Pride and Prejudice

I've had a hard time reading this book, mainly because I don't like the way Austen presents the story. It's a very casual presentation of every day life during this time period--there's nothing extraordinarily profound in my opinion. A lot of my opinions have to do with the position of women at the time, which I think is really horrible. It's really annoying how women are so inferior, and their only future, their only means of success, lies in who they marry. I hate that women had to rely on men for success, and not just that fact, but that that mindset was accepted and common. I don't think this book really changed the face of literature when it was published, because it really just recounted their average way of life. Today, we can appreciate the novel because we can see the different perspectives of a culture many years ago and compare it to our own; outside of that, it's really just a romance story. Some people may enjoy that, but I just didn't get really into it. The only characer I really liked was Elizabeth, as many of you have mentioned, mainly because she was the only bearable one. She stuck to her guns, and stayed true to herself. When she had the opportunity to get married, she chose to sacrifice her potential social status for a chance at true love, and I respect her for that.

Mr. Bennet has been appearing in a more interesting light lately in my reading. After Elizabeth received Darcy's letter and realized that her father would do nothing to make her mother and younger sisters behave better, my opinion of him was considerably lowered. However, not long after that, as Lydia prepares to go to Brighton and Elizabeth tries to enlist her father's help in stopping Lydia, Mr. Bennet said something that changed my mind again: "Lydia will never be at ease until she has exposed herself in some public place or other, and we can never expect her to do it with so little expense or inconvenience to her family as under the present circumstances." This made me think that perhaps there is more design and wisdom in his parenting strategy than I had previously thought. Maybe he's just rationalizing the fact that he's too tired and disinterested to play an active role in steering his daughters' course, but I think there's at least a grain of truth in his statement about Lydia.

Bridget Jones' mother is unmistakably based on the character of Mrs. Bennet. She's always pushing her to attend parties, especially well-to-do ones, even though it drives Bridget crazy. She was also the one who first saw the possible connection with Mark Darcy, which turned Bridget away, mostly because it was another one of her mother's crazy ideas. I remember feeling pity for Bridget's father when Bridget's mother runs off with another man, and I feel some of that same sympathy concerning Mr. Bennet. It is rather unfortunate to have five daughers, all of them unmarried, when all you need is a male to inherit your property. Like Bridget's father, he seems to go along with Mrs. Bennet in her ramblings, making her think she makes sense but really he pretty much ignores her. He changes some when Lydia gets married on a whim; I think he realizes that he hasn't been the best parent in the world. What does everyone else think about Mr. and Mrs. Bennet?

Has anyone read Bridget Jones's Diary? I heard that Helen Fielding was a big fan of Jane Austen and used some of Austen's themes in her book. I think that's what pushed me to read this book in the first place. It makes this book easier to relate with, because Bridget is so easy to relate with. They really are very similar- Bridget Jones is in her 30s, feeling bad that all of her friends are married and she's single. Although Bridget is rather shallow and pathetic, she is often amusing in her entries. The other major character is Mark Darcy, who is almost exactly like Mr. Darcy from P & P. Darcy acts like he hates Bridget from the start, so she automatically dislikes him (sounds like a little prejudice and pride to me). I don't want to spoil the ending, but their relationship ends up developing almost exactly like Elizabeth and Darcy's. I wouldn't go as far to say Bridget Jones's Diary is a 20th/21st century rendition of P & P, but it is fun to relate the two.

Hey everyone, I'm new here because I was originally reading A Tale of Two Cities. This is Ben Lacker, by the way. On the subject of narration, I can easily see how you could think the book as being written from Elizabeth's perspective, at least most of the time. The narrator tends to make brief, insightful, often trenchant comments on the characters, and Elizabeth's prejudice seems to dispose her to make similar sorts of observations. You might say that the narrator and Elizabeth have similar personalities. I'm a little behind you guys in the book, since I switched, so excuse me if any of what I say only pertains to the first half of the novel. I do hope these little comments on the characters by the narrator continue, though, because they are one of my favorite things about Pride and Prejudice.

I couldn't think of a more appropriate title for this book. It seems like all of the characters have varying degrees of pride and/or prejudice, my least favorite being Mrs. Bennet. She is so obsessed with marrying off her daughers, but it isn't for her daughter's happiness; she wants to feed her personal desire and take pride in whatever new social ties she could possibly gain from the marriage. The book continually emphasizes the importance of marriage, and I completely disagree with Mrs. Bennet and whatever tiny fragments of a mind she might have that are her own. Not all women want or need a man just because they are female and because he may be rich. She's just so shallow and makes mindless comments all of the time and it drives me crazy. If she is at all a somewhat accurate representation of societal values in England at this time, it makes me feel fortunate to live in a period where a woman doesn't have to marry to rank high in society and doesn't need a man to have worth.

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