At the dramatic onset of Century 19, before bibliophiles overturned their palates into realism, there was one name that conquered the literary circuit—Jane Austen. Austen’s display of repertoire concerns with people’s personal dealings with the society and themselves: from how they venture to survive refraining from the usual track until how they find themselves competing against their own thoughts and ideas. Her stories flow with outside beauty and external affluence, as exposed. But, as the reader delves deeper into the pages from chapter to chapters and chapters to chapter, a sudden realization of meanings is implicitly prepared by Austen…but only those who reflect can see it clearly. To call Austen (particularly Pride and Prejudice aka P and P) as idiotic, annoying, and whatnot is an insult not just to a genius but also to those who appreciate art in its most adorable depth. For an author who has mastered the art of Humanism, to be considered “far from a genius” is an underestimation… _______________ While I was reading reviews re P and P, I was totally dumbfounded by the comments trying to defame one of the profoundest crafts in the world of literature. Have they understood the Piece well yet or otherwise, a handful of remarks are just too futile however are denigrating in a sense. Thus, there can be no doubt that the pride of Pride and Prejudice is prejudiced. Hence, this blog seeks to debunk few infamous myths defacing P and P, one by one:
- Pride and Prejudice is only for femmes
It is true that the emphases of the Novel mainly lie on what Jane and Elizabeth (Lizzy) think and comprehend. It is worthy, nonetheless, to consider that Austen uses the third-person omniscient point of view, thus a well-plotted opportuneness for readers to delve more accurately on most characters’ way of thinking and performing. To whatever degree, not because the cynosure rests on the two Bennet sisters, P and P will be labelled “only for femmes”. If you will scrutinize from volume after volume, the realization that the male characters’ P-O-Vs are also given important. Most paragraphs in P and P have gentlemen well-famed and (almost) well-venerated on definitions provided by the Author, and that the ladies cause as much flaws as the gents, P and P definitely is not ONLY for female readers. Take these last words from Chapter I: “Mr.Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three-and-twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character. Her mind was less difficult to develop. She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married: its solace was visiting and news.” Now, if Austen is solely feminist, she would have turned over a new leaf and made the characterization upside down. Pride and Prejudice is not meant exclusively for females rather the entitled aficionados are only for ladies. Austen, as a whole, shows no bias between the two opposite genders: their smiles and grimaces; pros and cons; their gains and drawbacks. In this sense, it is not, therefore, feministic in nature but rather socialistic.
- Too bloody to be understood
Since realism’s counterpart flows into the pages of P and P, the extravagance of descriptions is expected to be present in each chapter. So, someone who does not expect this style as a work with grandiloquence needs more nuts. Ditto to those who criticize destructively. Refined words from Austen do not only kick a drone-out-of-his-throne but also create a dictionary’s close friend subconsciously; the practice of the mind and the introduction to new words entail to better deposits to someone’s vocabulary bank. There are, notwithstanding, a few satirical knocks expresses by the Author within P and P—witty but not gory. Pride and Prejudice is a “sentimental comedy” from a “sentimental writer”. Thus, Austen’s purpose might not be for you to devour just the coating of the cake but the cake itself.
- Very romantic; just romantic
Grotesque itmay seem, but it is not. Pride and Prejudice implicitly and explicitly provides no fantasy. Better to say that fantasy lies to the mind of those people who are not aware enough of reality—and J. Austen is not one of them. The abundance of romantic atmosphere on most of Austen’s novels are a reality for a lady who lived at Steventon, aged 22, youngest among her siblings. Yet, the touch of romance does not make the whole, thus P and P is not “just” romantic. This novel challenges the readers’ perspective towards the inner animal in every person and the inner jungle in every society. Though there is no single Austen novel where man is present without a woman and vis-à-vis, holistically, the novel does not solely discuss about how a woman falls in love with a man or how a man pursues his love for a woman; it goes beyond romance. More than that, P and P is an issue of social morality merely about the human flaws and how those blunders derange or uplift people. Austen’s style of enveloping moral issues by romantic attachments is certainly unique—one which some people won’t comprehend without profound reading be on trend. ________________________________________________________- It is not as difficult to criticize something grand, but it is as perilous to interpret a minute detail. True enough, people are fond of babbling about things they don’t fully understand—-now that is a truth universally acknowledged.
Professor Magorium 