Bustle ‘Bout Books: Book Review- Pride And Prejudice By Jane Austen

Book Review

Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen

AUTHOR: Jane Austen

GENRE: Literary fiction, romantic comedy

PUBLISHED ON: January 28, 1813

MY RATING: 5/5 stars

*NOTE: THIS REVIEW DOES NOT CONTAIN SPOILERS AS ONLY BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF FEW INSTANCES ARE GIVEN. OVERALL SITUATIONS ARE DESCRIBED.

How many of us here are ardent classic readers? If you are then, either you’ve already read Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen or you’ve heard of it’s being totally amazing. Isn’t it?

Pride And Prejudice is my favourite book!

So, here is my shot at doing a review for this classic for all of those who haven’t read this book, yet to get an idea as to how they might find it and for those who have already read it and do not mind a quick recap!

There’s a new bachelor in the neighbourhood of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet- Mr. Bingley. Mr. Bingley is “a young man of large fortune from the north of England”. Mrs. Bennet seems to be highly keen on introducing her daughters to Mr. Bingley in the hope that he would probably like and marry any one of the five girls.

They all meet at the ball where Mr. Bingley and his friend Mr. Darcy get introduced to the Bennets. The evening confirms to be pleasant enough as Mr. Bingley thinks the eldest of the five sisters- Jane to be very beautiful and invites her to dance with him. Well, that’s the starting of Jane’s and Bingley’s journey. (What do you think? Will their journey together be delightful? Let me know in the comments section below!)

Mr. Darcy is young and tall man with handsome features. He appears to be be quite haughty at the beginning. He refers to Elizabeth Bennet- second eldest sister among the five, to be “tolerable enough”. This does not impress Elizabeth, at all. To her too, Mr. Darcy’s countenance is one of a very proud man who thinks highly of himself and nobody else.

Elizabeth Bennet has pleasing manners. She has a “lively, playful disposition, which delighted in any thing ridiculous”. She is met with quite a few proposals to which she simply replies by rejecting them. George Wickham- a charming man confides in Elizabeth by telling her how Mr. Darcy had deprived him of a living which was promised to him by Mr. Darcy’s late father. He instantly decides to propose her but, is left rejected.

While attending balls and being busy in other situations, we can get a few highlights to the fact that Mr. Darcy starts to become fond of Elizabeth. However, Elizabeth takes a bit longer to notice this.

Mr. Darcy’s aunt- Lady Catherine de Bourgh does not think highly of the the natch between Darcy and Elizabeth. She wants Mr. Darcy to marry her own daughter. A lot of things happen in between, misunderstandings being undertaken then, being cleared but, finally, comes a time when Mr. Darcy proposes Elizabeth. He writes a letter to Elizabeth, giving her justifications regarding his acts. He also tells in the letter that George Wickham had not been deprived of anything at all and that Wickham himself had refused it. He was given money, too which he had completely wasted.

A few months later, Elizabeth and her Uncle and Aunt Gardiner visit Mr. Darcy’s estate at Pemberley where Elizabeth hears the housemaid say that Mr. Darcy is indeed, a kind and generous person. Mr. Darcy arrives suddenly and kindly invites the party to meet his sister and later go for fishing. However, some time later, she gets to know a shocking news about her youngest sister- Lydia ( read the book to know what it is!) and decides to leave for home, believing never to see Mr. Darcy again.

Shortly after things are settled, things get pleasanter between Jane and Mr. Bingley as well as between Elizabeth and Darcy! Do read the book to know how the dots get connected how things end up to be the way you’d like!

My favourite quotes from the book:

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

~ Jane Austen

I could easily forget his pride if he had not mortified mine.

– Elizabeth Bennet

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If you’ve already read the book, let me know what you think about it! If you haven’t, let me know if you would!

Check out my previous Bustle ‘Bout Books post here and my previous poem here.

Connect with me on Twitter! (@meher_gandhi)

With love,

Meher

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