Pride and Prejudice is my all time favourite book. I must have read it almost a 100 times by now, more than any of Jane Austen's other novels. I can turn to this book with utmost confidence than to any other book to spend an hour of two of tranquil, entertaining reading. And hope to discover some new nugget of interest every time I read it.
The story is a romance or emotional drama if you will which is written in the author's coolly witty style which is unsurpassed in any of her other novels. It is set in the period of Elizabethan England and details the story four marriageable daughters of a respectable family. The story is about the two elder daughters mainly Jane and Elizabeth Bennett who are both pretty, sensible girls. Although personally charming and good natured the girls are at a disadvantage in the marriage market as their portions are small. They therefore cannot logically expect rich suitors to woo them, who would naturally expect their wives to bring a good portion. It is at this interesting juncture that two very eligible suitors Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy arrive on the scene. They are both handsome and rich the latter more so and the girls have the good fortune among all others in their neighbourhood of arousing the interest of the men. It is at this point that the focus of the author shifts to Elizabeth Bennet the younger daughter and Mr Darcy. Elizabeth is portrayed as not just a pretty face but a girl with brains. At the very outset of her meeting with Mr Darcy she takes a dislike to him as he has slighted her at one of the balls, by refusing to dance with her. She becomes determined to dislike him for his rude and supercilious behaviour to her and her family. His face or fortune does not tempt her to be conciliating to his arrogant behaviour. It is perhaps this very aloof behaviour of Elizabeth's towards him which attracts Mr Darcy to her. Unwilling to acknowledge this attraction to a lady of lower social status Mr Darcy tries to avoid her during his stay at Herfordshire the county where the Bennet's reside. By this time his friend Mr Bingley and Jane Bennet are also in love. Mr Darcy manages to convince his friend that Jane does not return his love and is in fact not very serous about him. He manages to extract his rather easily convinced friend and they depart from Herfordshire much to the chagrin of Mrs Bennet the girls' vociferous and abrasive mother. Jane is rather more affected by Bingley's departure than Elizabeth who had not entertained any feelings for Darcy. She on the other hand entertains a fancy for Mr Wickham, an unwanted acquaintance of Mr Darcy. She also rejects the marriage proposal of Mr Collins a rather foolish and pompous clergyman who is also the heir to her father's property. Rebuffed by Elizabeth Mr Collins proposes to her friend Charlotte Lucas who accepts him in spite of being aware of his faults. Elizabeth is amazed at the behavior of her friend but later reconciles with her. After Charlotte Lucas's marriage with Mr Collins they go away to stay at their home in Hunsford Parsonage where Mr Collins serves as clergyman to Lady Catherine de Bourgh a rich noblewoman who is also Mr Darcy's aunt. It is here that Elizabeth and Darcy meet again. Elizabeth's attraction is too great to resist this time and Mr Darcy proposes to her. Elizabeth is amazed by this proposal because she not only dislikes Mr Darcy now, she positively abhorrs him as Mr Wickham painted him in a very bad light by telling her that Darcy had withheld Wickham the post which Darcy's father had promised to give him. This had forced Wickham to work for his living as a soldier and live in comparitive poverty. She is further enraged by Darcy when she comes to know his role in severing the relations between her beloved sister Jane and Mr Bingley. Darcy's proposal too is a strange one as if proposing by force against his better judgement. His manner in proposing also angers Elizabeth and she refuses him outright in a downright rude manner. Darcy is amazed as he had believed that he had only to propose and he would be accepted at once. Her refusal comes as a bolt from the blue for him. He possibly tries to reassess her character and reviews his behaviour towards her. In this frame of mind he writes her a letter where he explains his behaviour to her. She had given the reasons for her refusal and this included Wickham's charges as well as Darcy's role in her sister's affair. Elizabeth in turn is chastened when she reads his letter where he unmasks Wickham as an unprincipled and unscrupulous man who had tried to lure Darcy's young sister into an elopement. As for his role in severing Bingley and Jane, he excuses himself that he had misjudged Jane's affection for Bingley. In course of time Elizabeth's feelings for Darcy undergo change from hatred to grudging acceptance of the truth of his remarks and opinions. Elizabeth next goes to Derbyshire which is Darcy's county accompanied by her aunt and uncle. Here she meets Darcy once more and his attentive behaviour towards her and her relations causes her to melt the last icicles of anger against him. On seeing his magnificent home and extensive lands she further regrets her rash refusal of his proposal. Matters come to head when she receives a letter from her home telling her of the elopement of her youngest sister Lydia with the rake Wickham. Elizabeth is distraught at this and it is at this juncture that Darcy comes to her assistance by seeking out the couple, and getting Wickham to marry Lydia by monetary inducement. Elizabeth who comes to know of his services later on is now not only in love with him but also in his debt. Darcy comes to know of her changed feelings by the officious interference of his aunt Lady Catherine. He then once again proposes to her and is accepted as is Mr Bingley by Jane.
The narrative of the book is so powerful that it does not fail to entertain even after countless readings. The characters are finely drawn and the change of mind over time of Elizabeth and Darcy is finely portrayed. The other characters like Jane , Bingley, Mr and Mrs Bennett and Mr Collins are also sharply detailed. The desciptions of the life and times of Elizabethan England are detailed. It is all this which makes this book an all time classic.
What I Love about the book
Almost all the characters are original in the book. The gradual change in mindset which Elizabeth and Darcy both undergo from antipathy to attraction is specially what I like most about the book. The scene in Netherfield where Elizabeth is forced to stay to look after an ailing Jane and her conversations with Darcy regarding "who can be called an accomplished woman" with Miss Bingley butting in are specially superb, though the language is a bit complicated to follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment