This posting is for any conversations about Pride & Prejudice, including (but not limited to):
*Jane Austen's life and work
*Time period and related literature
*Characters
*Plot
*Movies, plays, and other adaptations (zombies & vampires included)
*Themes: love, courtship, marriage, family/generational relationships
If you have any questions, comments, or ideas as you read, post a comment and create a thread.
Ok so I am honestly not enjoying this book at all. Because once you get pass the detailed writting style you find no more then gossip, back talking, want of wealth , whose most handsome, and whose most powerful. Yet lets not forget social standings. And to me I feel like im back at highschool again when I read this book. Which is definatley not my favorite place to be...So if any one has any opposing thoughts I would love to hear them !
ReplyDeleteWell, Pride & Prejudice set in a time where electricity was limited (if at all it existed at this time). Society's idea of down time was gossiping because it was one of few forms of entertainment. I mean Lydia and Kitty went almost everyday to Meryton to flirt with soldiers!! I enjoy this novel because "gossip, back talking, want of wealth , whose most handsome, and whose most powerful" still remains today.
DeleteHey Ash :),
DeleteI honestly have only ever looked at this book from a comical viewpoint. Not sure if that's good or bad, but that's how I've always interpreted it. I think that Ms. Austen was having a really hard time relating to the world around her. A world where people never married below their standings and the only easy form a entertainment WAS gossip. The amount of stupidity that Jane Austen had to put up with was enormous and she synced Lizzie's life to the stupidities of the time. Ergo Lizzie is kinda the "rock" of the story, she hardly ever gossips and she's not falling into the Mosh Pit of Love (at least, not until Colin Firth comes out of the pond.) Even Mr. Bennet sees this and loves her more for it.
So, I suppose if you aren't looking at it from a comical perspective, ya the book is pretty badgering, but really Ms. Austen wrote a hilarious satire that makes me laugh every time I hear Mrs. Bennet complaining about her poor nerves or Mr. Colins blabbering on about Lady Catherine de Bourgh etc. Granted near the end it gets more intense, but try thinking to yourself, "ALL THESE PEOPLE ARE CRAZY!" and make yourself the only sane one around. This will put you in Lizzie's shoes and you might feel a bit better.
Your feeling of being back in high school suggests the same sort of claustrophobic entrapment that Austen's characters experience in their lives and relationships. I wonder if your reaction suggests that the book is a failure in entertainment or a success in conveying just how constricting it must have been to fall in love and not be able to express oneself in those times. Anyone else have an opinion on this?
ReplyDeleteTrue, that is a point of view I have not thought of. Yet I find no real connection with anyone in this book except for Darcy. I find his attitude to be very humurous, and yet challenging. Which in turn makes me woder if the message that be is conveyed reached me in level of understanding (such as highschool to a claustrophobic entrapment presented in this book), or a level of annoyance because I do connect yet have no power to change the books outcomes in various chapters. And thus, the questions continue, I would love more insight of any who are willing to give their perspective on this subject.
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way you did when I read the book Ashlie. However, it didn't annoy me it made me laugh. I thought it was so humorous that the "high class" of 1700s England could be as immature and prejudiced as we high schoolers are. Also, Darcy was my favorite character too! I feel he was misrepresented in the newer movie version of the book.
ReplyDeleteMisrepersented. The perfect word to describe such a character
ReplyDelete