Reading log 1 - Pride and Prejudice

The first lines 

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighborhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.”

To be honest, these couple of lines in the beginning of the novel really caught my curiosity and at the same time provoked me. Jane Austen begins her entire novel by telling the reader how important it is for a woman to marry a man with a good income and not by love. Except from the fact that these sentences shows us that the novel will be about prejudice, that existed during that time, it also shows us that things have changed. This was probably an every day alternative during their time, but for someone like me, in another century and in another culture, I couldn’t relate to these sentences and therefore I had to read more.

The exposition 

The novel takes places during the 18^th century in England and is about the Bennet family. Mrs Bennett’s biggest wish in life is that her five daughters will find men with a good fortune who they can marry. Therefore, when Mr Bingley, a man who is rich, single and attractive rents a house close to the Bennett’s house; Mrs Bennet sees her opportunity to marrying away one of her daughters. One night Mr Bingley arranges a ball where Jane, the oldest daughter, catches his interest and dances with only her the entire night. This, of course, made Mrs Bennet really delighted and satisfied. However, Mr Bingley’s friend, Mr Darcy, another man with a great fortune is also at the ball. Unfortunately, he does not give as good impression as Mr Bingley. Elizabeth quickly judges him as a man with a lot of pride and when she overhear him saying that Elizabeth isn’t someone he want to spend time with because she isn’t beautiful enough her judgment about him confirms. Furthermore, as a reader you will also get introduced to Mr Collins who is Mr Bennet’s cousin, and in the case of Mr Bennet’s death inherits all of Mr Bennet’s fortune. Mr Collins will visit the Bennet family and his main intention is to marry one of the five sisters. Soon, he proposes to Elizabeth who declines and her mother gets furious.

The characters

One of the main characters in this novel is Elizabeth Bennet. She is the second oldest of five daughters in the Bennet family. It seems like Elizabeth is her father’s favourite daughter since he believes she is the cleverest one, this contrary to her mother who wont consider Elizabeth as her first choice among the other daughters.

Elizabeth is a woman who is gifted in many ways. She is beautiful, intelligent, intellectual and outspoken. She is also a caring and loving person and values her family the most, particularly her sister Jane. Furthermore, she is the kind of person who has faith in in true love and therefore believes that a woman should marry a man she loves and not because of his great fortune. However, she has a bad habit, which is judging people very quickly in a sarcastic way. For an example, she judges Mr Darcy for being arrogant only after their first meeting.

Another main character is Mr Darcy. He is from a respectable family with a big fortune. He seems to be a man of few words, Mr Darcy is described as an asocial man with a lot of pride and therefore thinks highly about himself. But, he seems to be a very trusted man by his friend Mr Bingley, and also by his younger sister, Miss Darcy, who he loves and protects very much. This shows us that he is most likely, just like Elizabeth Bennet, a caring and loving person.

The title 

The title of this novel is Pride and Prejudice and I believe that the entire novel is based on this couple of words. Just by reading the first sentences on the first page, the author, Jane Austen, presents the themes pride and prejudice. This goes on in the coming chapters where we can read about the predetermined thoughts to the characters, depending on their birth or status, or how they should act in a certain occasion and mostly about how a woman is expected to act during the 18^th century.

Reading log 1 - Pride and Prejudice

Reading log 1

Pride and Prejudice

”It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other their daughters.”

These are the first three lines of the book. As I had heard of the book before I had a slightly idea of what it was about. But as I went along with my reading, the first three sentences became more understandable. Reading these lines you understand that the book will revolve around marriage, family and the importance of choosing the “right” one to marry, at that time. Also what was expected during the 1800 century by the people. You immediately get introduced to Mr and Mrs Bennet, a fortuned married couple that lives in the south of England. Their five daughters are also introduced in the first pages. The interesting subject that they are talking about revolves around the Netherfield Park and the Netherfield’s new owner: Mr Bingley. Mr Bingley is a wealthy man who is going to stay at the Netherfield Park for a few months ahead. Mrs Bennet, a lady to whom her social status is very important. Additionally, also a very free-spoken person I think. Her number one priority is to marry of her five daughters to handsome, wealthy and nice men. So, when the news came about Mr Bingley moving in Mrs Bennet’s first task was to introduce her daughters to Mr Bingley.

The Bennets and Mr Bingley meet for the first time at a ball where Mr Bingley was accompanied by his two sisters, his brother-in-law and his good friend Mr Darcy. While Mr Bingley made a good impression on everyone by being enjoyable and humorous, Mr Darcy was very disagreeable and picky which left a bad first impression. Jane Bennet, who was the oldest sister of the five, and Mr Bingley enjoyed each other’s company and very quickly took interest in each other. Due to this the whole family began hoping for a wedding to take place. I first assumed that the rest of the book would revolve around Jane and Mr Bingley, but that was not the case. We also get introduced to Mr Collins who is Mr Bennet’s cousin, and in the case of Mr Bennets death inherits all of Mr Bennets fortune. Mr Collins pays the Bennets a visit and his intentions with this visit are to marry one of the five sister. He proposes to Elizabeth who kindly declines. After a couple of pages I understood that the protagonist of the book is Elizabeth and ahead we get to follow the story through Elizabeth’s eyes.

Elizabeth Bennet

Elizabeth is lively, intelligent, and often sarcastic also enjoys making a joke or two. She is her father’s favourite but her mother does not share that same thought. She loves her family and is closest to her father and her older sister Jane whom she feels is too kind and maybe a little bit naive. Additionally she seems to differ with the society she is living in.

The exposition - Pride and Prejudice

The first lines

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighborhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.”

This is the first couple of lines in the book, and they definitely catch my interest because I want to know more about the man with a good income, and furthermore I want to get to know the families Austen writes about. I believe that the main subjects of this book are pride and prejudice, just as the name of the novel is, but also about how important it was for the women to find a man who could afford them, and that’s what I think the book will be about. In the first lines, Austen is presenting how important it is for a woman to marry a man with a good income. Moreover, that one of those men soon will arrive to a neighborhood where the families’ opinions are very strong, and finally that the families already have their prejudices about him, even though they’ve never met the man before.

The exposition

This book takes place during the 18th century in England when the women didn’t have the same equally rights as the men did. The novel is about the Bennet family and we get to be a part of their daily life. Mrs Bennet’s only wish is that her five daughters will find men with a good income who they can marry. One day, a man called Mr. Bingley rents a house, called Netherfield Park, close to the Bennets’ house. He is rich, single and handsome, and Mrs Bennet sees her opportunity to marrying away one of her daughters, so she asks her husband, Mr Bennet, to talk to the new neighbor. As a result, Mr Bingley will arrange a ball, and Mrs Bennet is very satisfied. Moreover, the ball is resulting in that Jane, who is the oldest sister, is the only one dancing with Mr. Bingley two times, and this, of course, makes Mrs Bennet happier than ever, and she is expecting a wedding to take place soon. In company with Mr Bingley at the ball, was his great friend Mr Darcy. Elizabeth, the second oldest daughter, believes that he is a man of pride, and when he says to his friends that Elizabeth is someone he doesn’t want to spend time with because she isn’t beautiful enough, her judgment about him confirms.

A couple of days later, a family member called Mr Collins arrives with the thoughts of finding a wife. His intention is to marrying one of the Bennet daughters, and the happy news makes Mrs Bennet very thrilled. The one that Mr Collins choses is Elizabeth, but his feelings aren’t returned, and even though her mother gets extremely disappointed, she kindly tells him that she can’t marry him. Another man who also is presented to us in the exposition of the book is Mr Wickham. He is an officer, and when he arrives, people seem to like him very much. We soon find out that he has a past with Mr Darcy, and they don’t seem to like each other at all.

The characters

Elizabeth Bennet is the second oldest daughter in the Bennet family. Her father thinks she is the smartest of his daughters, but her mother, on the other hand, believes that she doesn’t follow the typical rules for how to be a woman, and Elizabeth is therefor not her mothers’ first choice among the daughters. Miss Bennet seems to be intelligent, attractive, and a very caring person. She believes that a woman should marry a man she loves and not because of his fortune, and furthermore, she isn’t afraid to criticize the society she lives in. However, she has a tendency to judge people very quickly, and she is also rather sarcastic. Even though she can be tough sometimes, she loves her family very much, especially her older sister Jane.

Mr Darcy is described as a tall, intelligent and incredibly handsome person. He is from a respectable family with a large income. He seems to be very trusted by Mr Bingley, and he also has a younger sister, Miss Darcy who he loves and protects very much. So I believe that his love and protection for his sister and the trust Mr Bingley has in Mr Darcy, shows us that he is a caring and loving person, even though he is presented as a withdrawn and asocial man with a lot of pride.

The title

The title of the book I’m reading is Pride and Prejudice, and I couldn’t agree more to that title because I believe that the book is based on those words. It’s not only in the first lines of the book the subjects pride and prejudices are presented to us, but also continuing throughout the first third of the book. There are for example prejudices about how to act as a woman or a man, and on page 15, Austen writes “A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the world; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved.” This shows us, readers, what people expected for a woman during the 18th century.

Reading log 1 – pride and prejudice

The title/ the first three sentences

“It is a truth universally acknowledge, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters”. In these sentences you already start to notice that the book might be about the prejudices, which excited during this time. But also what was expected of the people in the society at the time. Being a girl in another time and in another culture, reading these sentences provokes me at some level but on the other hand something about them made me curious and I want to continue reading the book to see what it will be about. I believe the book will be about the need to marry and be married when being both a respectful man but also when being a women of good birth and maybe how a normal life might be and look like during this area. I believe that perhaps a wedding will take place and with a man such as they describe in the sentences. The title of the book, Pride and Prejudice, also helps to understand the people in the book, and what the book might be about. There is a lot of evidence that shows you why she named it pride and prejudice since the characters of the book all have their pride (which the take high value in) and there is also a lot of different prejudices between some of the characters. There are a lot of scenes where you can see what is expected of the characters due to their birth or status, and furthermore how they should behave in certain occasions. 

The exposition

At the beginning of the book you get to meet, Elizabeth Bennet, all her sisters and parents. Also you meet Mr Bingley, his sisters and his friend Mr Darcy. The book takes place in England in the 1800 century and you follow the Bennets in their daily life. The person, who’s eyes you get to see the world from is Elizabeth Bennet and it is mostly here thoughts you get to see. You soon find out that Elizabeth is a bit sarcastic and is not your most typical women from this time. You can also see that Jane Austen is against the society and the role the women play in it and her characters in the book oppose the culture they live in.  

One day a new face comes to the neighbourhood in which the Bennets lives in. His name is Mr Bingley and he is a man of great birth and has a large fortune. He is also unattached, something Mrs Bennet is very glad for. When the Bennets meet him for the first time he has a company of four with him and one of them is a man called Mr Darcy. Although they like Mr Bingley straight away they find Mr Darcy very disagreeable. Jane Bennet (the oldest sister) and Mr Bingley immediately take interest in each other and the whole family hope a wedding soon will take place. However there seems to be some people who would not like for that to happen.

Mr Bennet has a cousin, Mr Collins. He will inherit everything in the case of Mr Bennets’ death, which of course the rest of the Bennets are not favourable of. Even so Mr Collins pays them a visit and he stays for a while. His intentions is to marry one of the Miss Bennets and he proposes to Elizabeth Bennet at the end of his stay, however Elizabeth kindly decline.   

Another man who is introduced to us is Mr Wickham, an officer living with his regiment in the village near the Bennets home. Both the whole family and the habitants of the town like him straight away. Nonetheless he seems to have a bit of a complicated relationship with Mr Darcy.     

Elizabeth Bennet

She is the second oldest of her sisters and her dads favourite but she is not so popular to her mother. She seems to enjoy being sarcastic and joke, still it seems that she is a proud person and she is not ashamed of whom she is. She also seems to oppose the society she lives in.  Even though she seems to be a tough person she loves her family and especially her big sister Jane, whom she think is to kind and to generous towards other. She starts to fancy Mr Wickham, even if she knows he is not a good match for her. At the beginning she is not very fond of Mr Darcy but she do not think ill of him, however when she meets Mr Wickham that changes and she soon starts to hate Mr Darcy.    

Mr Darcy

Mr Darcy is Mr Bingley closest friends and Mr Bingley takes a great trust in him, which might indicate that he is a lovable person, however when you meet him in the book he does not show any sighs on being such a person. He seems to be a person with great pride and thinks highly of himself. He has a little sister, Miss Darcy, who he seems to love very much. You find out that he and a person called Mr Wickham does not like each other very much, still you do not know who is to blame, although Mr Wickham says Mr Darcy has treated him wrongly. On the other hand others claim that Mr Darcy has never done anything to Mr Wickham. At the beginning he do not take any interest in anyone, but when he gets to know Elizabeth a little bit more his feelings starts to change. He finds her eyes beautiful and is starting to get attached to her. Nevertheless she has no idée and he is not keen to openly show it, due to their ill match and her lower birth.