Thoughts on Pride & Prejudice

I finished reading Pride & Prejudice a week or two ago. (I can’t believe I had never read it before.) While the “language” was difficult for me, I still loved the book and Austen’s insight into human character and foibles. I think my favorite character had to have been Darcy.  Though he appeared conceited and gruff on the surface, earning for him a negative impression with those who didn’t know him well,  ultimately he demonstrated a very compassionate and generous nature.

Some of my favorite quotes from PRIDE & PREJUDICE:

• Pride is a very common failing I believe. By all that I have read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed, that human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or other, real or imaginary. Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously.  A person may be proud without being vain.  Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.  – Mary Bennet (Vol. 1 Chapter 5)
• It is particularly incumbent on those who never change their opinion to be secure of judging properly at first.  – Elizabeth Bennett (Vol. 1 Chapter 18)
• Importance may sometimes be purchased too dearly.  – Elizabeth (Vol. 2 Chapter 3)
• I do not mean to say that a woman may not be settled too near her family.  The far and the near must be relative, and depend on many varying circumstances.  Where there is fortune to make the expense of traveling unimportant, distance becomes no evil.  – Elizabeth (Vol. 2 Chapter 9)
• Had Elizabeth’s opinion been all drawn from her own family, she could not have formed a very pleasing picture of conjugal felicity or domestic comfort.  (Vol. 2 Chapter 19)
• Mr. Bennet had very often wished, before this period of his life, that instead of spending his whole income, he had laid by an annual sum for the better provision of his children, and of his wife, if she survived him.  He now wished it more than ever.  (Vol. 3 Chapter 8)
• But how little of permanent happiness could belong to a couple who were only brought together because their passions were stronger than their virtue,.......        (Vol. 3 Chapter 8)
• I know that you could be neither happy nor respectable, unless you truly esteemed your husband, unless you looked up to him..........My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life.  – Mr. Bennet to Elizabeth (when learning of her love for Darcy)  (Vol. 3 Chapter 17)

And there were SO many others! 

Earlier I mentioned that the "language" made it difficult for me to read.  I found it interesting how many words I didn't know, or at least didn't understand in a particular context......like "saloon".  So, at the risk of advertising a severe lack of vocabulary on my part I will include just some of the words I had to look up.

prepossession: an attitude, belief, or impression formed beforehand : prejudice

obsequiousness: exhibiting servile compliance; fawning

Whist: a card game ancestral to bridge, played with a full deck by two teams of two players

eclat: acclaim, enthusiastic approval

hauteur: haughtiness or arrogance; loftiness

probity: complete and confirmed integrity; uprightness

sennight: the space of seven nights and days : week

complaisance: the inclination to comply willingly with the wishes of others; amiability

dissemble: to disguise or conceal behind a false appearance

entailed: restriction of inheritance to a limited class of descendants for at least several generations

preferment: advancement or promotion in dignity, office, or station

diminution: a reduction in the worth of something caused by an action of a third party or entity

saloon: the principal room (salon) of an 18th century mansion, often at the centre of a suite of state rooms

curricle: a light, open, two-wheeled carriage, drawn by two horses abreast

copse: a thicket of small trees or shrubs

panegyric: elaborate praise or laudation

equipage: equipment or furnishings, or a horse-drawn carriage

brooking: to put up with; tolerate

Looking forward to hearing/reading your impressions of this book!

Love, 

Aunt Louise

The Joy of Reading

Thought you all might appreciate this.  When I heard it Sunday I immediately wanted to put it on this blog. Glad to find it already posted on the choir's web site.

THE JOY OF READING by Lloyd Newell 

Tabernacle Choir's Music & The Spoken Word

Sunday, June 6th 2010

More than 2,000 years ago, when readers were few and books were fewer, the Roman philosopher Cicero observed, “A home without books is a body without a soul.”¹ Today, books are much more accessible, and yet they are often shelved away behind booming entertainment centers and forgotten in dusty boxes. Sadly, the love of reading has been lost to some. Just a generation or two ago, reading was a primary leisure activity. People read a daily newspaper to stay informed. People spent free time at libraries and read books to relax and to expand their knowledge. But reading is not as popular as it once was. A recent report found that today’s youth spend, on average, seven hours a day in front of a screen and only 25 minutes reading books.² One family recently noticed that they had unwittingly succumbed to cultural forces of easy entertainment and decided to rediscover reading. As a family, they set aside time each day to read. They visited the local library. They talked about what they were reading. They began to find more satisfaction in this new and improved leisure time they shared. Their family culture shifted slightly – Cicero would say they restored the “soul” to their home – and they found that one of the greatest gifts parents can give their children is a passion for reading. Readers are lifelong learners; they know that new insights and ideas come to those who read. Readers discover new worlds and new people. They can be entertained and inspired just by opening a book. Reading expands knowledge and understanding and can enlarge creativity and imagination like nothing else. So open a book, visit a library, tap into the astonishing vaults of knowledge that are right at your fingertips, and rediscover the joy of reading.

Pride and Prejudice

Grandma Mary and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading and hearing your comments on To Kill A Mockingbird! We hope those of you who are just beginning to read this incredible book will also post your comments on the blog.

FYI, we have reconsidered the book per month idea. From now on the general guideline will be two months per book. So, those with full time jobs, young mothers, and students, who are already swamped but still want to read with us, take whatever time you need. We will continue to watch for your comments on the blog and they will be shared with Grandma Mary.

Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen. First published in 1813, as her second novel, in Steventon, Hampshire, where she lived with her parents and siblings in the town rectory. The novel revolves around the Bennet family who live in the fictional town of Meryton in Hertfordshire, not far from London. The five marriageable daughters and mother will be without a home and income once Mr. Bennet dies, because being women, they will not inherit Longbourn (the estate where they live). The mother worries about this predicament, and wishes to find husbands for them quickly. The father doesn’t seem to be worried at all. The story follows the main character Elizabeth, the second eldest, as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, moral rightness, education and marriage in her aristocratic society of early 19th century England.

A major theme in much of Austen’s work is the importance of environment and upbringing on the development of young people’s character and morality. Social standing and wealth are not necessarily advantages in her world.

GRANDMA MARY WRITES: I've loved to read Jane Austen since I was a teenager. I feel like I am living in a small English village 200 years ago, observing and enjoying the people. I see English Society as it was thru her eyes and wonder – was it really like that? In Pride and Prejudice I laugh over the antics of Mr. Collins. I admire Elizabeth as she accepts some things she can't change. She has wit and vivaciousness.

Grandma and I both hope you enjoy this next read!

FYI: One of the plays featured at this year's Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City is Pride and Prejudice.  It runs through July and August. If you want more info on that check out their website: http://www.bard.org  Let me know if you're interested in going as a group, and what dates would be good for you.  

Love, Aunt Louise

PS If you have a hard time keeping all the characters straight you might appreciate the character map at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pride_and_Prejudice_Character_Map.png