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Welcome to my first blog post! The novel I will be reading and reflecting upon is Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austen. In this post, I will be mainly discussing the main characters, along with my initial opinions of them. I hope you enjoy reading!
❦ Part One: An Introduction of the Characters ❦
Pride and Prejudice begins with the iconic phrase: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife" (1). This irony promptly establishes the main idea being criticized within the novel: that marriage is often not for love, but for economical reasons. The Bennet family is in pursuit of finding wealthy and attractive bachelors to marry off to the four daughters and strive to achieve such success.
One of my favorite characters, Mrs. Bennet, is particularly ruthless when it comes to marrying off her daughters. For example, one of the daughters, named Jane, is invited over for dinner to meet with the potential suitor, Mr. Bingley. Jane requests to take a carriage over, but is insisted by Mrs. Bennet to ride a horse instead. Mrs. Bennet suspects it to rain in the evening, and so, schemes that Jane riding horseback may pressure her to stay the night and spend more time with the Bingley family.
This scheme made by Mrs. Bennet is even more successful, for Jane's ride over made her very ill, and so, is insisted by the Bingley family that she must stay for a couple of days. This brings Mrs. Bennet great joy, for in her mind, more time with Mr. Bingley equals a higher chance of Jane becoming a wife.
In some ways, I admire Mrs. Bennet for her determination. Even though money should not be the reason for marriage, it is understandable as to why she is so desperately trying to marry off her daughters: the fortune that the daughters will eventually inherit is very small, and even the house that they live in will no longer belong to them once Mr. Bennet dies. Mrs. Bennet wants to see her daughters living in security.
Mr. Bennet, on the other hand, isn't as determined as Mrs. Bennet. In all honesty, Mr. Bennet doesn't really do much except talk about his favorite daughter, Elizabeth.
According to Mr. Bennet, Elizabeth is very different from the others. To him, the other girls are seen as "silly and ignorant", but 'Lizzy' has"something more of a quickness" (4). While it is somewhat cruel to call your children silly and ignorant, he is correct about her having more of a unique and caring personality. For example, after hearing that Jane has fallen ill, Elizabeth treks the three miles to see her and to take care of her.
Elizabeth's father is not the only one who finds Elizabeth to be the superior sister-- so does Mr. Darcy. However, the other characters do not appear to like him very much. He is perceived as "a most disagreeable, horrid man... So high and so conceited..." (10) by Mrs. Bennet. While this is an exaggeration, the other characters perceive him similarly because of the fact that he doesn't like dancing and has a more reserved personality.
Personally, I find Mr. Darcy to be the most relatable and reasonable character in the book; unlike the others, he is brutally honest, and doesn't make himself do things that he doesn't want to do.
Mr. Darcy really does have a strong but hidden love for Elizabeth. Even when she is seen as a horrid mess to the others after arriving to visit Jane, Mr. Darcy is "divided between admiration of the brilliancy which exercise had given to her complexion" (25). However, he is a strange man, for he deeply admires Elizabeth, but is purposely cruel to her so that she won't find out.
Overall, I really enjoy Pride and Prejudice so far, and I find it very fun to write about. I'm interested to see how the dynamics between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth will develop/change, and also see more of Mrs. Bennet scheming.
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog post :)
- Lily
Citations:
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. The Modern Library, 2000.
Hi Lily,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your take on the irony of the first line- I agree that it has a lot to do with the thematic ideas that have been presented in the novel so far. Your commentary on the different characters and your opinions of them are both insightful and entertaining, and I like your discussion about Mr. Darcy and how he is the most relatable - I agree. I think it is cool that you put some of your opinions in to make it interactive for the reader as well. Overall, I enjoyed reading your blog post! I am glad that you are enjoying the book as much as I am so far and look forward to hearing what you have to say as we continue reading!
- Emma
Hi Emma!
DeleteThanks for the comment, I sincerely enjoyed reading your blog post as well! As I am beginning to read further into Pride and Prejudice, I definitely believe that the first line of the book sets up the main theme and provides the author's commentary/viewpoint. I am excited to continue reading and diving deeper into figuring out how this viewpoint will impact the plot.
Thanks again for the comment :)
-Lily
Hi Lily,
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds intriguing so far! I was the most interested in your description of Mr. Darcy as a man who genuinely loves
Elizabeth but shows her cruelty. Do you think that there is a reason for this that might become more developed as the story goes on?
Hi Brianna,
DeleteI definitely do think that this book is interesting, despite the lengthy dialogue. To answer your question, I believe that he acts somewhat cruel towards Elizabeth because it reflects his personality-- he is considered to have too much pride (hence the book title), and so, feels that he must act standoffish.
Thank you for your comment!
-Lily
It's interesting that you like Mrs. Bennet, as she is often viewed as an unlikeable character, but your explanation of why her actions might be viewed more positively shows good insights. She's so well-depicted in the BBC version of the novel, which is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteLily, I like how in your explanation of the characters you are descriptive of their personality, but you also put in how you feel about them. I especially liked how you wrote that Mr. Darcy is an unlikeable character, but you admire him for always telling the truth. I’m interested to learn more about this book!
ReplyDelete