Resumo de Pride And Prejudice

Austen describes a microcosm of a section of English society, as seen through the eyes of her feminine characters. In Pride and Prejudice, the Bennett family, although of ?genteel? class, at least through their father?s blood, are somewhat barred, for a ?good? marriage, through lack of money, to the ?high? class, where the delightfully dark and silent Mr Darcy, freely walks.

The story essentially plots the course of the strange emotion called love. Strange, that is, it seems, to the author, who presents love as a sort of illness of the brain, which causes unbecoming aspirations and behaviour. Despite this, the two main characters, Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett, steadfastly progress, albeit at a distance and slow place, from initial dislike, which itself overlays an attraction, through, like one of their stately dances, to its elegant finish.

As a deeper counterpoint, ?Pride? runs straight and hard, unwavering through the centre of the story. Pride is used to weigh and counter-weigh human foibles and to showcase the society in which the characters live.

The characters are drawn at extremes. Mrs Bennett, the mother, who is pushy, conscious of wealth (through not having enough), of an inferior status to he more intelligent (but lazy husband), has an iron determination to thrust her daughters in the path of any moneyed bachelor, with Mr Darcy being the principal fish for her hook. At the opposite end of the scale is Lady Catherine de Bourgh, where money and breeding are inseparable. There is a delightful scene in which this well bred haughty woman is shown as the virago she is. In losing control of her tightly held emotions, she is also forced to lower some of the pride and prejudice for which she is famous in her own social circle.

As with all well crafted love stories, there is plenty of misunderstanding, resentment, anger, dislike, longing, attraction, embarrassed explanations and, of course, love. However, the characters contain all of these powder-keg emotions within the bounds of society rules, pushing the boundaries at times, but never really over-stepping. It is an elegant story in an elegant setting.

The book is excellent reading. The two recent films, one with Colin Firth as Mr Darcy and the later one, with Kiera Knightley as Elizabeth, are great visual aids, in bringing written words to energetic life. Seen before or after reading the book, the characters will remain painted on the mind for ever.

Resumos Relacionados