Thus opens the first chapter of Jane Austen's masterpiece "Pride and Prejudice". After some 1,300 years of English literature we are actually hearing a woman's voice. Not that there were no women writers before Austen, nor that she was recognised in her own time. However, she is now accepted as one of the three "giants" of English literature after Chaucer and Shakespeare, and that is an achievement.
Today, at a time when women have rights to education and employment and have more legal protection, it might seem that Austen's subject matter is trivial-love and marriage. But there are several things we must keep in mind about the period in which she was writing. Firstly, marriage was not a matter of love, but of logic and convenience. People married for financial reasons or for status. Girls had no right of inheritance, and were left on the streets if their fathers died, unless they married or had a kind relative to look after them.
While Jane Austen is not as fiercly "feminist" as her contemporary, Mary Shelley, and it appears that she accepts the fate of the women of her time, her character Lizzie Bennet, the heroine of "Pride and Prejudice" has an admirable independance. She does not want to marry for money, but for a deep love, and she refuses her cousin's proposal, although the marriage would solve all her family's problems. She also refuses Darcy's proposal in the middle of the novel, because she refused to be humiliated by him. He constantly reminded her of her lowness in station in comparison to his own nobility. However, throughout the remaining half of the novel, both Darcy and Lizzie come to know each other and themselves, and when Darcy proposes again at the end of the novel, Lizzie accepts because he sees her as equal and she realises how inherently good he is. In this way, Austen allows her heroine to have some choice in her marriage and preserves her dignity.
58 comments:
Jane Austen's book Pride and Prejudice is really a good book and the topic is not surprised me. Today many families make their girls marry with a rich man, so we can say that men are very lucky.Money is more important than personality according to many people who are fond of money. Also Pride and Prejudice was the first roman this term that we see this term. Also the father is very different than we expect.
HATİCE ERDOĞAN
I think Pride and Prejudice is one of the best classic novels. It has its heart a traditional story of love overcoming the odds, but despite this cliche Austen still manages to craft an original an very amusing novel. I did not approve Mrs. Bennet and Mr Bennet behavior, especially Mrs. Bennet. She guides her girls to maney wealth. I thinks this is not fair…
Jane Austen selected good characters for her novel to show the relationship between money, marriage and belonging to one class. Marriage is not for love but for money. Today, sometimes we come across with same situations.Family traditions are shown in a good way. Jane Austen shows the role of parents in different ways.Mr. and Mrs. Bennet don't think their children's ideas about marriage.They love money and belonging upper classes...
Pride and Prejudice:D what a beautiful and meaningful novel it is.Although it seems that class selection doesn't exist anymore, we sometimes meet,especially in rich families which treat marriages from different classes as a way of losing their statues.i really got enjoyed reading or watching it as well as another thing that affected me was that characters in the novel show the common and especially important features of that kind of families.i admire Jane Austen because of her logical attitudes.
ıf we look jane Austen' period, women have almost no right and women writers weren't so common. ın the book Lizzie represents Jane Austen. she wrote her ideas about women and she swhowed to people how women can be successfull in the society. also, she successed people to show that personality is important than money.
I read the novel of Pride and Prejudice,but i couldn't solve the characters.When we watch the first part of the film,it helped me to understand and see the characters,that is ,one of the girls loves a man who loves her,the other girl loves but refuses the proposal because of the humilating answer of the man;she behaves proudly...It is a good novel,and shows the English society.
I was at preperation class when I first heard about "pride and prejudice".I attempted to read it,but I failed.I could not understand and I gave up.Then I have watched the film version of the novel.We have watched former version in class;I found the chance to compare two different versions.
Marriage for social status and money is a very sad situation.Turkish girls experienced such situations,too years ago and still experience.But they do not marry for social status or money,their parents or relatives recommend a man whom they have selected.What is more,one of my friends's mother and father saw each other after the wedding:(I was shocked when I heard about it.
Anyway,I am happy with the end of this film after I have wathed Romeo and Juliet.I thank you Jane Austen not to upset us at the end of the novel.I like happy endings:)
Şeyda Çeşmeci
Firstly, I thank you teacher, because I couldn't understand 'Pride and Prejudice' owing to my absence from the class. I read the notes and summary,but I didn't have information enough about Lizzie and Darcy until I read the summary on the blog.
I think, Lizzie is brave, because with refusing her cousin's proposal she refuses also and more important she rejects her mother and tradition.
I congratulate Lizzie on refusing to be humiliated by Darchy.
ın this novel, Austen focuses on marriage and social status and its characters are suitable to her ideas. In this period, english got married with people according to their status it is too bad but we can come accross same situation in Turkey.ı like PRIDE abd PREJUDICE more than SENSE and SENSIBILITY. I think it is nice novel and also film of the novel is good. I watched both english and american versions of the film but ı prefer early that's British version.
Her novel was exceptional in that she clarifies the tiny parts of society.The way opened by Rousseou the society corrupts was followed by Jane.The melancoly tradition of heritage betweem families was the main point I appreciate.I advise you to read EMİLE by Rousseou.It also deals with the corruption of society.
I think Jane Austene focus on several important points. firstly not marry for status and money.
second marriage is a matter of love. thirdly women have rights such as inheritance and so on.
also I couldn't watch the film but I will.
Pride and Prejudice...I think this book has very special points.Elizabeth is prejudice,and Darcy is pride,but at the same time they love each other.I think it is most effective part of the book.When we watched the film,ıt affected me very much...The other thing that I realize in the film is the mother Mrs. Bennet:)She is willing to find a rich husband for her daughters,and she does her best to achieve it:)
In this period people marry with someone for money not for love,and Jane Austen reflects this situation in her novel,but she also shows us a marriage for love not for money.Elizabeth & Darcy are the characters that reflect this real love. Even if Elizabeth has such a mother, she could marry for love which is really surprizing :)
Yeşim Atasoy
I strongly disagree with şeyda in that she said our Turkish families recommend and girls marry.One question should be answered.What our families look for first.( what is your son job )Money identifies the social status that's mean we as the English families give importance to social status.Especially with the advent of eceonomical growth from 1980s,we have been losing our identity.No nation,no culture,no values.Everything is Global unfortunately.
Pride and Prejudice is a truly marvellous love story. Jane Austen tells us about the order and stability of society. Marriage and its role within the social world is a central theme in this novel. Elizabeth Bennet is one of the five sisters in the family but they have a big problem as their father's property is entailed to a male heir upon his death, so they should find a rich man to marry. It is law that any of the unmarried daughters cannot inherit the property of their fathers, that is a bad situation.. But at the end, Elizabeth falls in love with Darcy, and they get married..:))
Pride and Prejudice! It is excellent.The novel describes especially the characterisrtics very good. At those times people married for money not for love. However that Elizabeth and Darcy married for their love is very interesting and nice even in those times.
Yasemin YILMAZ
It is worth both to watch and to read.The first time when I watched the film with my friends before the lesson, we all talked about Mrs. Bennet ill-mannered behaviours which led Elizabeth to feel ashamed.She is obsessed with her daugthers getting married someone from the upper class.
The part which I like most is that such a man like Darcy who bursts with pride swallows his pride at the end of the movie.aquel
Austen is regarded as one of the finest woman writers of her time. Her work is most well-known for the way she makes her characters seem so realistic, her thoughts aout marriage. Pride and Prejudice is one of her well known novels. elzabeth bennet and his 4 sisters her father and crazy mother who wants to find rich husbands for his daughters. I found mrs. bennet very ridiculous,her attitudes, especially her voice. Jane austen emphasis the marriage which is not for money just for love..
I hate being identified as a commodity for centruies.My personal opinion is that,men's rude behaviour to women stems from their incosistent personality.
Jane Austen makes people smile at the end of their works. she always wrote about family relations and for me reading about people's lives effects me and i like this kind of books.
as all of the world knows,Pride and Prejudice is the famous book of JANE AUSTEN. we see there that for a woman a higher statu is so important and social staus affect people life.If ı think the time of
publication we can quess how successful writer she is..
Pride and Prejudice is a book known by the all over the world.Love and strictly divided classes are focuses of the this work. It resembles the love of todays. People of this time also give importance to being in the same statues while they want to get married, so when I got information about this work I was not shocked.
Love always wins. No importance should be given to social classes and economical differences. Jane Austen shows the power of the love in her this book.
MRS DarcY incredibly wealthy, and very conscious of his status in life. Some might go as far as to call him arrogant.
He knows the Bennet family are far below him socially, and believes a match with any of the girls would be disastrous, whether for himself, or for his friend Bingley.
I watched the film before the lesson I liked it.It is very meaningful novel there are contrast characters in novel such as Elizabeth and jane sisters.Jane is beautiful but dull and Elizabeth is charming and witty . The novel shows that a woman is expected to behave in certain ways in society.
The Austen wit of both the main characters and the minor roles are strongly projected and the costumes and sets are faithful to the era of Austen's writing.
jane austen focuses on the importance of environment and upbringing on the development of young people's character and morality. i think it not an advantage to br wealthy
Jane Austen told family relationship again. However, mother in Pride and Prejudice wanted her daughers to marry.
it's a kind of story which makes readers say "woooowww!!!" :) actually you know the end of the story,nevertheless you feel anxious on following the events. i find it far away from reality,real world.it's like a child game called "evcilik" in which everything is around you and all boys love just you-princess..this is not interesting..
when ı was in preparation class in high scholl ı read Pride and Preuce but ı could not understand the book properly,ı was bored and gave it up but when we watched the film in the class this year ı liked it. now ı want to read the book.
always rich people are superior to the poor. they have opportunities to get what they want, even happiness..they look down on the poor people.
the charecters are matching with each other and jane austen was a good writer ı think.lizzie and darcy is the most harmonious couple of the story
The marriage between Darcy and Elizabeth reveals the characteristics that constitute a successful marriage. One of these characteristics is that the feeling cannot be brought on by appearances, and must gradually develop between the two people as they get to know one another. In the beginning, Elizabeth and Darcy were distant from each other because of their prejudice. The series of events which they both experienced gave them the opportunity to understand one another and the time to reconcile their feelings for each other. Thus, their mutual understanding is the foundation of their relationship and will lead them to a peaceful and lasting marriage. This relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy reveals the importance of getting to know one’s partner before marrying.
Lydia and Wickham’s marriage is an example of a bad marriage. Their marriage was based on appearances, good looks.
Pride and Prejudice reflects 18th century because of the emphasis on man in his social environment rather than in his individual conditions. The use of satire and wit, a common form of 18th century literature, also contributes to label the book as 18th century. However, because Austen had allowed personal feelings of the characters to be expressed in her work, she can also be classified as Romantic. Passion and reason also comes together in the novel to show that they are complementary of marriage. The five marriages contrasts each other to reveal Austen’s opinions and thoughts on the subject of marriage
five marriages in pride and prejude contribute to the theme that a happy and strong marriage takes time to build and must be based on mutual feeling, understanding, and respect. Hasty marriages acting on impulse, and based on superficial qualities will not survive and will lead to inevitable unhappiness. These marriages are the conclusions of jane austan_s observation of the people in her world.
I think it is not a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fourtune must be in want of a wife.before marring a man a woman think whether the man has human virtues(ex:benevolent,pessimistic.. etc.) or not. the man is rich but has nothing.. ın the novel jane austen emphsizes this idea ı think.lizzy choose mr. darcy because she loves him not his money. if she marries for money she won't reject her cousın's proposal...
This is a novel of conflict and reconciliation of two characteristics ‘Pride and Prejudice’. Elizabeth is smart and charming, Darcy is handsome and proud.I love both this novel and movie version of it… I can say it is the best of the works we have looked at so far. Jane Austen shows marriage and social status well in her novel. She touchs on the reality of life from not only amusing but also depressing pespective. I am grateful to her for contributing to world literature with such a lovely work.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen ia a very sweet story in which the writer has explained the glamorous society of England during the 17th century. It has made me experience the world in which there are true love and the attraction of a man towards a girl. We can understand different relationships like sister, mother, child and a lover in the book. In addition, I learnt a lot about the old times and how the life was from the story. For example, most girls married not for love, but for security.
The book conveys the feelings and emotions of all different characters very well.
In Pride and Prejudice, again the women are the main points. Today , women have rights for many things, but at that time there is not given much importance on women .If they marry with a man ,they can be happy in their lives.Marriages were not for love,but for logic.This subject was mentioned successfully in this novel by Jane Austen..
I'm impressed with Pride and Prejudice because Jane Austen wrote about marriage and the relationship between men and women in an effective way.I don't approve of marrying for money and status.Lack of sense and responsibility can make people think wrongly.However;people should take into consideration the strength of their marriage, the personality of the person they marry and the future of their marriage.Love is stronger than money.
I think Pride and Prejudice
is a pretty film and some characters such as Mrs.Bennet and Ms Bennet and their dialog is funny.Also,relationship between Darcy and Lizzie is interesting.They seperate because they misunderstand each other as a result of their characters but the film finishes with happy end and they get married like Sense and Sensibility
Pride and Prejudice is the best novel of Jane Austen.In the book it has been showed the difference between the status.It was thought that money is importan than love.But in the end love deal with the everything.
In the book characters reflect the name of the book.Elizabeth Bennet is the character reflecting the prejudice and Mr.Darcy is the character reflecting the pride.
KEZBAN ASLAN
I have read the summary of the novel and watched the film in which Keira Knightley starring in. What I see is the good scenes, complex plot, real life, broken hearts and abandoning love for social status, entailing away the house of the girls. It reveals what went on in that perion in England...
I think Jane Austen in her work Pride and Prejudice gives up to sacrifice this love to pride at the last moment, so it appealed me more than the other works in this sense.After i watched the film of Pride and Prejudice i didn't like the English accent, but all the diologs later sounded nice because of the warmth of the film.
I liked this movie because it showed the generous love someone can have for another.I tought that Darcy's love for lizzy was one that indicated true respect.The things that he did for Elizabeth are examples of how ALLAH wants us to treat each other.I think this is a good movie that illustrated the value of love.
Jane Austen is the great writer of her period and also the whole Engligh literature periods. I think that JANE Austen is the most important woman writer in the world. It isn't an exaggeration. It is a true because although Pride and Prejudice is a first novel that supports women' rights and also evaluate people' s status in the society, it is very successful because of its writer.
The characters in the novel view the marrying as a passing into an upper status of the society and also see it as an formality in people' lives but this situstion changes the Bennet's girl and they marry with their lover. Jane Austen mentions that women in that period can do the things that they desire very much.
In Pride and Prejudice I loved most the character Elizabeth. If I were in such a situation, I would behave just like Elizabeth. I think she did the right thing. A woman must live for her pride, I think. On the other hand, Jane is more emotional than a woman should be. A woman should be logical and clever. Moreover, their mother, Mrs. Bennet only thinks the money. Money is not everything; happiness is more important than money, I think...
This novel really reflects the real life l think, we all know that if a man has money he has a lot of thing including women.According to most of women it doesn't matter if a man has good personality, or how handsome he is,the important think is his money.In Pride and Prejudice Mrs bennet is an good example of such women.
when I learned this novel I want to watch its film vey much.I think Jane austen is very big novelist. [seda]
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice effects me much. mothers want their daughters to marryy with wealthy men and be happy only with money but people cannot be happy without love. Jane Austen changed something about marriage in her novel so that it effects me.
ZAHİDE DONİ
lizzie is aware of her being a woman and her power and she is very plain-spoken.bur she doesn't make a concession from her being proper ladh and her elegance.the film of Pride and Prejudice can be seen as a feminist film.but this film is far away from the understanding of feminism validated today.ıt shows how love and prıde look good on women...
Pride and Prejudiceshows me a lot about the old times and how life used to be. For example, most girls married not for love but for security. We've recently watched the film in our courses. I thought this film is not as impressive as the book.
the story states the social segments and the huge gap between the upper and the moderate ones. Jane Austen professionally uses her language skill by using metaphores and historic perspective. As the name suggests it defines the pride of a man and a prejudice of a woman. The film was a bit boring but the theme was perfectly designed.
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