Pride and prejudice, written by Jane Austen released 28th of January 1813 in the Victorian era of England. The book takes place during said time and is focused on the main character Elizabeth and her family.
In the story we see multiple messages. “Marry for love”, “Don’t let others dictate your life”, and “Look at the person, not the status”. But I argue the most important one is “People can change”. In the start of the movie we see Mr Darcy as the pompous, snobby, and all around giant condescending asshole. This is what contributes to Elizabeth swearing to hate Mr Darcy for all eternity. But when Mr Darcy is rejected by Elizabeth at his manor and gets verbally shut down by Elizabeth who states, “that he is the last person that can bring her happiness”, he goes some self-reflection and decides to do some good. He mends a marriage with his foster brother and Lizzie by paying an extremely large sum, and pushes his friend to marry Mary. This secures Elizabeths family future and makes sure that the 5 sisters will not end up on the streets once Collins eventually throws them out. Darcy presents himself before Elizabeth once again and states his proposal once again, but this time with a more modest tone then at his manor. While his words alone probably wouldn’t be enough sway Elizabeth, what he has done for her family however does. “Words without actions are meaningless” and Elizabeth have seen his actions.
A novel of manners, definition “A recreation of a social world with its customs, values, and mores of highly developed society”. By definition “Pride and prejudice” is a novel of manners. It perfectly depicts Victorian nobility and its norms with many characters. Mr Darcys aunts depicts the nobility’s refusal to marry for love but rather for economical gains and status. To marry a lower house would be scandalous. Throughout the book there is this obsession with money with multiple characters babbling on about “20000” pounds a year when mentioning Mr Darcy. This can once again be seen with the books central conflict being around marriage. You shouldn’t focus on love, but rather the money. Something that is quite contrasting to Elizabeth’s values.
We all have our favorite characters within stories. Often its usually a main character such as Elizabeth or Mr Darcy. However, my favorite SECONDARY character is the mother of the 5 daughters, Mrs Bennet. While she is used as a comic relief for most of the movie, acting as the erratic and uncompromisable mother who desperately tries to marry off her daughters. While the constant push to marriage can be seen from todays lens as commanding and tyrannical to her daughters, but from a Victorian lens its seen as natural. Women cannot inherit. That is law in Victorian England. And if the family dosen’t have a male heir, the inheritance goes to the closest male relative, in this case Mr Collins. Her worry for her daughters marriage is natural if the future that awaits them if they don’t being a life on the streets. As she says in one of the final scenes “When you have 5 daughters, marriage is the only thing you can think about” seems natural.
As for why this book is still so popular and relevant in today’s times, I would say is due to the books time period. Recently I have noticed a certain nostalgia for the “Old times” trending around. Wild west, middle ages, age of exploration etc. This yearn for older times is most likely stemming from an individual taking romanticized books about said era as fact. Want to sail the 7 seas and explore the world? Sikes! Have fun dying of polio you seasick fart! Want to experience the grand middle ages? Sikes! Have fun getting murdered by looting soldiers! Want to experience the grand 60s? Better not be born black then. It’s a window to former time that few can recreate. Mostly because the book was written during said time.
thevoiceofgleira.org 