Everyone Has Their Place/Courtship

Something prevalent in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is the emphasis on relationships and formal courtship.  Along with this idea comes the importance of each character and their place and purpose in the novel.  After reading Nabokov, I took away the importance of being more detached when I read.  Doing so, I looked past the romantic details about Jane and Bingley’s relationship and saw them more as a tool of Austen’s.  After the novel is focused on the courtship between Elizabeth and Darcy.  Therefore, in my opinion, all of the other courtships taking place are in service of the central courtship.  The differences between all of the courtships give examples on different types of love but more importantly they all show the immense power that love has.  I discussed earlier how I predicted that Jane and Bingley’s relationship was being used to contrast with Elizabeth and Darcy’s.  I also thought that perhaps Jane and Bingley’s relationship served as an example of what Elizabeth and Darcy’s should look like.  After further reading, I agree with some parts of the previous argument but also disagree with others.  Elizabeth and Darcy’s relationship is what it is.  It is one full of true passion and love and has absolutely no need to follow the example of Jane and Bingley.  Austen’s message is that through everything, through the pride and the prejudice, two people  were able to be together because of the power of their love for each other. Their love is unique and that is what makes them so special.  However, I do feel that Jane and Bingley’s courtship is used sort of as a precursor to Elizabeth and Darcy’s.  Austen foreshadows some love earlier on when she writes “To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love” (5).  After all, Elizabeth and Darcy meet for the first time at an assembly where everyone is dancing.  They do not dance there, but later do, just as they don’t fall in love right away.  Jane and Bingley did fall in love in a different way than Darcy and Elizabeth did, but that doesn’t mean that Elizabeth and Darcy should follow in the same way.  As a whole, Jane and Bingley’s relationship is the reason that Darcy and Elizabeth truly get to know each other and eventually realize their love for each other.   Darcy and Elizabeth’s relationship is Austen’s way of sharing her opinion on the strength of love.  Then, her focus on pride and vanity that I discussed in an earlier blog post is one of the ways that she proves the strength.  An example of the connection between love and vanity is where Austen writes, “Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind. But vanity, not love, has been my folly,” demonstrating pride as one of the hurdles their love must overcome (141).  In this section Elizabeth also says that until that moment, she had not known herself.  Her realization of her love was also a self-discovery, another thing that love has the power to do.  As time goes on and Darcy and Elizabeth’s relationship develops, we see how their love develops and gets stronger as both of them realize it.  Darcy and Elizabeth overcome their first impressions of each other and reveal their true feelings for each other.  The transformation that Elizabeth goes through that is shown by her saying “I am the happiest creature in the world. Perhaps other people have said so before, but not one with such justice. I am happier even than Jane; she only smiles, I laugh” is a way that Austen tied in Jane and Bingley’s love to Elizabeth and Darcy’s to compare the two, even saying that through everything Elizabeth and Darcy’s is perhaps stronger, even though it was in no way a typical love story (258).  

I would definitely recommend this book--especially to anyone who enjoys a good romance story.  The setting/time period is something I really enjoyed, but what really struck me about this book is some of the quotes about true love.  I could imagine some of them being on those things you see on Pinterest or something.  Austen did an amazing job of depicting true love and was able to put that into words which is very admirable.  It is something that I see myself reading multiple times over the years and definitely rereading as an adult.  It has qualities that people can relate to, and qualities that people want to be able to relate to which makes it hard to put down at some points.  You become so engrossed in what is happening that you feel as if you are there with Elizabeth and Darcy feeling the tension and emotion between them.  So glad I finally got to read this book and share what I thought of it.

What It Means To Be Proud

Evident in the title, pride is a recurring factor in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.  Not only does this focus on pride relate to pride of one's self, but it connects to the other ideas of class and reputation present in the book.  To demonstrate, one conversation in particular demonstrates this.  Many of the women begin to discuss the previous assembly.  Mr. Darcy becomes the topic of discussion and Mrs. Bennet says that "everybody says that he is eat up with pride" obviously in disgust of his apparent conceitedness (40).  Mrs. Lucas adds in that "His pride, does not offend me so much as pride often does, because there is an excuse for it.  One cannot wonder that so very fine a young man, with family, fortune, everything in his favour, should think highly of himself. If I may so express it, he has a right to be proud" (43).  There is an emphasis not only on pride, but the reason behind someone's pride.  If it has a place, it is deemed more acceptable, whereas pride that someone else believes has no reason is outrageous.  The amount of judgement in this book is quite large, as a lot of the book is characters talking about other characters.  Where is the line between what is acceptable and what is not? In that same conversation above among the women, Elizabeth replies to Mrs. Lucas' comment with "That is very true, and I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine" (44).  This brings in another aspect of the role of pride in the book- how it affects other people.  If other people feel slighted by your pride, it automatically becomes a bad type of pride.  Now that Elizabeth has heard some of Darcy's pride in himself and observed it at the Meryton assemblies, she has gathered a preconception about what he is like as a person, without knowing much more about him.  Pride is one of the most important factors in first impressions in this book.  Because this time period does rely so heavily on class, reputation, money, marriage, etc., the way someone appears to view themselves affects how others seem to view him.  Darcy immediately gains a bad reputation amongst lots of the women after just one night because of how his pride came off to them.  One very important statement in the novel about pride comes from the very same conversation.  Mary says that, "Pride, is a very common failing, I believe.  by all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed; that human nature is particularly prone to it., and that there are few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or other. Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain.  Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us" (46).  This comes in sort of as defense against Darcy and what Mrs. Bennet perceives of him.  Mary tries to create the distinction between having pride and being vain, but I believe that Mrs. Bennet is relying so heavily on her emotions and emotional reactions to everything around her, and will not be able to be swayed from the first idea she has of pride, specifically Darcy's pride.  Obviously Austen chose her title carefully, and strongly supported such an idea throughout her entire novel.  Although it is a story of many courtships, the underlying focus on reputation based off of one's self pride is an obvious message of Austen's.

Mr. Bennet: Not Who You Think He Is

From the very beginning of the novel Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Bennet is an important figure in the Bennet household. The first chapter primarily focuses on interactions between Mr. Bennet and his wife, Mrs. Bennet. They are quite different in their approach to everything that arises in the opening few chapters of the books, yet seeming to work extremely well together as the elder figures in the novel. While it is obvious that Mrs. Bennet is the louder, more talkative, excited and enthusiastic one of the two, Mr. Bennet still has a major role throughout the novel. When Mrs. Bennet immediately begins pressing Mr. Bennet with news about Mr. Bingley's arrival, he reacts calmly, with either no answer, or very stoic ones, allowing Mrs. Bennet to simply get her announcement out of the way (2). Later, when Mrs. Bennet suggests that Mr. Bingley might possibly be marrying one of their daughters and that they must meet him immediately, Mr. Bennet responds with "I see no occasion for that...You are over-scrupulous, surely" (6). He is also very quick to defend his daughters and sees only the best in them. When Mrs. Bennet shares that she believes that Lizzy is not the best of the daughters, Mr. Bennet disagrees with her and shares his opinion that "they are all silly and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters" (8). Mr. Bennet might sit back and be quieter, but he notices everything around him and studies the people he is surrounded by, being able to tell a lot about them just by watching. I think that this is an important fact about him and will come back later on in the novel as in important trait of his. Also, what seems like a meaningless event among the Bennet family reveals another trait of Mr. Bennet's. Kitty begins to cough as Mrs. Bennet speaks and when Mrs. Bennet gets irritated and annoyed, Mr. Bennet jumps to defend her, saying that she cannot help when she coughs and simply has bad timing that is out of her control (10). Then after the conversation carries on for a while about Mr. Bingley and a meeting, Mr. Bennet mysteriously adds in "Now, Kitty, you may cough as much as you choose" as he gets up to leave the room (13). These two acts surrounding Kitty's harmless coughing reveal a lot about Mr. Bennet's character and compassion. He may come off as serious and dull (in contrast with his wife), Austen sneaks in moments of dialogue that show his compassion and love for his daughters. As mentioned previously, Mr. Bennet does seem to go against a lot of the things that Mrs. Bennet says. Austen states that "Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humor, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three-and-twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character" (9). This statement only strengthens the idea that Mr. Bennet is a very special and unique character, with opposite traits within himself. He is also very different from his loud wife, as mentioned earlier, and the little responses he gives to her only show how different they are.

Jane and Bingley?

In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley’s relationship seems to be serving a deeper purpose than simply another romance story.  While Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy are the focus of the novel with their story of passion and love, the novel begins with the focus mainly on Jane and Mr. Bingley.  Austen must choose to start her novel this way, perhaps to begin a symbol that will continue throughout the rest of the novel. Why deviate from the main characters of the book and make it seem like they are not very relevant to the story (at the time when reading the opening chapters of the novel)?  Darcy and Lizzy start off being very cold to each other, not truly noticing one another. Darcy actually refers to Lizzy as "tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me" (17).  Lizzy isn't too impressed by Darcy in their first encounter either, as she hears this comment and is somewhat offended. In contrast, Jane and Bingley have a very different story of their first meeting.  Bingley immediately refers to Jane as "the most beautiful creature I have ever beheld" (16).  As time continues, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy’s relationship begins to become more apparent, as comments about their interactions are snuck in.  There begins to be a shift in how Darcy feels about Lizzy when it is announced that "he was forced to acknowledge her figure to be light and pleasing; and in spite of his asserting that her manners were not those of the fashionable world, he was caught by their easy playfulness" (41).   After all, Mr. Bingley is the reason that Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet meet, as Jane and his relationship is what keeps Darcy and Lizzy in contact.  Jane and Bingley’s relationship seems to serve most as a contrast with Darcy and Lizzy’s relationship.  While Jane and Bingley feel an immediate connection, Darcy and Lizzy take a while longer to recognize their feelings for each other. While Jane and Bingley’s relationship seems easy and fun, Darcy and Lizzy’s is full of obstacles and proves to be more of a challenge.  Jane and Bingley are always considered as a pair before Darcy and Lizzy ever are.  Perhaps Jane and Bingley serve as an example of everything Darcy and Lizzy are not.  Even though Jane and Lizzy are sisters, they are very different in their approaches to love, as Darcy and Bingley are not very similar either.  Austen delays the development of Darcy and Lizzy’s relationship. One might think that Jane and Bingley are going to be the focus of the novel but Austen delivers an unexpected twist when it later becomes all about Darcy and Lizzy.