Resumo de Pride And Prejudice

Perhaps the most delightful portrait of human interaction in the late 18th century, Pride and Prejudice provides readers not only with entertaining characters but with a glimpse of life in pre-Victorian England as well.The story centers around the Bennett family, particularly daughters Elizabeth and Jane, and their interaction with two gentlemen: Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy. Although the romance between Jane and Bingley serves as the cornerstone for the rest of the story, and there are segways dealing with Elizabeth's transitory attraction to the unscrupulous Mr. Wickham and her proposal of marriage from her rediculous cousin, Mr. Collins, it is in the complicated and entertaining connection between Elizabeth and Darcy that the story finds its focus. The story is not, however, simply a romance, a mere tale of love found, misunderstood, lost, and found again. Amidst Jane's early infatuation with Bingley and Elizabeth's early dislike of Darcy, within Jane's betrayal and Elizabeth's anger and prejudice, and in Jane's final happiness and Elizabeth's ultimate understanding and love, are woven other, more complicated themes. Austen manages, within the confines of an amusing tale, to give a wry commentary on a social institution of her time, namely, marriage. The difficulty and heartache that both sisters face is due in large part to the belief that a woman's security required marriage and that a man's finances were his greatest recommendation in terms of eligibility. The belief that one ought to marry within one's own social class also factored in. Both Elizabeth and Jane are looked down upon in terms of marriagability, despite their virtues, because of their low income. Bingley's sister and Mr. Darcey both attempt to dissuade Bingley from becoming attached to Jane on these grounds. Darcy too, even while admitting his love for Elizabeth, cites her low social standing as a mark against her. More minor characters are also affected: Miss Lucas marries Mr. Collins merely for security, while the family is forced to bribe Mr. Wickham to marry Lydia after they run away together. Austen, interestingly, never paints the couples who marry according to society's expectations in a favorable light. Her father, for example, wearily tolerates her mother's idiosyncracies, and Miss Lucas orders her home life around avoiding her husband's company altogether. The great happiness we see, is in the couples who overcome societal pressure and marry for love rather than income. Ever the gentle satirist, Austen prods both the reader's romantic and her analytical self. The characters are vivid and believable, the plot is thought-provoking and surprising, the ending is happy, and the journey to it well worth the time.

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