Pride and Prejudice

by Jane Austen
522 Pages
Genre: Romantic Comedy

Biography: Jane Austen
Jane Austen was born on December 16th, 1775 in a British town named Steventon. She grew up with her brothers and her only sister, Casandra. Her father was a clergyman with sufficient income to support a family and a brilliant taste for literacy. He helped inspire and shape Austen into a fine author. Her first works were mostly written in the 1790s. Her works were about her protagonists fainting and giving warnings about fainting and silly things as such. As her life progressed, the seriousness in her writing developed. One of her most famous novels, Sense and Sensibility, was published in 1811. It was very different from her other pieces, much more serious and thought out. Shortly after Sense and Sensibility was published, Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813. This book is the most popular or all of her creations. Austen died on July 18th, 1817 most likely from bovine tuberculosis, caused by drinking unpasteurized milk. Unlike some of the characters Austen's books, she died unmarried. Many, many writers still admire Austen today and she is still a source of inspiration. For another, fuller Biography of Jane Austen, click here

Painting of Jane Austen

Plot Synopsis
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." (1) is the very first paragraph of the book Pride and Prejudice. It all begins with Mrs. Bennit telling Mr. Bennit that a wealthy single man is moving into their area. This subject is relevant because this couple has only daughters, which is mildly unfortunate for a family in this 1700's-1800's setting. They are in hopes of this man finding interest in one of their daughters. As the story develops, we are introduced to The Bennit sisters: Jane, Elizabeth, Lydia, Kitty and Mary. They attend a ball, a type of party, where they meet this wealthy man. His name is Mr. Bingley and his is seen with his friend, Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy is almost twice as rich as Mr. Bingley, making ten-thousand pounds a year. Back then, that was a lot of dough! Jane catches Mr. Bingley's eye and they are quickly acquainted, while Mr. Darcy is 'too caught up in his pride' to interact to anyone but with people he already knows. Throughout the book, we meet characters such as Mr. Collins, Mr. Wickham, Charlotte Lucas and none other than Miss Darcy, Mr. Darcy's sister.

Literary Information

This book is written in formal diction because of the old English style of Jane Austen's writing. Her paragraphs can stretch one and a half pages and she uses the semicolon frequently--not to mention all of the old words used, such as countenance and amiable. She also starts some sentences with lowercase letters, as if it were an unfinished thought from the sentence before. She usually used the lowercase letter after sentences with exclamation points or question marks. Austen sometimes uses parentheses while people are speaking."Twice has she condensed to give me her opinion (unasked too!) on this subject..." (143) and "... after the death of you honoured father (who, however, may live many years longer), I could not satisfy..." (144) are two examples of parenthesis used in dialect. Slang is not used in the book at all.

Literary Analysis
Pride and Prejudice is like no other book I have read. By thinking it over and over again, I have come to a conclusion that the theme of this book is, "You could fall in love with anyone, whether it be a wealthy person, or a not so wealthy person, a tall person, or a not so tall person, etc." The thing that shocked all the characters in the book (and probably the reader) that such a man would fall in love with such a woman. "...a young woman of inferior birth, of no importance to the world..." (476) is the description Lady Catherine, a wealthy and honorable woman, gives to Elizabeth. Mr. Darcy is an extremely rich man. Status was very important back then and for Elizabeth to fall in love with someone, like Darcy, is out of the question because people like him would only marry another of his status. Other examples of this type of love: The Little Mermaid (movie), Romeo and Juliette (play/movie), Cinderella (movie) and Wuthering Heights (book).

Criticism
Ever since I saw the latest movie of Pride and Prejudice, I really wanted to read the book. I thought the movie was amazing and I expected the book to leave me feeling the same way. Well, it did. I loved the book just as much as the movie. Of course the movie left out some details, but for me, it just made it all the better that it was a movie and I could visualize things as I watched. The book was extremely informative, it gave me inside information that I would have never known had I never read this book. At times I found myself reading the book and I wouldn't interpret what I was reading, if it were going in one ear and out the other. I'd have to reread it and pay attention sometimes. In conclusion to this thought, I found some parts boring. There was an extreme lack of description of surroundings, like what they saw on their walk, or how the ball was lit or decorated. I guess all around, the book has its pros and cons. For me, they're pretty equally balanced. Maybe if I reread it and read it with prior engagement, I'll be attached to it forever.