|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
|
Product Description
From Amazon.com
Next to the exhortation at the beginning of Moby-Dick, "Call me Ishmael," the first sentence of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice must be among the most quoted in literature. And certainly what Melville did for whaling Austen does for marriage--tracing the intricacies (not to mention the economics) of 19th-century British mating rituals with a sure hand and an unblinking eye. As usual, Austen trains her sights on a country village and a few families--in this case, the Bennets, the Philips, and the Lucases. Into their midst comes Mr. Bingley, a single man of good fortune, and his friend, Mr. Darcy, who is even richer. Mrs. Bennet, who married above her station, sees their arrival as an opportunity to marry off at least one of her five daughters. Bingley is complaisant and easily charmed by the eldest Bennet girl, Jane; Darcy, however, is harder to please. Put off by Mrs. Bennet's vulgarity and the untoward behavior of the three younger daughters, he is unable to see the true worth of the older girls, Jane and Elizabeth. His excessive pride offends Lizzy, who is more than willing to believe the worst that other people have to say of him; when George Wickham, a soldier stationed in the village, does indeed have a discreditable tale to tell, his words fall on fertile ground.
Having set up the central misunderstanding of the novel, Austen then brings in her cast of fascinating secondary characters: Mr. Collins, the sycophantic clergyman who aspires to Lizzy's hand but settles for her best friend, Charlotte, instead; Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. Darcy's insufferably snobbish aunt; and the Gardiners, Jane and Elizabeth's low-born but noble-hearted aunt and uncle. Some of Austen's best comedy comes from mixing and matching these representatives of different classes and economic strata, demonstrating the hypocrisy at the heart of so many social interactions. And though the novel is rife with romantic misunderstandings, rejected proposals, disastrous elopements, and a requisite happy ending for those who deserve one, Austen never gets so carried away with the romance that she loses sight of the hard economic realities of 19th-century matrimonial maneuvering. Good marriages for penniless girls such as the Bennets are hard to come by, and even Lizzy, who comes to sincerely value Mr. Darcy, remarks when asked when she first began to love him: "It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley." She may be joking, but there's more than a little truth to her sentiment, as well. Jane Austen considered Elizabeth Bennet "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print". Readers of Pride and Prejudice would be hard-pressed to disagree. --Alix Wilber --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. Read the first page
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
8th grade girl's perspective on Pride and Prejudice,
By Arianne's BMS Literary Corner (Pepper Pike, Ohio) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Pride and Prejudice (Mass Market Paperback)
Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, follows society's elite through the trials and tribulations of love, pride, money, and marriage negotiations. This novel takes place in 19th century England and revolves around the slow development of love found between two characters. The first of these characters is Elizabeth Bennet, a clever, beautiful, and spirited young woman. Pride and Prejudice begins, when Mrs. Bennet asks Mr. Bennet to call on their new neighbor, Mr. Bingley. Mr. Bingley has an income of 5 thousand pounds a year and is not married, so Mrs. Bennet hopes to marry one of her 5 daughters to him. Jane, the eldest daughter, and Mr. Bingley begin to like each other during a ball. Elizabeth, the second oldest, meets Mr. Darcy at the same ball. Darcy initially does not care for Elizabeth, and refuses to even dance with her. However, as Elizabeth grows to dislike Darcy, Darcy starts to become very fond of her. She and Darcy meet again when she stays with Mr. Bingley, because her sister, Jane, has taken ill at their house. Ms. Bingley, the sister of Mr. Bingley, herself hopes to wed Darcy, and seeks to make Elizabeth less appealing to Darcy. After Jane's recovery she and Elizabeth return home. There they welcomed to their home by their cousin Mr. Collins, who, because of the inheritance customs of the times (the Bennet girls had no brothers), was the heir to the Bennet family home. Together, Elizabeth and her family travel to town, where they met Mr. Wickham. Mr. Wickham notices Elizabeth, who he found charming, and describes to her a terrible deed he alleges Darcy had committed against him. Wickham claimed that Darcy owed him money and had denied him of a promised avocation. This new information causes Elizabeth to despise Darcy even more. Soon Mr. Collins, the rather odd clergyman, proposes to Elizabeth. To her mother's dismay, she refuses him. Instead, her friend Charlotte Lucas marries Mr. Collins, and Elizabeth goes to visit them and their neighbor the great Lady Catherine De Bourgh. During her stay Elizabeth sees Darcy again, and he proposes. Elizabeth refuses, reciting all the terrible things he had done, including the mistreatment of Wickham. In response, Darcy writes Elizabeth explaining how Wickham had tried to elope with his sister because of her money. Elizabeth is forced to rethink, her opinions relating to Darcy and Wickham. That summer Elizabeth traveled to Pemberly on holiday with her aunt and uncle, and while there her aunt and uncle wanted to see the beautiful Darcy estate. While visiting, Darcy showed up. Darcy and his sister heartily welcomed Elizabeth and her aunt and uncle, and invited them to dinner. Elizabeth began to grow fonder of Darcy. Dreadful news arrived during Elizabeth's stay at Pemberly. Her frivolous younger sister Lydia had run off with Wickham. Upon learning of the circumstances, Darcy sought out and found Wickham and Lydia, forcing them to marry. Elizabeth and her aunt and uncle returned to the Bennet home. Bingley and Darcy together visited the Bennet household to call upon Jane and Elizbeth. Jane became engaged to Bingley, and when Darcy proposed to Elizabeth, her heart had changed, so she said yes. Elizabeth had fallen in love Darcy. They had both seen past their pride and past the prejudices that they had learned from society. Elizabeth and Darcy were happy in marriage, and remained forever grateful to Elisabeth's aunt and uncle for uniting them. I would recommend the book Pride and Prejudice. It forces each of us to think about our roles in life. The novel also makes us think about our own pride and our own prejudices against others, and the need for us to learn more about people before we judge them. This book is also one of the greatest Romances of all time, bringing to life the love that a man and a woman held for each other from another era. It provides meaningful messages that all of us should learn. The characters are also interesting. This book is good for people who understand the use of language in the 19th century. Pride and Prejudice is a classic novel that I love, and believe everyone would enjoy.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not what I would call a "masterpiece".,
By Salty Salmon "Bookworm" (Ottawa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Pride and Prejudice (Paperback)
Pride and Prejudice is a classic, like everyone knows. Unfortunately, it is NOT my cup of tea. Even though many would say that is what gives this book it's "charm", I didn't like how old-fashioned this read is. I was surprised that I thought so because I do not consider myself to be a "modern" person at all. I can't really give a summary because I couldn't get myself to finish this book. I can often finish books that don't grab me at first, but there was no hope for this one. I would definitely say give it shot though because all readers have different taste and I know that there has to be something great in there to make this book so well known!
5.0 out of 5 stars
This charming novel can still captivate readers,
By
This review is from: Pride and Prejudice (Paperback)
It is hard to add new insights to the hundreds of reviews on Pride and Prejudice that appear on Amazon, but I will say that after reading this much loved and celebrated novel, I found it charming and delightful. Austen's exploration of marriage and gender still stands the test of time two centuries later. The language is witty and well-mannered, a true reflection of the time in which Austen penned the book, and there is humour to be found here as well in some of the secondary characters. As one who does not frequently read classic literature, this book was well worth the time it took to read! Highly recommended. [Amy MacDougall]
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
|
