Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice

Reviewed by Nadine

The Topic: Thoughts about marriage… è

Summary

‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen tells us the heart-warming story of getting the man of your dreams – and all the troubles that are connected with it.
The Bennett family are living a calm and quiet life in Longbourn. But tempers are rising high when news enters the house that a certain Mr. Bingley, a young man of good fortune, is going to become their neighbour. What a chance for silly Mrs. Bennett to get one of her five daughters married! Will it be her eldest, the beautiful and charming Jane, who gets all of Mr. Bingley’s attention? Or is it going to be her less beautiful, but very sensible and witty sister Elizabeth, who will make the big match?

With the arrival of Mr. Bingley, his proud and mysterious friend Mr. Darcy, and, later in the story, clergyman Mr. Collins and Officer Mr. Wickham, Mrs. Bennett finds herself surrounded by possible matches for her daughters. With embarrassing simple-mindedness and not exactly subtle advances she tries her best to get those men’s attention for her daughters. And except Mr. Collins, she succeeds in having each of them married to one of her daughters by the end of the story: Mr. Bingley finds himself attached to Jane, while Mr. Darcy turns out to be the perfect husband for Elizabeth, and Mr. Wickham, the villain of the story, finally has to settle for Lydia, the youngest of the girls.

Mr. Collins, an unintentionally funny pastor and a cousin of Mr. Bennett’s, who is to inherit the Bennett estate after the death of Mr. Bennett, firstly sees it as his duty to propose to one of the Bennett girls. But after being rejected by Elizabeth, he finally turns his eyes on her good friend Charlotte Lucas, and marries her instead.

Looking at Jane, it seems predictable that she is going to have the least trouble with her man, because Mr. Bingley immediately falls in love with her, and she, too, is very fond of him. But due to her mother’s silliness and stupidity, and unfortunately also to Jane’s reservation, Mr. Darcy gets the impression that his dear friend is only being liked for his money, and that Jane’s only interest is to be married to a wealthy man. For this reason, he gives his friend the advice to leave her. Mr. Bingley follows this advice, and Jane remains heartbroken. But due to fortunate circumstances and the intervention of Mr. Darcy himself, they finally get together.

Talking about Mr. Darcy, there seems to be nothing that he and Elizabeth have in common at the beginning of the story: She has an uncomplicated, funny and witty nature; he is rather snobbish, proud and reserved. Almost each time they meet, things end up in a quarrel, and Elizabeth hates and teases him frankly. But her eyes open when Mr. Wickham, the former centre of her admiration, turns out to be a liar, and she has to admit that she had done injustice to Mr. Darcy, who is willing to forgive her. They finally get married and live happily ever after.

Criticism and Appreciation

When reading the novel, the first thing that I noticed to be different from what I had read before, was its language. Written in a very old-fashioned language, the book’s vocabulary and style were not exactly what I had been used to from previous literature. The manner of talking and writing at that time when the novel was written was a very indirect one, which doesn’t immediately appeal to our zeitgeist. But still, after the first few pages, one gets used to this manner of writing, and even starts to appreciate it: Subtle and ironic remarks that are hidden behind a flowery language become even more ingenious. It is this subtlety that makes the book highly enjoyable, although one can’t really imagine how it must have been to live in a society which was so strictly based on rules and behaviour patterns. It is obvious, that social prestige was a very important value at the time when the story is set, which is at some point during the Napoleonic Wars (1797-1815), and the reader gets a fascinating insight into a way of behaving and living that is so much ruled by conventions. Being a very critical observer, Jane Austen, too, is well aware of those negative aspects, and has found a way to show them through characters like clergyman Mr. Collins or his patroness Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Interestingly, Austen, as the omniscient narrator, never judges them, but would always let them unmask themselves by self-exposure. We can generally say that Miss Austen has created characters with an eye for details. They are believable, with all of them having different traits of character and ideals, but seldom predictable.

What also argues in favour reading Pride and Prejudice is the fact that the problems the characters have to face haven’t quite changed over the centuries. Love and friendship, misunderstanding and intrigues, dream men and villains: These are the everlasting immortal topics that one is always willing to read about. For this reason, the book will never get boring, although there isn’t a lot of “action” in it: No explosions, fights, deaths or anything of that kind interrupt the calmness of the story, which is mainly set in Longbourn in rural England. Therefore, it is even more astonishing, that Austen succeeds in keeping the reader’s attention and anxiety over whether Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy will finally find together or not. So if one is interested in stories where things are happening without a big ballyhoo, I can highly recommend this amusing and fascinating book.

The Topic: Thoughts about marriage…

In the book:

Everyone who has read Pride and Prejudice will probably agree with me, that Mrs Bennett mainly sees her task in life in having all of her daughters married off. And thinking about it twice, there are a lot of reasons why the Bennett girls are well advised to find a husband as long as they’re still young and pretty: Financial securities, esteem, not being a burden for the family, to only name a few. It seems that these are not very romantic reasons for marriage, and they’re definitely not the main motives for the Bennett girls why they want to get married. Time isn’t up for them yet, and they still have a couple of years to find someone, for they have their beauty in their favour, which is highly appreciated in the male world. Per contra, looking at Charlotte Lucas, it is quite understandable, why she didn’t refuse Mr. Collins offer. She isn’t very pretty, doesn’t have a big dowry, and seems to be doomed to end up as a spinster.

The following two quotes are meant to point out Charlotte’s reasons for marrying Mr. Collins:

She (Charlotte) had gained her point and had time to consider of it. Her reflections were in general satisfactory. Mr. Collins to be sure was neither sensible nor agreeable, his society was irksome, and his attachment to her must be imaginary. But still he would be her husband. Without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it was the only honourable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservation from want. This preservative she had now obtained; and at the age of twenty-seven, without having ever been handsome, she felt all the good luck of it.

Charlotte to Elizabeth:

“(...) you must be surprised, very much surprised - so lately as Mr. Collins was wishing to marry you. But when you have had time to think it all over, I hope you will be satisfied with what I have done. I am not romantic, you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collin's' character, connections and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the married state.”

The two quotes show that Jane Austen is very critical of this type of marriage, although she sees that - for many – it is “the lot of women” they have to accept.

Today:

Looking at marriage with a present-day eye, mostly when considering divorce statistics (every second marriage gets divorced), it is hard to say whether marrying is still the best way for people of opposite gender to spend their lives together. At least in our country, as well as in most western countries, marrying isn’t a necessity anymore. But what is it instead? Is it idealism for some traditionally thinking people, who dream of a little house with a white fence, two children, a dog and a lovely wife, who would bake a cake every once in a while? Or is it rather an official statement for bride and groom that they take their relation seriously? Can we say that it is a hyped and magnified ceremony that lost it’s meaning long ago, or is it still the avowal in front of God and the community that it used to be? Has the religious meaning of marriage become a minor point? And, last but not least, is marriage fashionable or dated?

In my opinion, these questions are unanswerable, for it is everyone’s personal decision whether he or she wants to get married or not, and for what reason.

Personal:

Personally, I think that being married gives one a certain reliability that husband and wife really take their relationship seriously, but it is not a guarantee for eternal love. It’s important to constantly work on a relationship, and not to let go once you’re married. What bothers me concerning marriage on the one hand is the religious component of it, and I would see it as false-faced to swear an oath to something or someone I don’t believe in. On the other hand, I love the idea of bride and groom, wearing white dress or smoking, exchanging rings. It is a joyful ceremony that one will always remember in later days.

I would like to keep it open, whether the following images deviate from the truth or not, because not only does everyone have their own reasons for marrying, but I would also say that marriage is what you make of it.

(Source: http://www.bustedtees.com)

(Source: http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/3320

(Source: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/m/marrying_for_money.asp)

Reading Sample

In chapter XI, after only 24 pages, we make the discovery that Mr. Darcy isn’t as proud as we first thought him to be, because a sudden interest in Elizabeth has awoken, which is going to change the course of the story fundamentally…

"Well," said Charlotte, "I wish Jane success with all my heart; and if she were married to him to-morrow, I should think she had as good a chance of happiness as if she were to be studying his character for a twelvemonth. Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other, or ever so similar before-hand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always contrive to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life."

"You make me laugh, Charlotte; but it is not sound. You know it is not sound, and that you would never act in this way yourself."

Occupied in observing Mr. Bingley's attentions to her sister, Elizabeth was far from suspecting that she was herself becoming an object of some interest in the eyes of his friend. Mr. Darcy had at first scarcely allowed her to be pretty; he had looked at her without admiration at the ball; and when they next met, he looked at her only to criticise. But no sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she had hardly a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes. To this discovery succeeded some others equally mortifying. Though he had detected with a critical eye more than one failure of perfect symmetry in her form, he was forced to acknowledge her figure to be light and pleasing; and in spite of his asserting that her manners were not those of the fashionable world, he was caught by their easy playfulness. Of this she was perfectly unaware;—to her he was only the man who made himself agreeable no where, and who had not thought her handsome enough to dance with.

He began to wish to know more of her, and as a step towards conversing with her himself, attended to her conversation with others. His doing so drew her notice. It was at Sir William Lucas's, where a large party were assembled. "What does Mr. Darcy mean," said she to Charlotte, "by listening to my conversation with Colonel Forster?"

"That is a question which Mr. Darcy only can answer."

(Extract copied from http://www.austen.com/pride/vol1ch06.htm)

I have chosen this extract as a sample, because it doesn’t only show Fitzwilliam Darcy’s appreciation of Elizabeth, but also gives us a little insight into Charlotte’s way of seeing matrimony and love. For her, love is a matter of chance and luck, which is the absolute opposite of Elizabeth’s and Jane’s point of view: They are both romantic and believe in destiny. I also like the passage when Darcy joins Elizabeth’s conversation in an awkward and clumsy attempt to “know more of her”: The fact that he has only been listening to her conversation, without saying anything himself, must have been quite irritating for Elizabeth and Colonel Forster. Finally, I see the last sentence of the extract as a felicitous ending of the page, for it shows once again that the girls see Mr. Darcy as a mysterious and also puzzling person, while this little passage evokes a knowing smile from the reader at the same time.

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