Friday, January 06, 2006

Pride and Prejudice


"Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery." J. Austen

How come in Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet thinks Mr. Darcy did all these bad things, and it turns out she's wrong, he didn't do them.
In my experience, the bad things often times turn out to be true, and in such cases, too true.
Perhaps Elizabeth Bennet just got lucky with Darcy. Or perhaps she came from a more well-adjusted home environment than me, with all those sisters, which is why she didn't put out until she figured it out.
Clearly, Jane Austen took certain liberties of optimism with her novel's conclusion she may not have had she been writing non-fiction. I guess that 's just the magic of fiction: the ability to manipulate fate and create a happy ending.
It seems possible to create a "happy ending" in one's life, too, but not without experiencing bouts of blind projection, and later, consciousness. This may be the point of Pride and Prejudice.
But it seems that for Elizabeth Bennet, the good news of Mr. Darcy's innocence outweighs her feeling like a complete asshole for being wrong. While Darcy helps to assuage her guilt by attributing her self-proclaimed "impertinence" to the "liveliness" of her "mind."
Perhaps it is true that, in fiction and non-fiction alike, love conquers all. But as Pride and Prejudice is a novel, I can't help but wonder if Darcy is just Jane Austen in a hot guy suit.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did you see the recent movie? Well from that I have to say the mother was insane... funny but insane. All she wanted was for her daughters to marry off- she was even willing to have them marry the nerdy priest who reminded me of my cousin Paul.
"Or perhaps she came from a more well-adjusted home environment than me, with all those sisters, which is why she didn't put out until she figured it out."
Is this implying something??? Not possible... back then things were a bit more restrictive... if it were today she would have been in bed with Darcy after the 1st dance! I know who my sisters are- booh yah.

Alicia Goranson said...

I did see the movie, Sarah Jean. I liked it. Everyone seems to think Kiera Knightly looks like Winona Ryder. I thought she kind of looked like Jane Austen.
I realize things were more restrictive back then, but a ho's a ho. Just kidding I'm not a ho.

Anonymous said...

Did I tell you my Dad had the hots for Kiera until he saw a tv program where he soon found she had a foul mouth? Ian has the hots for Winona... sucka.

Alicia Goranson said...

Your Dad actually told me about his Kiera crush when I was sitting next to him at dinner. Hopefully he won't come upon my blog and see all of my shameless profanities. I have so much respect for Dr. LS.
Ian needs to get over it.