Hipsy's View: Pride and Prejudice

Precursor Note: I apologize if I seem to go off topic a few times in this blog; I was mainly just blurting out whatever came to mind.

I can hear it already now: "Oh God, not another Pride and Prejudice review! Like we don't have a bazillion of those already!" But hear me out! This review is from someone who swore she would never read Jane Austen novels. Within the last year, I broke that promise, with this novel being my third reading from Austen. And I must say that this author has taken me by surprise; I now understand why so many people fawn over her classic works. Though I did enjoy Pride and Prejudice, I would have to say my favorite Austen piece so far has to be Mansfield Park, but that is for another blog. So without further ado, here is my take on the novel Pride and Prejudice.

Spoiler Alert: I will be discussing plots to this novel, so if you would like to read it on your own (and you haven't had any of the film versions spoil it for you), consider this your warning of spoiling content.

This novel focuses on the journey of the marital statuses of the Bennet sisters, specifically the two eldest, Jane and Elizabeth (nicknamed Eliza and Lizzy throughout the story). Now this is where the movies and the novel differs: the movies tend to make the main focus on the young Elizabeth Bennet's and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy's relationship, which is a big subplot in the novel, but the story involves all of the sisters' relationships: Jane's and Charles Bingley's courtship, Lydia's and Kitty's flirtatious behavior among the stationed soldiers, and Mary's preferences of solitude in her studies (though she is the one least mentioned throughout the novel). There are other characters that make an appearance and are important characters throughout the novel, such as the Bennets' cousin William Collins, Lizzy's friend Charlotte Lucas,  Aunt and Uncle Gardiner, and (who could forget this antagonist?) George Wickham (his very name is wicked :-). Okay, enough with the bad puns). Through this novel, we get the gossip of an entire family as though it was an entertainment magazine for a rural Georgian countryside...which the setting basically is.

In the beginning, the reader is first introduced to the Bennet siblings' parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. These parents, though they can be quite oblivious in their own ways, are the mentors for their daughters' decisions and taste in men. Though these two are important to the story because of Mr. Bennet's influence on his daughters and their education and of Mrs. Bennet's persistence of marrying her daughters off to gain importance in an invisible social status war, they are not important enough to have first names; remember, the main focus is the younger generation's journey to gain a husband. This is a constant plot throughout most of Austen's work, but this one, in particular, is the most detailed and read version of this regular Austen theme (finding a good, humble, sophisticated, and wise husband). 

This is what soap operas are made out of! But, thankfully, are not as ridiculous; if you take into perspective the era this novel was written, this was a normalcy in society. It was important for a young girl to marry, especially if they could marry into a wealthy family. A family with five daughters and no sons could find it difficult to keep their properties or have proper dowries for their marriageable children. And in Jane's and Eliza's cases, it made it more difficult because of their ages; Jane, when she started her courtship with Mr. Charles Bingley, was 30-2 while Elizabeth was 28 by the end of the novel. These girls were in the age of spinsterhood and during this time in history, it was believed women past the age of 25 were too old to start families, bear children, or find suitable husbands; they would either have to settle for whoever accepted to marry them or just accept that they would be single forever. But perhaps this was something Austen was trying to shed some light on; women could be marriageable after a certain age, and they can have a successful courtship, even when they are made difficult by other people (Jane Austen herself never married).

As mentioned before, this novel focuses on the eldest Bennet sisters' courtships and relationships with Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy. Though the Bennet family is not poor per se, they are not as influential as other bourgeoisie estates around them, so when attention is given to the family, a quite of hipe is noticeable about the siblings' statuses. Mr. Bingley's sisters try to put a wedge between their brother and Jane and Bingley's young sister has her eye on Mr. Darcy, and that makes Lizzy competition. Though Darcy and Eliza seem not interested in each other, they in time learn to respect each other after their own faults and disruptions in this web of marital relations (in the end, Lizzy recognizes she judged Darcy poorly after learning the truth about Mr. Wickham and Darcy admits to his involvement in putting a large wedge between Jane and Bingley, but reconciles it by bringing Bingley to the Bennet's estate to have Bingley propose to Jane). In between all this, the reader sees the deception of Mr. Wickham as he plays with many of the Bennet sisters' heart, as well as Darcy's sister's. They also witness Lydia's ignorance and how much she is like her mother, oblivious to other people's feelings and cares about social climbing; she married Wickham because she thought him being a soldier a desirable social interest while being completely blind to Wickham's true nature and lack of the necessities for his young wife. Rev. William Collins, the cousin and male inheritor on the Bennet's estate, also makes an interference as he first comes to try to court Eliza, but in the end (seemingly happily) ends up with Eliza's best friend Charlotte Lucas; this doesn't suit too well for Mrs. Bennet. 

If you made it this far, you can certainly see how much drama is gushing out of this story, and I didn't mention all of it! But with all the persistent talking about what is favorable in the opposite sex and what should be looked for while in a courtship that will lead to marriage, there is no doubting how much loved is shared between the two protagonistic couples (Jane and Bingley, Eliza and Darcy). That was also a rare thing to do in the Georgian era, to marry for love, and that is what these two sisters did. For one couple, it was love at first sight, and in the other, respect and knowledge of each other's flaws led to love. I think that is what makes this story unique and loved by many. Though, in this modern age, it is influenced by everything  (music, movies, books, social media) that if we love someone, we should get married and start a family right away (whereas in the past, love wasn't a reason people would marry and marriage was usually a contract of securing properties and social statuses), these two couples that Jane Austen created are significantly the proper couples that are rare to find today. Though it appears Jane and Bingley fell in love right away and Eliza and Darcy had to gain each other's respect first, both couples did not "rush" into anything; time was taken slowly, they learned more about each other, and in the end had more love for each other while letting one another be themselves. I don't mean to sound gushy, but as I stated earlier, this is Georgian rural gossip story that translates into modern society as melodramatic soap operas of today (think of One Tree Hill * or a non-comical version of Friends* or any love triangle you are obsessed with).

*One Tree Hill? Friends? God, I'm revealing how old I am!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on this popular novel, and you will be hearing from me soon, hopefully with some other form of entertainment, such as any recent movies I've watched or music I've heard. Until then, keep your mind open to true love....*

*Really?! I need to come with better endings. Any suggestions?