Review Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Content Summary

Pride and Prejudice is my favorite book by Jane Austen – which is hardly enough to express my admiration indeed! – great romance, cute characters, humor and fluidity.

Pride and Prejudice Price Comparison

Who is Jane Austen?

Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English writer who used realism, sharp social commentary and free indirect speech in her novels. It is possible to say that Austen’s works are highly influenced by her past, places and the time she lived.

His works criticize the novels of the second half of the eighteenth century and are part of the transition to nineteenth-century realism. While Austen’s intrigues are primarily comedic, she emphasizes women’s dependence on marriage to secure social status and economic well-being. One of the strongest influences on his writing and works has to do with moral issues.

Portrait of Jane Austen drawn by her sister

Jane Austen‘s novel Pride and Prejudice critiques the social structure of 19th century England through characters and story. It successfully integrates pride, prejudice and romance. It shows that love can transcend social divisions and personal pride, but can be suppressed and overcome by them. The story centrally revolves around the Bennett girls, Elizabeth and Jane flirting with men who are rich, and that marrying any of them is seen as a way for women to have a chance at a prosperous life.

The cover of Pride and Prejudice from Alma Books

Throughout the work, Austen creates various challenges that lovers must overcome in order to find love and be happily ever after. In fact, people and events are used to describe the prejudiced, ignorant and proud nature of society, which is shown as an obstacle to happiness. By portraying pride and prejudice and their consequences in the plot and in his use of satire, Austen prompts us to surreptitiously suggest a society in which people are judged by their own criteria rather than their social standing.

The Topic of Pride and Prejudice

Some of the happiest and most eagerly awaited days of the year are the days I set aside to reread Pride and Prejudice… To quote Austen’s book Mind and Passion:

“When a book is well written, I always find it too short”

The quote perfectly explains what perhaps everyone feels about this book. This is the kind of book that you’ll be dying to start over as soon as you finish reading it.

Starting with the plot that has been deeply analyzed, criticized and commented on by thousands of readers won’t be all that original, especially if you see it as a pure romance novel. There are many complications arising from the right(!) relationships or marriages in the work, but from a general perspective, you can see that the social issues of the period are also handled.

All this harmony is hidden in Austen’s unique narrative style. The witty humor, witty observations, the unique lens through which he looks at society, and the deeper understanding of the characters’ morals are perfectly crafted using his impeccable writing style.

Oh, and then there’s Elizabeth… Aside from inheriting traits like humor and wit from Austen, she’s lively, curious, confident but not “too perfect”. She’s delightful as can be. The rest of the characters are similarly entertaining, each created with a myriad of qualities to keep the story interesting. I don’t think there is a single badly written character in this book.

Sometimes it is hard to believe that this work was written more than 200 years ago. Because unlike most romance novels, you don’t see logic or common sense disappear in the middle of the story.

Poster of the 2005 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, directed by Joe Wright

The way society works, as Austen describes it, is like survival of the fittest. To reach the top, everything in his power must be done to get there, including manipulating the marriage. In the novel, family and marriage have a much more public and central position in social administration and economic arrangements. The community members in Austen’s novel, especially Miss Bennet, are portrayed as a character with the potential to do anything to gain respectable status among her peers, including marrying her daughters to wealthy men.

Therefore, marriage becomes a way to the top of the social ladder. This focus on the importance of social order significantly influences the idea of love and who to love. It leads individuals to think that what really matters in a relationship is social gains.

Since its initial success in 1813, Pride and Prejudice remains one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen describes this brilliant piece as “Her own beloved child” and her lively heroine Elizabeth Bennet as “the most delightful creature that has ever appeared in print.” described as. The romantic confrontation between stubborn Elizabeth and her proud lover, Mr. Darcy, is the perfect embodiment of civilized sparring.

Pride and Prejudice Quotes

“Pride and arrogance are different things, but they are often used synonymously. One can be proud without being arrogant. Pride depends more on our opinion of ourselves, arrogance on what we want others to think about us.”

At the beginning of Pride and Prejudice, both Elizabeth and Darcy believe they have a character far above pride and arrogance. They think they can exist outside of these cultural norms, but are eventually forced to accept that they exist in the context of a larger society. They have a responsibility to others and to some extent they should consider how their family and friends perceive them.

“There is nothing more deceitful than false modesty. This is implicit bragging.”

This feeling we feel throughout the book is actually an analysis of situations we encounter very often in real life. “Too much humility is arrogance.” This situation, which has become a rosewood in our language with the sentence, makes us think that everything should be balanced. If humility is a bird, one wing is arrogance and the other wing is selfishness. The important thing is to strike a balance between the two.

“You taught me that I had to have other virtues in order to win the love of a truly lovable woman.”

To look beyond the emphasis on “truly lovable woman” in this sentence, he opposes the hierarchy that has been trying to be established for thousands of years between the lover and the loved one.

Pride and Prejudice General Evoluation

Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen. Written between 1796 and 1797 and its original title is ‘First Impressions’. It was not published until 1813. This is probably due to the fact that the author is a woman.

The author has a lot to say about women and society in England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and that is probably why the work is so popular.

The plot of the book is about the five Bennet sisters, whose mothers want nothing more than to see their daughters get married. The novel begins with the news that a wealthy young gentleman named Charles Bingley has moved nearby. Mr. Bingley is immediately attracted to Jane, the eldest of the Bennet sisters, while his close friend Mr. Darcy draws the attention of Elizabeth, who is different from the other sisters, by appearing proud and snobby at a ball they all attend, leaving a less favorable first impression.

Jane Austen Books

Jane Austen has been included in the World Classics list with many of her works, with her social analyzes, sarcastic approaches and character analyzes about the period in which she lived.

• Pride and Prejudice
• Emma
• Sense and Sensibility
• Mansfield Park
• Northanger Abbey
• Persuassion
• Lady Susan

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen

https://reviewsofbook.com/reviewbooks/

https://www.academia.edu/67864883/Gothic_Travel