Pride & Prejudice

Since January of 2012 I have read approximately 150 novels. I consider it quite the accomplishment on my behalf. It’s helped me become more literate and reminded me how much free time I have, which I believe can be better spent getting a life—however, I enjoyed reading all of them. For my fiftieth novel, I chose one of the most well-known, revered and highly loved books, “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen. At one time I had absolute no interest in doing so. The language looked far too complex to understand and the thickness of it intimidated me. But I was later convinced. Here’s how…

While recovering from surgery, I spent a lot of time watching TV. And I was just about sick and tired of sitting through another cooking show. So I surfed the cable guide and saw a certain channel showing the 2005 version of “Pride and Prejudice”. With it being so late in the evening and in true desperation, I watched it. And throughout the entire movie…I laughed, I cried, I gasped, I sighed…and all in all, fell in love with the story. Knowing what I was getting into, I decided to get past my fears and read the book.
Here’s a brief synopsis…Elizabeth Bennet is the second oldest of her five sisters. Their mother is very eager to marry them off to rich husbands and each have a different opinion in the matter. Elizabeth personally believes in marrying for love and won’t settle for anything less. She meets the very high class, Mr. Darcy and immediately sees him someone who is prideful and snobbish. Both assume the worst of each other until their time spent in each other’s company, as well as admirable deeds done on their own time, prove those assumptions wrong.

For so long, I’ve listened to female readers gush about Mr. Darcy, and I had no idea why—even when I watched the movie. Okay, I had some idea…one can hardly resist the succulent voice of Matthew Macfadyen. But as I started reading this book, I slowly realized how all thoughts and explanations that one doesn’t hear in a movie is what brings Mr. Darcy’s character to life in the most realistic way. Elizabeth’s way of thinking is much similar to my own. When I see a person walk with an air about them that’s straight postured, always looking forward with a brooding face, wearing expensive clothing, being anti-social; I immediately assume they think they’re better me—that their “too big for their britches” so to speak.

With Elizabeth being lighthearted and knowing her personality would put Mr. Darcy out of his comfort zone, she did so with every intention to counteract his behavior towards her. But she was still judgmental. It took seeing his good ways and hearing accounts from the people closest to him to see how kind and generous he is. But at the same time, in a certain way he did find himself to be superior towards her. So when he (spoiler alert) asked for Elizabeth’s hand in marriage, his pride was hurt when she degraded his character—based off false information—and said no.

But here’s what makes him ever so dreamy. He’s one of those perfectly imperfect people. He lets go of his pride and loves her enough that despite the ill will she expressed towards him, he jumped through hoops and did everything in his power to help her in times of need. Even after she told him off, he remained civil and kind hearted towards her, all for the sake of wanting her to be happy—the mark of an absolute gentleman. Because of that she saw better of him and let go of her pride to admit that she was wrong. That was the “now I get it” moment for me.

A couple of lessons I noticed throughout this book. One: to assume makes an “A--” out of “u” and “me”. Two: get everyone’s side of the story before you believe one’s interpretation. Three: gossip will get you nowhere. Four: always be civil to one another. You never know if you’ll need a favor from them later. Five: always marry for love.
In modern society, men are not quite as refined as those who existed in this book’s era. And to be truly honest, I’m okay with it. My personal preference are men who work hard and aren’t afraid of getting their hands dirty. However, I refuse to believe that true chivalry will ever die. It is rare of course, but so long as women crave the attention of men who are remotely like Mr. Darcy, hopefully men will take the hint and see that being a gentleman will take them far. At the same time women can learn patience, acceptance and the cliché proverb, “Don’t judge a book by it’s a cover”—A phrase that I’ve used both figuratively and literally this week.