Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is the quintessential love-hate-love-love-hate-love story. Stripped of all the big old English words Jane Austen used to tell the story of the Bennet households’ bucolic (a fancy way of saying provincial) life and the children’s pursuit of the socially acceptable endgame for women at that time-which is marriage, the first line sentence I used sums up what Austen tried to say in more than 700 pages. Set in a period when people were judged on their level of “agreeable-ness” (“Do you find him agreeable?” is probably the modern day equivalent of the loaded question “soo kamusta naman sya?” in Pinoy slang) and where social standing and decorum were highly valued ideals, the book tells a story of what is like for people to fall in love in these material conditions. The main characters of the book are Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy. The book is mostly told based on Elizabeth’s point of view. From her initial account of Mr Darcy, the guy is nothing more than an arrogant, proud prick. This perception changed and eventually, she found herself in love to Mr Darcy. Mr Darcy initially resented Elizabeth but later he found out he has feelings for Elizabeth and after a 1^st failed attempt of wooing Elizabeth, Mr Darcy again confessed his love to Elizabeth and they lived happily ever after. In between this oversimplification of a love story are conflicts and story arcs that make the story more real and more human and relatable- an imperfect family setting, an evil aunt, good aunt, a good set of friends, evil friends, a reliable sister, a rumormongering neighbourhood etc.

Here’s a trailer of a 2005 Pride and Prejudice movie which gives a good summary of the entire book:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJA27Jujzq4

The book is a well written love story that everyone at a certain plane, can relate to. The highlights of the book for me include the scene when Mr Darcy confessed his love to Elizabeth the 1^st time and was flatly rejected; when Elizabeth read Mr Darcy’s letter clearing his name; and when Elizabeth visited Pemberley- the estate of Mr. Darcy and saw him again after a long period of absence. In these scenes, you can feel the tension between the 2 characters and their restrained feeling of hate/love towards each other. These scenes adequately capture that moment when ones’ pride and prejudice can be a stumbling block to achieve happiness.

I enjoyed reading the book and found myself at times sympathizing with the different characters involved. Ploughing through the book is a worthwhile exercise if only to be reminded that love transcends perceived class differences and even pride and prejudice.