“There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”
We all love a dose of love stories, but what makes Pride and Prejudice stand out is that it’s not a monotonous love story. It’s not just about the love that blossomed between Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. It’s about a woman with strong principles and a man who didn’t think he’d fall in love. It is about how you cannot truly love someone without having seen their different sides. It is indeed a story about Pride and Prejudice.
The book follows the romance of a haughty Fitzwilliam Darcy and a cheerful Elizabeth Bennet. Mr. Darcy is characterized as proud and Elizabeth as prejudiced. The book has elements of humor and irony. The book is funny yet intense.
The book has certain sub-plots which advance the main plot. The relationship of Lydia and Wickham, another relationship of Mr. Bingley and Jane, all these subplots forced Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth to witness the other side of each other, a side that contradicted their initial perceptions about each other.
Mr. Darcy assumes Elizabeth to be “tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me.” and Elizabeth’s first impression of Mr. Darcy is a proud, disagreeable man and a snob.
Pride and Prejudice covers various dimensions. It displays a society wherein the reputation and image of a woman are of utmost importance and how a woman is supposed to be when she makes her debut into society. Mrs. Bennet always taught her ladies to be poised, and even the men in the book exhibit class. The central theme of Pride and Prejudice is love and marriage. The book focuses on different ways love can blossom or fade and shows the love between all kinds of relationships. Jane Austen has displayed what the role of women was and what expectations society had from them.
A significant takeaway from this novel is that decisions made in haste can often be wrong, especially where feelings are involved, and hence should be consciously thought upon.
Pride and Prejudice is undoubtedly a classic, a book that people will not mind going back to. Jane Austen’s writing is clear evidence of her wit and humor.