A book analysis on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, written by Milma Kauppinen 

 

Pride and Prejudice, a classic novel by Jane Austen, tells the story of a complicated love that develops between complete opposites. The main character, Elizabeth Bennet, misjudges a man based on rumors and lies, thus creating hatred for someone she doesn’t even know. Social status and pride in family had a major influence during the early 19th century, when this novel takes place. The novel has been described as a classic love story, but truly, it is so much more than that.  

  

Elizabeth Bennet is the protagonist of the novel, and the story is told upon her view of the world. The major conflict of the book is based on Elizabeth’s struggle in finding a fit husband for herself. Elizabeth’s character is extremely stubborn, and she lacks self-awareness and manners. She is always ready to try and outwit others, forgetting that she might not always be right. She tends to speak her mind before she even thinks twice. Her character is a straight example of how bad prejudices can get. During the first chapters of the novel, Elizabeth meets Mr. Darcy, a wealthy, but overly arrogant aristocrat. Mr. Darcy is inconsiderate of other people’s feelings and tends to think of himself as better than anyone else. His character has so much pride, that Elizabeth begins to despise him. The two characters hate each other so much, that it starts to develop into some kind of sick romance. The tension between the two is intense, but somehow, they cannot let go of their ill attitudes. Truly, the two cannot fall in love until they let go of their pride, and prejudice.  

  

Pride and Prejudice has been praised as a great example of a perfect love story. I don’t agree with that at all. The love story that takes between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy contains so much evilness that I don’t see anything perfect about it. Mr. Darcy uses his wealth and entitlements to try and win Elizabeth over, and in the end, succeeding. However, Mr. Darcy forgets to truly consider Elizabeth’s feelings, and mostly just ends up gaslighting her. Of course, there were some very sweet sequences between the two, but Mr. Darcy has been written as this controlling and simply mean character. His character does develop onto the better side in the end, but not as much as Elizabeth. Elizabeth seems to be ready to risk it all for Mr. Darcy, even though he had done so much evil to her family. This is just my view of his character, and there are some positive traits to Mr. Darcy’s character, too. He might be awful in some ways, but he can be worthy of loving Elizabeth. I just think that when people call the novel a smart portrayal of love, it is straight disrespectful to Austen. The book tackles themes such as the importance of social class, women’s rights during the time, and the evilness of some people. I think that what Austen is trying to say with the book is that, truly, never judge anyone before you get to know them. People need to learn to let go of their evilness and learn to appreciate the feelings of other people.  

  

The plot of the book develops fairly slow and is well structured. Austen is known for her use of irony and comedy in her novels, which was also noticeable in this one. Everything happens very chronologically and not once does anyone think of the past nor the future. Truly, for the most part, nothing happens in the book. Once in a while Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy meet, creating some sort of a plot into the novel. Mostly the novel describes the day-to-day life in the English countryside. I’m not usually a fan of such slow and uneventful novels, but somehow it worked in this one. Austen has a way with her words, and even though the plot might be boring, something in it still captures the reader. There were times when I was ready to take a break on reading, but just a small added detail in a chapter kept me going. Now that I think of the events of the novel, I just think of fancy and rich people going to one another’s houses and judging everyone. Most of the characters were super negative, which threw me off at first. Maybe showing these judging characters was how Austen wanted to portray pride and prejudice. The working title of the novel was First impressions which is a straight reference to the acts of the characters. Truly, the book is more about how humans get along, and not just about love.  

  

My thoughts about Pride and Prejudice are all over the place. I did enjoy reading it, but at some points, the language used was way too much for me. I understood everything well but reading that many words in this context was quite hard. The plot was interesting, and I enjoyed reading about how life was in the 1800’s England. I have never read a novel of this sort, so it was a great first experience. The way Austen puts little details about important matters into the novel was fascinating to me. I love how her writing seemed so effortless, and all sentences had some kind of meaning to them. The portrayal of flaws of the society at that time was also a great way of education. The book made me question myself, am I too quick to judge other people? Do I have too much pride in myself? That truly shows how great of an author Jane Austen truly is. This might not have been my favorite book to read, but it was worth the read. I now know so much more about pride, prejudice, and self-importance.