Pride and Prejudice: Volume One

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'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.' Thus memorably begins Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, one of the world's most popular novels. Pride and Prejudice—Austen's own 'darling child'—tells the story of fiercely independent Elizabeth Bennet, one of five sisters who must marry rich, as she confounds the arrogant, wealthy Mr. Darcy. What ensues is one of the most delightful and engrossingly readable courtships known to literature, written by a precocious Austen when she was just twenty-one years old.

Humorous and profound, and filled with highly entertaining dialogue, this witty comedy of manners dips and turns through drawing-rooms and plots to reach an immensely satisfying finale. In the words of Eudora Welty, Pride and Prejudice is as 'irresistible and as nearly flawless as any fiction could be.'

Well, here I am, a high school senior reviewing one of the most well-known classic novels in history. Well, at least the first part, as it's split into volumes.

All I can really say about this novel is that it's truly wonderful. Like most classics, it may be difficult to understand, but it's beautiful. So far, it's kept me absorbed. I find Mrs. Bennet hilarious in her desperation to marry off her daughters, but I can also see that she has a motherly concern to make sure her daughters have money. As for her daughters, Jane is a sweetheart and Elizabeth is quite headstrong. The other three daughters (Mary, Lydia, and Kitty) aren't really described, but, from what you see of them, they're not too difficult to handle. Mary may get on some people's nerves since, in my mind, she struck me as slightly pretentious. 

Ah, but onto the actual plot. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy's relationship is quite interesting at the moment. Throughout the whole beginning section, I've found myself being able to sympathize with Elizabeth's quick judgement and opinion of him being a horrid person, yet I also feel sorry for Mr. Darcy because as time passes, he himself begins to become infatuated with Elizabeth. The majority of readers know where this goes, but it's still fun to actually read it, to see it for yourself.

Next on the agenda is Caroline. Ah, Caroline. From the beginning, I hated her and she seemed to fake every kind word she said, which doesn't lower the quality of the book at all. In fact, it's nice to be able to have someone to just hate. One could even consider her an antagonist because of her apparent meddling in Jane and Mr. Bingley's relationship, but that's the beauty of the book: there are no "good" and "bad"-there are only humans trying to go through the details of love and marriage and life in general. I may be only in the second section, but if you feel the urge to pick up a classic, hell, if you need a book to read, I would most certainly pick Pride and Prejudice. Five out of five stars!