of Meryton in Hertfordshire, near London.
- Paperback: 258 pages
- Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (December 7, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 149440477X
- ISBN-13: 978-1494404772
- Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 1.5 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
I admit it! I am smitten by Darcy and have been since I was 13 years old. I return to him and Lizzy at least once a year, usually at a low point in my life when I am in dire need of simple pleasures. A re-read of Pride and Prejudice is guaranteed to revive my spirits and firmly knock me out of any thoughts of wallowing in self-pity or doom and gloom. So what a treat it was to get this e-book for absolutely nothing!
You cannot read Jane Austen's novels without being struck by just how skilful she was at deploying the English language. That is why I can continuously go back to her books with no risk of boredom. I find myself completely caught up in the sheer brilliance of her work.
But, as I openly admitted before, I really go back time and again to get my annual Darcy fix. Why do I love Darcy?:
1. He's obscenely rich
2. He's good looking
3. He's intelligent
4. He is brooding and arrogant - the original "bad boy" of literature
5. He is smitten by Lizzy who is clever, vibrant and atypical of what men desired in her era
6. He loves his sister
7. He realizes the error of his ways and consciously embarks on a self-improvement project for Lizzy - Let's face it, all women believe that they are capable of changing their man for the better (well, in our opinion anyway)
8. He is not afraid to take drastic action against injustice
These characteristics are fairly standard for the male heroes in romance novels, but there are few of these heroes are able to compare favourably with Darcy. So I will probably continue to be smitten by him for the foreseeable future, and that's fine, because it really is no hardship to read Austen's masterpiece every year.
By Bibliophile
In high school, my enjoyment of old European art was always hampered by my gratitude that I'm not any of these exasperating people or in any of their stifling situations. I felt so blessed and superior that I escaped sitting around mending bonnets all day, waiting to go on a walk- how boring and pathetic! Upon rereading this years later, I was able to let go of these old prejudices and more objectively view the characters in the situation they were in. That was when I realized Austen is a genius: I saw how much she understands and subtly, humorously conveys, and how little I'd understood before. Now I actually consider this to be a work of rationalist literature, in addition to a brilliant romantic comedy.
In my previous reading, I thought that the only intelligent, reasonable character was Mr. Darcy, and that everyone else's problems was brought on by their own idiocy, of which their unjust hatred of the virtuous, blameless Mr. Darcy was only further evidence. This time around, I realized that he caused some of these problems himself. Mr. Darcy's arrogance caused problems he could've easily avoided by being slightly nicer. Instead, he prided himself in his bluntness and in his own virtuousness, thus causing people to resent him, because who likes someone who thinks he's better than you, even if he actually is? Similarly, Lizzy demonstrates all of our tendencies to like and be less questioning of information coming from someone who flatters us. This causes us to have errors in judgment and believe things we would otherwise be more critical of. Mr. Darcy shows an amazing ability to step outside personal biases and view things from other's perspectives- a rationalist romantic hero! Austen understood the female wish: a rich, moral, loyal man completely rational about all things, except for his irrational love for his weird woman.
By Nancyhua
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