Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Book Review

Austin starts her novel by introducing some key themes. The first phrase, which then became one of the most famous lines in literature, already introduces us to the two main themes: marriage and class. It is also ironic since at that time women were seen as the ones who sought marriage not men in charge of finding a wife saying “a single man...in want of a wife”. Austen also introduces the novel with a clear example of an unstable marriage, Mr and Mrs Bennet's matrimony. She makes it look as if Mr Bennet is being sarcastic all the time which is funny until further in the novel where we see he’s making a fool of his wife most of the time.

We also start to gradually notice the difference between Mrs Bennet’s opinion and her daughter’s, Elizabeth, on marriage. Mrs Bennet believes that a young woman should be married to a wealthy and successful husband, however, we see that Elizabeth focuses more on love rather than money. Nevertheless, Austin also suggests that even under these strict cultural restrictions, a happy union can exist.

After the ball where Elizabeth and Darcy first meet, we see another important theme being introduced like the title suggests, pride and prejudice. The rejection of Darcy to dance with Elizabeth because she is “not handsome enough to tempt” him, shows Elizabeth as a very clever and quick woman because Darcy’s words don’t seem to affect her view of him: “I could easily forgive his pride if he had not mortified mine!”. She can recognise his pride but certainly does not let his pride lead to prejudice, although she’s more hurt than what she shows to the rest.

Another mention of marriage is in Charlotte’s and Elizabeth’s conversation. Elizabeth still believes that love shouldn’t be faked just for money although Charlotte suggests that a good marriage is where the woman is married just for the sake of security, which then allows her the “leisure for falling in love as much as she chuses”. The reader agrees with Lizzy but further events show us that Austen considers both opinions are true, valid and equally as important since Jane almost loses Bingley because she never “[shewed] more affection than she feels” and never “[helped] him on”, which are Charlotte’s words that reminded us this.

Finally, we realize the relationship between Darcy and Caroline Bingley. Caroline is the unmarried sister of Bingley but she’s very strict and has a lot of class and to her, society is “insupportable”. However, when Darcy mentions Elizabeth’s “fine eyes”, Caroline is quick to judge the Bennet family, by saying that they would be embarrassing in society. Although Darcy doesn’t fully disagree, he shows much more decency than Caroline. Their conversation outlines how personal prejudices are more difficult to transcend than class differences.

To conclude, the way Austen introduces the main themes and gets into the plot quickly, engages the reader, also because the climax develops quickly which interests the audience. The themes in the novel make us reflect on many things and understand many of the character’s views as well as how life used to be at that time and we get an idea of Austen’s life and opinion on pride and prejudice.