Austen, Jane - Pride and Prejudice

[chomiji]

I had meant to read this for some time now, because I enjoy the various "fantasy of manners" books that have come out in the past decade or so, such as Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint and Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stervermer's Sorcery and Cecelia. I felt I should read the acknowledged inspiration for these. I have to say that it was an uphill struggle for me. The early 19th-century writing style - where much is "told" rather than "shown" - didn't give me much pleasure, but I was actually somewhat prepared for it because Susanna Clarke did such an effective pastiche of it in Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. However, the fact that the story is completely dependent on a series of misunderstandings drove me crazy. I kept wanting to reach into the book, grab the chief protagonists forcefully by their shoulders, and shake sense into them: "Just talk to each other, already!"

Elizabeth Bennett, the lively and intelligent second daughter of a bookish squire with a rather revolting, materialistic wife, meets the wealthy Mr. Darcy at a ball and quickly dismisses him as arrogant and unfeeling. During the course of a great many events and mishaps surrounding the social lives of Elizabeth and her four sisters - sweet eldest sister Jane, would-be bluestocking Mary, colorless and empty-headed Kitty, and spoiled, impulsive "baby" Lydia - she begins to discover that her first impressions are wrong, and realizes that she has made a terrible mistake in her original judgment. Meanwhile, Mr. Darcy, who has dismissed Elizabeth because of her vulgar relatives, begins to realize that she's a worthy person despite her unfortunate connections. The resolution of the situation between the two is the heart of the story.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - review

It's true that Austen's writing can be drily witty. Awful Mrs. Bennett seems to inspire her humor the most: she's a money-grubbing harridan whose main determination of suitability in suitors for her five daughters is annual income, and at one point she's pleased to be able to offer Elizabeth up to a smarmy clergyman cousin. (Elizabeth is, thank goodness, spirited enough to turn him down - and her father, despite his general hands-off attitude toward his wife's machinations, backs her up.) Darcy's officious rich aunt Lady Catherine is another favorite target: Austen's mockingly bland and respectful descriptions of this woman's antics were among my favorite parts of the book.

But in general, I found that the dense writing obscured a lot of the force of the events of the story. A really good example is the section near the end in which, I suppose, Darcy finally proposes and Elizabeth finally accepts. I have to say "I suppose," because there's just an amazing amount of obfuscation in the passages there. What should have been a really dramatic moment is hidden completely hidden in a tangle of words.

I know that many, many people really love this book, and I feel churlish and ignoble in my lack of appreciation for it. But it really is not to my taste.

(Wikipedia informs me that Mr. Darcy's first name is Fitzwilliam. I guess that's why no one ever calls him by it ... .)

Comments

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

Pride and Prejudice is more appealing the younger one is when one reads it, in my opinion. I came across it when I was 14 and loved it. Now that I'm 40 and jaded, I much prefer Persuasion.

[chomiji]

I need to go back and re-read that one as well, to see whether recent exposure to the language helps.

What's really funny is that the Young Lady is flipping back and forth in what she tells me about P&P ... . I was impressed that she grabbed it to read, and at first she told me she liked it. Then, when she was assigned to read and report on "anything by a female author" for her personal choice book-of-the-month in English, and I suggested that, she said she didn't like it. Then, when it came up at supper tonight, and I said I didn't enjoy it much, she said "Oh! But I liked Pride and Prejudice!"

XD

Slow down, kid - you're confusing me!