General Commentary on Pride And Prejudice Essay

Book Report of Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is the most enduringly popular novel written by Jane Austen,a talented female British writer. The original version of the novel was written in 1796-1797 under the title First Impressions.

It talks about trivial matters of love, marriage and family life in Britain in the 18th century. Pride and Prejudice is the story of the various romantic adventures at their Hertfordshire residence of Longbourn. Mrs Bennet is permanently worried about the issue of marrying off her daughters at any cost. The reason for Mrs Bennet's obsession is that their estate will pass by law after Mr Bennet's death to his closest blood relative. Austen's tale is spurred on by the arrival of the young and wealthy bachelor Charles Bingley and his friend Fitzwilliam Darcy. It is the story of the various affections, affectations and engagement tricks that develop due to Mrs Bennet's relentless matchmaking and the dashing Darcy's tempestuous relationship with Elizabeth Bennet who Jane Austen claimed was favourite amongst her works.

Among those vivid characters, I love Mr. Darcy most and the chapter about his proposal to Elizabeth is the most attractive plot in my mind. He is the son of a wealthy, well-established family and the master of the great estate of Pemberley. He seems to have a tendency to judge too hastily and harshly, and his high birth and wealth make him overly proud and overly conscious of his social status. People are always prone to be impressed by his pride and coldness, like the quotation says:"The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley, and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners gave a disgust which tuned the tide of his popularity; for he as discovered to be proud, to be above his company, and above being pleased; and not all his large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy to be compared with his friend."

However,we will eventually realize that Darcy is intelligent and forthright.But theres no deny that his haughtiness has a bad effect initially on his courtship:In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you. but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed, and he was not more eloquent on the subject of tenderness than of pride. His sense of her inferiorityof its being a degradationof the family obstacles which judgment had always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on with a warmth which seemed due to the consequence he was wounding, but was very unlikely to recommend his suit. From this we can see he dwells more on how unsuitable a match she is than on her charms, beauty, or anything else complimentary. Nevertheless I still think he is lovable because that although her rejection builds a kind of humility in him, Darcy continued to demonstrate his devotion to Elizabeth,especially when he rescues Lydia and the entire Bennet family from disgrace, and when he goes against the wishes of his haughty aunt to make persistent efforts to pursue Elizabeth. Darcy proves himself worthy of Elizabeth, and she ends up repenting her earlier, overly harsh judgment of him. He finally overcomes his own pride and prejudice himself and manages to change himself to become acceptable in order to win his love.

From my perspective, Jane Austen wants to tell us love wins over prejudice and dont just judge one by the first impression but to look in the person's character deeper. Anyway, I stronly recommend this novel,