Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
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Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was published in 1813 (but written about twenty years earlier when the author was approximately twenty years old). I think it interesting to note that all of Jane Austen’s books were published under anonymous authorship during her lifetime. It’s a reminder of the social expectations of the role of women at that time, and it’s amazing her writing ability was able to develop in an environment of repressed expectations.
If this book were not a well known classic and if it weren’t for an upcoming discussion of the book by my book group I may not have been able to continue beyond the first couple hours of this 12 hour audio book. It was portraying the social world of early 19th century English upper class families that seemed to be havie nothing better to do than have dancing parties where young men and women judge each other for potential marriage prospects. But Austin’s writing eventually captured my attention and even though I was pretty sure how the story was going to end I was motivated to stay with the story to to see how Austin was going to wrap up the action.
The novel follows the life of Lizzie and her four sisters as they navigate the world of eligible bachelors. Her family currently lives the comfortable life of the English upper class with a household supplied with servants to take care of meal preparations, maintenance and cleaning, but because of inheritance encumbrances the daughters will not inherit their father's wealth upon his death. Thus it is important that at least one of the daughters must marry into wealth of avoid a future life of poverty,
So it’s a bit shocking when early in the story Lizzie turns down a proposal of marriage from a man who would make her family’s future financial prospects secure. The man making the proposal is too much of a pompous bore. It’s not too much further into the story when she receives a second proposal from a second man named Darcy. He’s also wealthy and of more interest to Lizzie, but she says no to his proposal because she is under the impression that he is too proud and suspects he is prejudiced against her family’s social status.
The rest of the story evolves around the rehabilitation of the relationship of Lizzie and Darcy. It’s a slow evolving story filled with a gradual clearing up of misunderstandings that had developed in their first meeting. This book is filled with many words in which the author fully explores the feelings and thoughts of the various characters. I’ll not try to cover details of the plot as it progresses other than to say that readers who make it to the end will be rewarded with a happy ending.
It’s interesting to note that this book assumes that the prospect of a planned marriage is a happy ending. Those of us who have passed through that event know that is only the beginning.
If this book were not a well known classic and if it weren’t for an upcoming discussion of the book by my book group I may not have been able to continue beyond the first couple hours of this 12 hour audio book. It was portraying the social world of early 19th century English upper class families that seemed to be havie nothing better to do than have dancing parties where young men and women judge each other for potential marriage prospects. But Austin’s writing eventually captured my attention and even though I was pretty sure how the story was going to end I was motivated to stay with the story to to see how Austin was going to wrap up the action.
The novel follows the life of Lizzie and her four sisters as they navigate the world of eligible bachelors. Her family currently lives the comfortable life of the English upper class with a household supplied with servants to take care of meal preparations, maintenance and cleaning, but because of inheritance encumbrances the daughters will not inherit their father's wealth upon his death. Thus it is important that at least one of the daughters must marry into wealth of avoid a future life of poverty,
So it’s a bit shocking when early in the story Lizzie turns down a proposal of marriage from a man who would make her family’s future financial prospects secure. The man making the proposal is too much of a pompous bore. It’s not too much further into the story when she receives a second proposal from a second man named Darcy. He’s also wealthy and of more interest to Lizzie, but she says no to his proposal because she is under the impression that he is too proud and suspects he is prejudiced against her family’s social status.
The rest of the story evolves around the rehabilitation of the relationship of Lizzie and Darcy. It’s a slow evolving story filled with a gradual clearing up of misunderstandings that had developed in their first meeting. This book is filled with many words in which the author fully explores the feelings and thoughts of the various characters. I’ll not try to cover details of the plot as it progresses other than to say that readers who make it to the end will be rewarded with a happy ending.
It’s interesting to note that this book assumes that the prospect of a planned marriage is a happy ending. Those of us who have passed through that event know that is only the beginning.
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- Other Apps
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