Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

Date of Reading: 14/06/2007

Author: Jane Austen

Publisher: P. B. D.

           There is quite a lot of summaries in net on this book, and so I don't want to linger long. Story concerns the lives of five Bennet sisters -- Jane, Elizabeth (Lizzy), Kitty, Mary and Lydia. Their mother has (quite unfortunately) nothing to do except to worry about her daughters' marriage. When Mr. Bingley comes to stay at the village of Longbourn, she sees a suitable match for Jane; it goes well as expected until Mr. Darcy (our hero) intervenes. He is Bingley's friend, quite rich and is well-known for his pride; Bennet family according to him has no material prospects and so a marriage is quite out of the question though he himself has an attraction towards Elizabeth against his desire.

          Elizabeth has no such day dreams as she is prudently warned by Mr. Wickham (the villain) on Darcy's evil streak; she rejects Darcy's proposal and he conveys his innocence through a letter which turns the tables against Wickham. He has misused Miss Darcy's intimacy, but she is timely saved by her brother. This opens Lizzy's eyes and when she visits the Darcy mansion with Mr. & Mrs. Gardiner, the uncle and aunt, . . . la la la la. . . the love blooms.

          News comes that Lydia has eloped with Wickham; Darcy manages to suppress the scandal by giving some money to him and thereby arranging a marriage with Lydia. The wedding of himself with Elizabeth, and Bingley with Jane follows and gives a happy ending.

          I must have read this at least five times, but the charm still remains. First half is a huge bore but after the middle it is hard to lay the book down.

          There are numerous film and T. V. adaptations. My favourite is BBC 1995 version, starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. 'Bride and Prejudice' by Gurinder Chadha, starring Aishwarya Rai is a Bollywood adaption which I would rate as "not bad" for a modern version of the story.

--- Austen has begun writing this at the age of 21, and it was initially titled as 'First Impression'