18 July 2017 marked 200 years since Jane Austen’s death. With the publicity surrounding this milestone I dusted off my well worn copy of Pride and Prejudice. Whilst I had not read the book in over 10 years, it was a story I knew well due to the number of movie and TV adaptations I had watched over the years. In reading the book again I must say that I enjoyed it immensely, even more so than I had on previous occasions.
The book was first published in 1813 and has not been out of print since. The success of the book could never have been imagined by Austen, whose original manuscript was reportedly rejected unread given it was written by a woman.
“My good opinion once lost is lost forever” is on of my favorite quotes from the book. Austen has not lost my good opinion in my recent reading of her work.
The premise of the story involves Mrs Bennett finding good matches for each of her 5 daughters in circumstances where the family estate is entailed to Mr Bennett’s cousin, a pompous clergyman. Mrs Bennett’s pursuit of well mannered middle class matches for her daughters, is a plot introduced to us in the first sentence of the book which reads, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
Austen’s main character is Elizabeth Bennett, one of the daughters whose prejudice against her future suitor, Fitzgerald Darcy is based on his displays of arrogance. Mr Darcy’s pride is called into question in falling in love with Ms Bennett who is well below his social standing in early 19th century England. I am sure I am not giving anything away by saying that the couple ultimately overcome their pride and prejudices.
What I enjoyed most about the book was the many varied and intricate characters created by Austen. The relationships between the characters delved into the topics of class, wealth, upbringing and marriage. I was totally transported into the lives of the Bennett family by Austen’s witty and often ironic writing style. The characters are brought to life by Austen as she comments on the world which she herself was growing up in when she wrote the book and the restraints women faced in that era. The Bennett women are portrayed as very strong willed and determined despite Austen writing and living in a time when women had very little power in respect to who they chose to marry; their political allegiance and their own financial security.
The book is now back on the shelf. No doubt it will be dusted off again years from now as Jane Austen’s story of the Bennett family, in particular its strong women, is one that I shall never tire of.
