Pride and prejudice

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“Pride and Prejudice”
A novel by Jane Austen
Franklin Watts Ltd., 1971


“Pride and Prejudice” is the second published book by Jane Austen. Jane Austen was born in Steventon, near Basingstoke, England, in 1775 and died in Winchester, 1817. During her lifetime she published four works and after her death two more were published. With time Jane Austen`s reputation has grown and her books have become classics of the English language.

The book is basically about a family who lives in a house called Longbourn in the countryside of London. The family consists of a quiet and thoughtful father, a hysterical mother and five daughters with very different characters. The mother`s mission throughout the book is to get her daughters married, whatever it takes.

While reading the book you have to imagine what it was like living in the 19th century. The most important thing for a girl from the higher middle class was to get married. A girl was to be lucky if she got a proposal. If she loved the man whom proposed to her or not was not something to take any notice of. Jane Austen though had a quite different view on marriage. She thought that the only reason to marry was for love. This is something that shines through very well in “Pride and Prejudice”. Jane Austen`s own thoughts about marriage reflects strongly in the character of Elizabeth, who is the second eldest daughter. She is determined not to marry for something else than love, and she even refuses a proposal as she is not in love with the man whom proposes to her, something in her time seen as a very stupid thing. This is the hysterical reaction of Lizzy`s mother when she hears that her daughter has refused a proposal:

“`Oh! Mr. Bennet, you are wanted immediately; we are all in an uproar. You must come and make Lizzy marry Mr. Collins, for she vows she will not have him, and if you do not make haste he will change his mind and not have her.`”

Jane Austen has an ironic way of writing and in this book you can see it clearly. Her language is very smart and witty and she is excellent in creating exaggerated characters which she then makes fun of. Especially the mother, but also two of the youngest daughters, are to be made fun of most of the time. The mother is constantly ready to faint, even for the slightest thing, and the youngest daughter`s greatest interests are to flirt with the officers in town. With those in the family it is kind of ironic that the mother`s greatest wish is almost fulfilled, as not less than three of her daughters get married throughout the book.

The title, “Pride and Prejudice”, is a lot connected with the story in the book. Elizabeth, or Lizzy as she is often called, can not see the man of her dreams because of his pride. This man, Darcy, has a lot of prejudices, and there are those who blind him from seeing his love for Lizzy. The moral of this is to look deeper into people you meet, what you first see might not be what it really is.

The book is highly recommended for those who like reading love-stories, but also for those wh...