Pride and Prejudice
By Anna M., Needham, MA
Love can be a complicated affair. This is proven in Pride and Prejudice, the story of Lizzy Bennet, a strong-spirited girl who learns that falling in love isn‘t as simple as she thought. In a family of five daughters, with a loving father and obnoxious mother who cares only for boosting her social status, guiding her through her problems, the reader is presented with Lizzy‘s love life. We meet her many male acquaintances, including Mr. Wickham, a charming but slippery fraud and swindler; Mr. Bingley, a rich and handsome yet simple fellow; and Mr. Darcy, who is also rich and also handsome, but because of his pompous behavior, has a difficult time winning Elizabeth‘s heart. Throughout the story, Elizabeth must struggle with challenges including her social status, her dear elder sister and best friend Jane‘s love life, her family‘s atrocious behavior, and her own complicated emotions.
What I loved most about this book is how Austen is so precise with her language. She doesn‘t bother to describe what a character is wearing or the room that they happen to be standing in. Instead, she focuses solely on the dialogue, which not only makes the speaker‘s ideas flourish, but also helps the reader understand the plot as they understand the characters‘ emotions more thoroughly.
I think of this book like cake batter. In the beginning, the batter (plot) is thin and slow because not all the ingredients have been added, and not all the characters have been introduced. But once the flour, sugar, eggs, butter, and milk are all in the bowl (all the characters‘ emotions and opinions are on the table) the batter (or plot) thickens and ends up producing a delicious result, whether cake or a good story.
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