Help Requests
Pride and Prejudice: I just don't get it!
Hello, help needed. I read Pride and Prejudice a while ago, and I enjoyed it, but I still can't understand its fantastic reputation. I thought it was cute, but I didn't feel as passionate about it like A LOT of people do. Am I missing something? I read Austen's biography and anything related to the times to understand the background in which it was written, but still...
On the other hand, I fell deeply in love wtih Jane Eyre and all its characters, which I couldn't bring myself to do in Austen's novel.
Everything Mr. Darcy does in the book is adorable, but I can't find a single moment where Elizabeth Bennet was actually deserving of such attentions, so it was kind of love-at-first sight/infatuation love for me and that turned me off. Again, maybe I missed something.
I am tempted to read "Persuasion", but I don't want to be disapponted, for Pride and Prejudice seems to be regarded as the best work of Austen.
Ideas, suggestions will be kindly appreciated.
Replies (1)
Posted by
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For me, Pride and Prejudice is kind of a romp - not serious but certainly entertaining. P&P was written as a sort of love letter to Austen's favorite sister, who was embodied in the character of Jane, the eldest Bennett girl. Jane is depicted as so sweet and kind - and later on, so well-married and enormously wealthy - she's almost unbelievable. Lizzy is obviously Jane Austen's own avatar, and so it seems to me Lizzy's personality is so endearingly flawed because Jane Austen enjoyed poking fun at herself.
Did you notice that over the course of the book, Mr. Darcy actually tries to improve his personality? Maybe I've been hanging out at the wrong end of DailyLit, but I rarely see a male lead really try and change for the better in order to win love.
Based on your critique of Pride and Prejudice, I think you might like Persuasion. The main characters are painted with a more careful hand.Sep 7, 2010 2:24 pm
by Pam_Beancounter