It is a truth universally acknowledged that Pride and Prejudice is Jane Austen's most popular novel. I, however, am inclined to resent this apparent fact on behalf of her other five novels, and I sometimes wonder if I am the only one who does. Yet I think I have at last gotten past my resentment by reexamining what I love about this most popular of books.
This post could also be titled: "Realizing that I have kept myself
from loving 'Pride and Prejudice' as much as I otherwise would because I've resented it
being so wildly popular while Jane Austen's other novels seem ignored."
I feel that I sound a bit irritable in admitting this, but I'm afraid this is what has happened.
Almost ever since I discovered the brilliance of Jane Austen I have gravitated toward her other novels because in my opinion it has always seemed that Pride and Prejudice has received a far larger amount of attention and popularity. Of course there is a reason that this has happened. It is just as timeless and unique as every novel of Jane Austen's, and therefore appeals to all successive generations since it's publication. There is just something about the uniqueness of Pride and Prejudice that seems to have made it especially popular in the last twenty years. And no, I don't just mean Colin Firth and the BBC miniseries. It is a quick, energetic, humorous love story, with a lovely, witty heroine taking center stage and a proud, unpleasant, albeit handsome, hero who is humbled by her, making him practically perfect. When you top that all off with sharp, elegant writing of a Jane Austen, it is sure to be a classic.
What has irritated me most is that so many people seem to love the story because they see Elizabeth Bennet as "a modern woman," and cheer on what they see as her irreverence and disrespect of the stuffy, established traditions that are mindlessly or stubbornly clung to by her elders or snobbish social superiors. But to me the appeal of Jane Austen rests on her support of traditions, especially morals, that should be respected because they are for the good of others and not merely because "that's just what people do." Her heroines and heroes are appealing because they correctly and genuinely uphold these traditions and morals, believing them to be right, not simply required to appear respectable. Even Elizabeth does not flout convention merely to be different and to step on peoples' toes. Of course she certainly does not let conventions control her. She chooses when she will follow them and when it is better to reject or improve them, such as when she goes to visit Jane at Netherfield, which was very unconventional. She will not be kept from caring for her sister merely from a fear of "what people will say."
"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."
- Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice is as brilliant a novel as all of Jane Austen's novels are. Of course it is - she wrote it! Just as when I read Emma, Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park and Persuasion, when I read Pride and Prejudice I am so happy to be immersed in the story. I love entering the world of Longbourn and traveling down to Rosings and up to Pemberley. I am attached to all the characters, and enjoy hearing and seeing their faults, their wit, their laughing, their dancing, their relationships, and everything about them. Jane and Lizzy's real love and care for each other as sisters is such a beautiful thing to read about. Every time I read the novel I am struck by it! They both value each other so much, and never pass up an opportunity to communicate with each other so they can ask advice or make the other laugh. There is an openness and unreserve between them that I love to read about.
Austen's style of writing is unlike any other!
The structure of the novel is a beautifully, tightly woven plot, and is indeed "light, bright and sparkling," as Jane Austen herself describes it. Emma and Mansfield Park are more minute and intricate. They are more complete as novels, if you like. But Pride and Prejudice is equally complete as a story, with the plot chocked full of action, dialogue and unforgettable characters. The writing often reminds me of the painting technique of Van Dyck or of the Impressionists, where with a few seemingly careless, effortless strokes, the artist creates a stunningly realistic, believable, vibrant picture. We seem to see Mr. and Mrs. Bennet as real people with personality and a history in their first conversation on the first page, just as a few deft brush strokes bring the silk on Van Dyck's ladies to life.
There is also so much to learn from Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen teaches important lessons in the pleasantest ways! She shows, rather than tells, making what she teaches unforgettable by letting readers live through the experiences of the characters. Lizzy is possibly the most delightful example in fiction of learning how to not to be prejudiced. She can be "partial, prejudiced, absurd" in her evaluations of Wickham and Mr. Darcy, but because she expresses her prejudice in her usual witty and mirthful way, we are never put off by her. We get caught up in her infectious laughter until she, like us, has the truth burst upon her in Mr. Darcy's letter, causing her to reevaluate all her judgments and be excessively unhappy with herself. But Lizzy is no feeble character. She accepts the truth and learns to be just as aware of her own shortcomings as she is of everyone else's, and learns to laugh at herself more wisely, too. She carries us with her through the process, teaching us the same lessons that she has learned herself.
Pride and Prejudice is special, I must admit. Not any more special than Jane Austen's other novels, but special because it is an example of how Austen could breathe such vibrant life into a familiar story and into characters who seem to lead such ordinary lives, making them unforgettable.
© 2015 Anna Morton
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