A Few Parting Words
First impressions are important. It's hard to change first impressions and most people are unwilling to, but even if this is a universal truth that doesn't mean first impressions is accurate. It was hard to find a theme in Pride & Prejudice mostly because I was so entertained by the drama and dialogue that I didn't spend my time actively searching for one, but it was hidden in plain sight. Before Pride & Prejudice had it's published title it was titled "First Impressions" and this title fits the storyline perfectly. In every meeting of a new character you get your first impression then realize that what you see initially isn't the only thing. The character of Wickham, a young soldier who is stationed in Meryton for a time is introduced as an underdog. He is polite and charming and impresses the whole Bennet family but as the story continues you find out that he isn't as cookie cutter clean as he lets on. Mr. Darcy has a similar character development. When Mr. Darcy appears he has a pompous air to him and instantly Elizabeth is thrown off by him. She finds him rude and intolerable and vows to never like him. But as his character develops and the drama begins he shows his true colors and Elizabeth is forced to reconsider her first impression of him. Reworking first impressions is always a difficult task, but necessary in moving forward in life. Which is what Austen is showing us. Even if it hurts our pride of being wrong on the first impression we have to get rid of our prejudice and come to realize people are not always what they seem; good or bad. Both titles Pride & Prejudice and First Impressions reveal a lot about the story without giving everything away. They can be attention grabbers but then the world of the books is what draws you in and keeps you there. While the original title of First Impressions reveals what the message can be, the published title Pride & Prejudice reveals more about the character's actions.I didn't really keep any of Nabokov, or Perrine, or O'Connor in the back of my mind as I read; I just read. But even if I wasn't actively thinking about them I think I did use some of their techniques. Pride & Prejudice seems like a character study as much of a romantic comedy/drama story. All of the characters had distinguishable personalities that demanded special attention. So I paid special attention to them and it revealed a lot about the message in the book and made the reading of the book much richer. It helped to reveal the motives of what happened in the book and how it moved the plot forward. If I were to give tips to someone who was going to read Pride & Prejudice I would tell them to pay attention to characters and their personalities because O'Connor speaks the truth when she says that they make the action important.
Since I began reading Pride & Prejudice I have recommended it to everyone to read. There's a reason books like this stick around for a long time. Stories like Pride & Prejudice are timeless. The characters are all interesting and the way they are written makes you want to know what happens to them long after the last page. I also think that it's very different from most modern books because of the setting and societal norms it's like a window into the past and makes the book all the more interesting that way. It's a great book as a challenge. The language makes you slow down and really pay attention. This book can't be read laying in bed and half asleep. It calls for an active and awake mind; ready to wade through the extensive vocabulary and poetic dialogue. Although it was one of the difficulty aspects of the books it's what also drew me in. I loved the way they spoke. It was elegant and fluid, it created a rhythm that helped read the book even if the words could be difficult to comprehend.
It seems like Pride and Prejudice is a story that you know very well. The way you describe it makes it sound like a challenging yet enjoyable read. It is clear from your writing that you found the book very engaging and captivating. I thought it was interesting to see you go from saying that the story lacked depth to ultimately finding that there were some identifiable themes present after all. It would be interesting to see at what point exactly you changed your mind. My own independent reading, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, provided a much different experience, as it was a book layered with different themes and motifs that were traceable throughout the story. My book also had some interesting structure choices. Huxley organized it into chapters, but certain chapters were broken into two smaller parts. I think that this was mostly done to mark major shifts in perspectives, whereas in Pride and Prejudice, the organization was oriented more around significant events.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that Jane Austin has some interesting things to say about how we perceive one another, and how this perception can change the more we grow to know somebody. Did you only uncover this theme in hindsight, or did it reveal yourself as you continued to read? How did coming to understand Austin's message enhance the book for you? Was this a message that was conveyed in the other interpretations of the story, or only in Austin's raw text?
I didn’t know anything about this book before reading your blog, and I think you did a good job of explaining it to someone that hasn’t read it yet. I liked that the first post was about the title of the book, and I like how you explained what it reveals about the story and the characters in it. I also liked how you connected the words “pride” and “prejudice” because I don’t think that people usually think of them together. It was interesting how you talked about the other adaptations of “Pride and Prejudice,” that’s something that I wouldn’t have thought of doing. Mentioning the modern day version of this book was interesting because it shows how timeless this story is. I didn’t think to look at structure in my independent reading book, so I enjoyed reading the post about that. I liked how you tried to find meaning in the three splits in the story; I don’t know why they would be there either. Another thing that I liked about your posts was how the first and the last tied things together by talking about prejudices and first impressions, which sound like they are really important in this book. The fact that all of the characters had their own personalities that drove the action of the story made me want to read this book. I think that you did a really good job analyzing different pieces of this book and then mentioning other adaptations too, that was really interesting.
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