Unfortunately, this will be the last literature blog post I will make for a while, but we’re going out with a bang. Many people know, or have heard about, about Pride and Prejudice. If they haven’t read it, they’ve at least heard of it before. Pride and Prejudice is a book by Jane Austen written during the late 1700s. I would describe the book as a pragmatic romance novel. It’s full of marriages and proposals, but the characters don’t forget the politics of marriage.

I want to give you guys a quick summary of the book. The Bennet family lives in a small village called Longbourn. There is Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Bennet, and their five daughters, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. Elizabeth is the heroine of the book. Soon after the book starts, Mr. Bingley buys a house in Netherfield, which is close to Longbourn. Mrs. Bennet is excited because she wants him to marry one of her daughters. Mr. Bingley winds up falling in love with Jane, but he leaves before he proposes to her. Mr. Darcy is Mr. Bingley’s friend, and he was impolite at a ball they all attended. He even called Elizabeth’s beauty simply tolerable. Elizabeth disliked him a lot after the ball, but Mr. Darcy became enamored with her. He eventually proposed to her (while insulting her family), and she said no because she thought he was a terrible person. Elizabeth was told two terrible things he had done, and she informed him that’s why she can’t marry him. He later gives her a letter defending himself, which opens her up. When she goes to his estate, they become more friendly. When Elizabeth’s youngest sister, Lydia, ran away with Wickham (a man Elizabeth previously liked), Mr. Darcy is the one who paid Wickham to marry Lydia. This act saved all of the Bennet sisters’ reputations. When Darcy asked Elizabeth to marry him again, she said yes. Mr. Bingley also wound up coming back to Longbourn to propose to Jane, who said yes. Mary, who was annoying, became less so because she didn’t have to compete with her pretty sisters. Kitty became better without Lydia’s negative influence. So long story short, they all lived happily ever after.

Though I've talked a lot about the book, I still suggest reading it if you haven’t.

Now, I want to talk about who was prideful, and who was prejudiced. Two of the most prideful main characters are Mr. Darcy and Lady Catherine, his aunt. They are both of the upper class and have a lot of family pride. Lady Catherine was a character who was meant to be criticized. She is the most snobby character in the book. Mr. Darcy has pride because he is also wealthy, but his shyness makes him come off as more proud than he is. When he first met Elizabeth at the ball, she thought he thought he was better than everyone because he didn’t talk. Mr. Darcy just doesn’t feel comfortable talking to new people. Two of the most prejudiced characters in the book are Mr. Bennet and Elizabeth. Elizabeth and her father are clever and periodically have fun laughing at people. Mr. Bennet does this to his wife, Mrs. Bennet, and Mr. Bennet doesn’t respect her. Elizabeth judges people very quickly, and that’s why she disliked Mr. Darcy after their first meeting. When Darcy proposed to Elizabeth, she accused him of being prejudiced against her family, and Darcy accused her of having too much pride to accept his proposal. After Darcy gave Elizabeth his letter, Elizabeth learned to be less close-minded, and Darcy had to work on his pride.

Darcy and Elizabeth get married, which is most likely Jane Austen’s favorite marriage of the book. This marriage is built on respect and compatibility. Jane and Bingley also have a happy marriage based on love. Their aunt and uncle, the Gardiners, have a good marriage as well. This makes three good marriages, but there are three bad ones as well. Lydia and Wickham have a marriage based on lust and necessity (to avoid Lydia’s shaming and Wickham's debts), and the happiness won’t last long. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are ill suited for each other, and Mr. Bennet tends to be distant from the needs of his family. Charlotte, Elizabeth’s best friend, and Mr. Collins, Elizabeth’s cousin who proposed to her, also have an ill suited marriage, but this one is based on security. Elizabeth rejected two proposals, which is dangerous. The Bennets have five daughters, each of whom need to marry before Mr. Bennet dies. When he does, they will be poor. Marrying Mr. Collins would have assured security for all of Elizabeth’s sisters, however, Elizabeth took a more romantic approach to marriage, as she wanted to marry for love. Unfortunately, Elizabeth isn’t rich, so it’s unlikely she’ll get a lot of proposals. We love Elizabeth sticking to her principals, but she was lucky it all worked out in the end. Charlotte was 27 when she met Mr. Collins. She was getting up there in terms of marrying age, so she accepted Mr. Collins’ proposal. She, like many young women, fairly chose living comfortably with a man they tolerate over living in poverty. Jane Austen likes the idea of marrying for love, but Charlotte’s character shows that marrying for love wasn’t always practical for a woman of the time.

There is a lot to say about this book, but I’ll leave you here. Pride and Prejudice is a book worth reading.