BOOK REVIEW

Jane Austen taught us that there is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that every bookworm must read Pride and Prejudice.

Pride and Prejudice is a phenomenal novel which observes relationships and the connections humans share, as well as explores social status and the expectations placed on women during the Georgian era. Pride and Prejudice was released in 1797 by the brilliant Jane Austen, who has written 12 books all together. Pride and Prejudice is a satirical text which combines romance and comedy to create a compelling book.

The protagonist is the clever and spirited Elizabeth Bennet, daughter of Mr and Mrs Bennet. The Bennets have four other children who all have a unique personality and characteristics which are used to introduce and describe the nature of the character. Jane Bennet, whose greatest asset is beauty, falls in love with the charming Charles Bingley. Mary Bennet is very much involved in books, and if I remember correctly likes to annoy her family by playing poorly on the piano. Lydia and Kitty are the embarrassment of the family. Lydia is constantly on the look for a man, while Kitty follows faithfully in her elder sisters footsteps. As a result, they become just as vain and stupid as each other. To Mrs Bennett’s dismay, none of her daughters are married at the beginning of the book. However, throughout the course of the book, each daughter is picked off by some lucky (or unlucky in Mr Whitman’s case) man, besides Mary and Kitty.

Mr Bingley introduces the rich, handsome, but conceited Fitzwilliam Darcy. The book is centred around Mr Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet's love story. In the beginning, they despise one another, him saying at the ball that she is ‘tolerable, barely enough to tempt me.’ As the story progresses, many events occur which define their relationship and blossom their love. At the end of the book, Mr Darcy asks Mr Bennet for his daughter's hand in marriage. He’s originally reluctant however had agreed to the marriage.

The book is divided into 3 volumes. I found that at the end of each volume something big happens. I’m pretty sure an elopement occurs in volume 2, but I would have to read the book again to be sure. Some crazy things happen throughout the novel which we wouldn’t imagine happening in our contemporary society. Each event, however, contributes to the development of Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet's relationship in some way. What I can confidently gather from this text are:

  1. Love is not smooth.
  2. Relationships aren’t smooth.

Jane Austen, Author

I tried reading this book at the start of year 8 and found the archaic language quite hard to digest. I was also very lazy and wasn’t willing to put effort into reading it. However, I tried again at the start of year 9 and absolutely fell in love with the book. It’s safe to say Pride and Prejudice is one of my favourite books. Pride and Prejudice is what drove my passion for classics such as Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (another brilliant book), Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. Since reading Pride and Prejudice I read texts that I know would challenge myself to extend my vocabulary and think about how the text relates to the wider community. I’ve created a basis for understanding social conventions throughout history and how they have evolved, and hope to continue exploring this the more I read.

If you’re a reader who likes an easy read, I guarantee, if you stick with this book for more than three pages, you’ll enjoy it. If you’re a reader who likes a challenging text and hasn’t seen much archaic English, this is the book for you! There’s a lot of prejudice surrounding this book, particularly the misconceived judgement that it’s an ooey gooey romance about the naive female falling for the rich man. It’s not, and I interpreted the book to be only a portion of romance.

I’m sure you’ll fall in love with this book just as hard as Mr Darcy falls for Elizabeth.

-J Walsh, Year 10