What could I possibly say about Jane Austen's most famous novel that hasn't already been said? Even those who haven't read it surely know the name Mr Darcy, and how he's the romantic ideal of every housewife around the world. Everyone knows that he and Elizabeth Bennett are one of the most famous examples of a dislike-at-first-sight acquaintance that gradually matures into mutual respect and understanding, and I'm sure a healthy portion of that generalized "everyone" also knows that the novel also contains Austen's requisite commentary on class, marriage, wealth and families. Witty, self-deprecating Elizabeth is one of the most beloved heroines of all times (to this day, I find that I will always like a female protagonist if she reminds me of Elizabeth) and the novel itself begins with what is one of the most famous opening lines in English literature: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of good fortune must be in want of a wife."
The true meaning of this line is obvious, and sets the tone for the entire novel: that it is not young men who are on the search for wives, but young women who are in want of eligible husbands, and that it is only society and decorum that dictates that the search should be undertaken by the men. Like all Austen's novels, the story is told from the point of view of a young woman, just beginning to find her place in the community and the world, and who is expected by everyone around her to be on the look-out for a husband. Yet this is not the first thing on Elizabeth Bennett's mind - as the second of five sisters, she's more preoccupied with keeping her younger sisters in check and making sure her beloved elder sister Jane is well matched in life. And if it's to a wealthy bachelor, then so much the better! Although reasonably well-off, the Longbourne estate is entailed on a cousin of their father, and so the girls face grim futures if they do not marry well before their father's death.
A cynical and sarcastic recluse, Mr Bennett spends most of his time either baiting or avoiding his vacuous wife, whose most pressing concern in life is to marry off her daughters. Her prospects are suddenly promising when news comes that the neighboring estate of Netherfield is being lent out to a young man by the name of Mr Bingley: pleasant, wealthy, and immediately smitten with Jane. However, society is considerably less impressed by Bingley's companion. Mr Darcy is cold, arrogant and snobbish, who, on being invited to dance with Elizabeth, says of her: ""she is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me."
Elizabeth takes an immediate disliking to him, an attitude that is only enforced when she meets the charismatic Mr Wickham who tells her he was the son of the late Mr Darcy's steward, and that the present Mr Darcy robbed him of his rightful inheritance as stipulated in his father's will. A further black mark against Darcy is drawn when Elizabeth learns that he (along with Bingley's spiteful sisters) has deliberately forced a wedge between Mr Bingley and Jane, in the attempt to "save" his friend from a bad match.
It is to her utmost astonishment then, when Mr Darcy tells Elizabeth that he's in love with her and proposes marriage. Telling her that he's struggled against his will, reason and character in order to take this action, (and pointing out obvious disadvantages of the match - on his side), Elizabeth is hardly impressed by his assumption that she'll accept him, and takes the opportunity to tell him exactly what she thinks of him.
And yet after this disastrous encounter, Elizabeth begins to learn more about her rejected suitor and his circumstances. Perhaps she's been blinded by her own prejudice against him, just as his pride initially made him so un-gentleman-like toward her...
One misconception concerning "Pride and Prejudice" is the belief that Elizabeth and Darcy are an early example of the "belligerent sexual tension" cliché, in which two characters hide their secret attraction to each other by pretending that they dislike each other. This assumption has always bugged me, as it is certainly *not* what is at work here. Austen is not only poking fun at the notion of love at first sight, but more importantly, is riffing the idea that two people would try to hide their passion by pretending that they don't like each other (the foolish Mr Collins believes that Elizabeth deliberately refuses his marriage proposal just because women often pretend to reject their suitors to hid their true feelings). Elizabeth and Darcy are legitimately unimpressed by each other at the start of the novel, but it is their growing understanding and desire to become a better person for the sake of the other that makes up their storylines. Both of them have to change in order to deserve each other: Elizabeth to overcome her prejudice, and Darcy to realize that he "has been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle."
In a similar vein, it's important to note that Elizabeth - although prejudiced - is not entirely mistaken when it comes to accessing Mr Darcy's character. Although there is more to the Wickham story than meets the eye, her perception of him as arrogant and proud is indeed correct. It is her words to him after his proposal that force Darcy to reassess all that he's learnt in his lifetime; yet when she learns the truth and cries "till this moment I never knew myself," we can see just how shaken she is to learn that her judgment is not as infallible as she thought it was.
Different readers take different things from "Pride and Prejudice" - at its most simplistic, it's a Cinderella story about a worthy young woman who marries the man of her dreams and by doing so elevates her social standing. On a more contextual level, others approach the text as a vigorous satire of the social norms and expectations of Austen's day, in which the desperate hunt for a husband to ensure a woman's future has to be hidden beneath the constraints of civilized society.
Although the novel may seem deceptively small in scope and content (in regards to the setting and general theme of marriage) this is a story that explores the depth of human relationships and the need for personal growth; a simple story about complex characters. Though it is not widely thought to be Austen's best novel - that distinction often goes to Emma - whichever way you look at it, "Pride and Prejudice" is considered Austen's lightest and most entertaining read, and is certainly her most famous. If you haven't read it yet - what are you waiting for?Get more detail about Pride and Prejudice.
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