Reading Pride and Prejudice For the First Time

Thanks to Bookstooge for recommending this book! Check out their site and send them some love! Link here.

I’ve heard the name ‘Pride and Prejudice’ many times over the years. From the movie adaptation to the zombie parody version, to countless references across TV and film. Jane Austen’s work is so impactful that it’s still being studied over two hundred years later! In many ways, this is the bedrock of the romantic fiction genre.

And as long time readers will know, I am a hopeless romantic. Which is why I’m writing this on Valentine’s Day. Alone.

The story revolves around Elizabeth Bennet, second-eldest daughter of the Bennet family. When the rich bachelor Charles Bingley comes to the countryside, Mrs. Bennet is determined to marry one of her daughters off to him. At the next ball, Elizabeth meets Mr. Bingley’s friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy. Though the two immediately get off on the wrong foot, they quickly fall into the same social circles. Mutual dislike gradually blossoms into love. But can such romance withstand the many social trials of high society?

The title sums up the entire novel perfectly. Elizabeth dislikes Mr. Darcy because of his pride, which Darcy developed in response to traumatic events that mistakenly feed into Elizabeth’s prejudice. The flaws of each character drive them away from each other. Only when they learn to set these feelings aside and see each other for who they truly are can their love flourish. Everything revolves around this dynamic, which makes their relationship very compelling.

All of the characters are surprisingly fleshed out for a novel from 1813. Elizabeth is so smart and sassy that I almost fell for her. Darcy’s development from rude prude to upstanding gentleman is very compelling. All the side characters sort of blend together after a while, but they work just fine.

My favorite character is Mr. Bennet. Mostly because he’s just done with everyone’s shit. The mix of level-headed thinking and dry sarcasm makes him entertaining in every single scene.

This book affected me much more than I thought it would. It got to the point where I’d start talking into the page as if the characters would hear me. I was sitting there like Grunkle Stan in front of his TV, shouting at Collins to stop badgering Elizabeth.

As engaged as I was, I was never really surprised at any point. But it’s kind of hard to complain about a story being cliché when it’s the one that invented most of these clichés. I’ve only seen them so many times because this one did it first, and did it very well.

There was one moment that did catch me off-guard. At the beginning of part three, we’re faced with *gasp* a scandal! Elizabeth’s youngest sister has run off with a loathsome cad from Darcy’s past! No one knows where she is, or even if she’s safe! I was on the edge of my seat, desperately reading to see what happened next!

And then the conflict kinda… ended. Not with a bang, or even a whimper. It just stopped. On one hand, I do think it fits the themes of the story; that the wealthy elite treat love too much like a business, and your feelings matter more than your reputation. On the other hand, it was completely unsatisfying to read! I wasn’t expecting a dramatic duel in the rain, but I thought we’d at least get something!

Moving onto a positive note: Jane Austen’s prose are nothing short of beautiful. She doesn’t paint words with pictures like most of my favorite authors. Instead, she focuses almost exclusively on the internal thoughts and conflicts of the characters. Some segments feel like unspoken Shakespearean monologues. It’s incredible stuff.

If I did have one complaint, it would be how repetitive it can be. There are several chapters wherein the narrator describes, in great detail, what Elizabeth and her friends/family have been up to, where they are, and what they’re doing. Only for the next paragraph to have the characters completely regurgitate all of that information aloud. Maybe it’s meant as a commentary on how shallow rich people are. Or it’s just a quirk of Austen’s writing. I’ll let people with English degrees argue over that one.

Overall, I really enjoyed ‘Pride and Prejudice’. It’s an excellent romantic drama which still holds up, even two centuries later. This one definitely deserves its place among the legends of literature.

Happy belated Valentine’s Day, everyone. I hope to see you all again very soon. Take care.