Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice'

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 

This book is hard to get into.  Having to really need to concentrate on the words makes it a difficult read.


Jane Austen uses inversion - which would have been normal speech for the time - so the reader is left unable to skim over the sentences.  This becomes quite tedious and makes the reading process long.  Some parts are extra hard to understand, this is where reading aloud can help the reader make sense of the speech.


Being up to only Chapter 14 feels like being a lifetime away from the final chapter, 61!  The book seems to be moving slowly, but this is probably because Austen has to introduce the characters first.  Around the middle of the book - chapter 31 or there about - the story should begin to progress much quicker.  By this stage the book will most likely be able to hold the readers attention for longer, allowing for it to be read more than one or two chapters at a time.

The slow progression at the start of the book lets the reader's mind wander as they read.  Meaning that by the time they get back on track they have become lost in the words; thus not understanding what the last page and a half meant.

Mr. Darcy is an unusual character as he does not like to give much away.  Although it is evident that he is attracted to Lizzy he is too proud to admit that he has a keen eye for her and secretly is falling for her more and more.  He is also prejudiced towards the 'country folk' such as the Bennet's, Lucas's and all those who attended the ball.

Elizabeth Bennet - also known as Lizzy - is portrayed as a strong willed character not afraid of what other people think.  She understands that Mrs. Louisa Hurst and Miss Caroline Bingley do not particularly like but neither detest her either.  They make it clear that they do not accept Lizzy for who she is.  Lizzy is prejudiced towards Mr. Darcy due to how he acts.

While it is very evident that Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet portrays the characteristics; pride and prejudice; there will almost definitely be other characters that will end up portraying those characteristics.

Picture:
Pride and Prejudice (Longman Literature) n.d., photograph, Amazon, accessed 13 April 2012, <http://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Longman-Literature-Austen/dp/0582077206>.