Hello Book Lovers!!!
I've finished Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and when I eventually properly got into the story, I enjoyed it :)
This publication of the book gives an introduction discussing areas of the story such as characters and their development, hierarchies, writing style, political aspects etc. This was interesting to read as it gave me an insight into what to expect while reading this book. I think it helped me understand the writing style more when it came to reading the story.
This edition of the book is split into 3 volumes which I will now discuss in detail so spoilers are in the next section of this post.
Volume 1
This section begins with the Bennet family and their finding out of a Mr Bingley soon to be living in close proximity to them at Netherfield Park. Mrs Bennet instantly wants one of her daughters to marry Mr Bingley so when Mr Bennet pays a visit to Mr Bingley, the girls find themselves attending a ball where Mr Bingley will be present.
Mr Bingley takes interest in Jane Bennet, the eldest of the Bennet sisters, and dances with her at the ball. Also with Mr Bingley is Mr Darcy, an arrogant, self centred, proud man that refuses to dance with Elizabeth, the 2nd oldest Bennet sister, as he thinks she is not good enough for him.
Mr Darcy however, after several weeks, finds himself becoming more intrigued by Elizabeth while Jane is also becoming a lot closer to Mr Bingley. Jane visits the Bingley mansion but finds herself caught in a downpour that makes her fall ill, forcing her to stay at the mansion with Mr Bingley. Elisabeth goes to visit Jane and Miss Bingley begins to dislike how much attention Mr Darcy seems to be paying to Elizabeth.
When the girls return home, they find Mr Collins, a clergyman, visiting their home. Mr Collins wishes to inherit the Bennet property after Mr Bennet passes away, as it can only be passed down to a male, and as all of the Bennet children are girls, there is nobody to pass it down to.
Soon after his visit, Mr Collins proposes to Elizabeth but she refuses him and eventually Mr Collins leaves Elizabeth alone and finds himself getting engaged to Charlotte Lucas, the Bennet's next door neighbour.
Meanwhile the girls have become friendly with the officers of a town nearby. Among them is Wickham who is friendly towards Elizabeth. He tells her how Mr Darcy cheated him out of an inheritance.
The Bingleys and Mr Darcy soon return to London and as winter approaches, Jane visits the city to see friends, and hoping to see Mr Bingley. Miss Bingley pays Jane a visit however, and is very rude to her.
Volume 2
In the spring, Elizabeth visits Charlotte who lives near Mr Collins' patron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who is Mr Darcy's aunt. Mr Darcy pays many visits to Lady Catherine, therefore seeing Elizabeth during this time frequently.
Darcy eventually makes a proposal to Elizabeth but Elizabeth refuses. Darcy leaves but soon after gives Elizabeth a letter to which she reads and discovers that Wickham is a liar and that the disagreement was due to Wickham wanting to run away with Mr Darcy's sister to get married.
This letter makes Elizabeth rethink her feeling for Mr Darcy and she goes on another trip with relatives to Pemberley which is Mr Darcy's estate. She visits only when she knows that Mr Darcy is away and hears from his servants that he is a fantastic master. Mr Darcy returns and asks for Elizabeth to meet his sister.
Volume 3
A letter arrives at home stating that Lydia and Wickham have eloped and are nowhere to be found. This could mean that they are living together out of wedlock which would bring disgrace to the family. Mr Gardiner and Mr Bennett go looking for Lydia but Mr Bennett comes back home empty handed.
Mr Gardiner writes a letter home after saying that they have been found and Wickham will marry Lydia in exchange for an annual income. The Bennett's believed that Mr Gardiner paid off Wickham but soon find out that the source of money was actually Mr Darcy.
Lydia and Wickham return married and Mr Bennett gives them the cold shoulder. They shortly leave for the North of England. Bingley returns and resumes his courtship of Jane. Mr Darcy goes to stay with them but does not mention his secret proposal to Elizabeth which she refused.
Bingley proposes to Jane which pleases everyone except Bingley's sister. While celebrations are underway, Lady Catherine de Bourgh visits and speaks to Elizabeth about hearing that Mr Darcy, her nephew, is planning to marry her. But Lady Catherine does not think a Bennett is suitable for her nephew and tells Elizabeth she has to refuse his proposal.
Soon after Mr Darcy and Elizabeth go for a walk and he tells her that his feelings are still the same from the spring time and once again proposes to her. Elizabeth realises that the feelings are mutual and this time accepts his proposal and the two are married as well as Jane and Bingley.
Overall I enjoyed the story once I got used to the writing style. As this was written many many years ago, the language is very different to what we use today so this sometimes lost me and I had to refer back to the synopsis to link back to what I was reading.
Once I had passed this stage, I began to enjoy the story more and felt I knew the characters a lot more. This helped me understand what they were going through and how they were feeling in different situations during this novel.
Although I liked some of the characters such as Jane and Bingley, I found some of the characters like Elizabeth and Lydia quite annoying at times. I felt that Elizabeth did nothing but complain most of the time and Lydia was too wrapped up in her love story to care about anyone else.
As for Mr Darcy that everyone seems to love, I didn't actually think much of him.....Don't hate me!!! I just felt like her could have had more personality and his character was very flat at times. I know that he is proud and can be rather stuck up at times, but I really just wanted him to loosen up a bit!!! He did near the end of the story when he got married to Elizabeth but up until then, I just wanted him to smile!!!
Finally, I do understand to an extent to why this particular classic is so hyped, but I don't see why everyone seems to love Mr Darcy so much.
Rating /5
4
xHannahx
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