s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all]'s Reviews > Pride and Prejudice

‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,’ begins Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, an opening sentence nearly as famous as the novel itself. Austen’s comedy of manners has taken on an immortality, being a title frequently represented in art, knick knacks or decor for book lovers. I mean, this is a book that has tshirts for it as recognizable as a Pink Floyd shirt and if there were a Mt. Rushmore for white people popular classics this would be one of the first to be carved into the rock. Luckily for readers everywhere, it is a book that truly deserves such status and is eminently readable and enjoyable to this day. Pride and Prejudice is sharp, humorous and picturesquely romantic with a cast of characters that practically walk off the page, shake your hand and intermingle in your life as Austen dives into criticisms of class and conventions.

‘I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.’

Of the many reasons Pride and Prejudice has captured hearts for generations, Austen’s heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, is the most endearing of them. A woman with a great wit and cutting dialogue, she is not without her flaws and hubris which makes her feel so authentic and approachable. The dynamic between Elizabeth and Darcy is a perfectly balanced power struggle of personal judgements as they attempt to maintain individuality under social pressures and obdurate conventions, each stradling a position of both protagonist and antagonist. And antagonize each other they do! Though in the end they come to each other with equal scars and blame. Elizabeth’s belief in her ability to judge others leads her to misjudge—a trait not unlike Emma Woodhouse of Emma who’s pride in her own wit obscured what was right before her—overlooking the blatant flaws of Wickham simply over his adversarial role towards Darcy, and coming too harshly to conclusions on Darcy before knowing him better. It should be with no surprise to learn that Austen originally intended to title the novel ‘First Impressions’.

‘From the very beginning— from the first moment, I may almost say— of my acquaintance with you, your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form the groundwork of disapprobation on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.’

We see Elizabeth working on herself internally while also working on the external social factors. ‘There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others,’ Elizabeth confesses, ‘my courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.’ Her pride makes her malign others, assuming Miss darcy, for instance, to be a ‘proud, reserved, disagreeable girl’ only to find she is ‘amiable and unpretending.’ It is her intelligence I find most charming, and while she may misjudge, she has the emotional intelligence to self-diagnose and course correct.

Darcy, on the other hand, must overcome his own pride and snobbery. His disdain for those who work a trade, for instance, is part of a larger depiction of those held in high esteem of class being crude and cruel and a predominant theme in the novel. Caroline, Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine are among those who operate like an extension of class hierarchy, allowing their ideas of social position to guide their thoughts and actions and making them feel immune to criticism. Darcy and Elizabeth lowering their guard, looking at the individual instead of at their social circle/status, and coming to a mutual understanding gives the novel a tender nature, one that asks for empathy and understanding in the world and warns against holding on to judgements too tightly.

‘Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.’

Another aspect of the novel that really resonates is just how visual it is. Austen has a gift for description and this quality has lent itself to many visually stunning film adaptations. Austen excels at embedding much of her social commentary into her depictions of settings and characters, such as Elizabeth’s first visit to Darcy’s house, with ‘high woody hills’ and a large, tall garden surrounding a the house, ‘a stream of some natural importance was swelled into greater, but without any artificial appearance.’ This is a major insight into Darcy as a character: a man without artifice and full of ‘natural beauty’ that he keeps hidden from view. His arrogance is merely his grandiose garden that obscures the him beneath the exterior. Similarly, judgements on character are often made in dialogue that focuses on aspects of dress or decor. ‘By describing a material object,’ Roland Barthes writes in The Language of Fashion, ‘if it is not to construct it or to use it, we are led to link the qualities of its matter to a second meaning.’ The criticisms of taste are, in this regard, a criticism of character, so when Caroline and Louisa talk at length about the mud on Elizabeth’s petticoat, we can infer they are telling us they find her herself to be wild, unkempt and unruly. It is in ways such as these that Austen can make such keen observations that don't announce themselves yet amalgamate to portray a life-like impression of a society that thrives on gossip and social interactions that are plotted like chess pieces moving across the board.

‘I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve.’

Austen’s Pride and Prejudice drifts at the pace of life, enrapturing you in its lush language, vibrant landscapes, dancing with you through the great halls of ornate homes and giving you an introduction to the high society of the times. This is an eternally charming novel that bites with sharp satire and humor while letting deep lessons and emotional bubble up from tender moments and brilliant insights. It is quite funny at times as well. Jane Austen is remembered for a reason, and while I still favor Emma to be my favorite, this comedy of manners is certainly a Must Read.

4.5/5

‘What do I not owe you! You taught me a lesson, hard indeed at first, but most advantageous. By you, I was properly humbled. I came to you without a doubt of my reception. You showed me how insufficient were all my pretensions to please a woman worthy of being pleased.’