Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - 12 out of 10, in a League of Their Own

 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

12 out of 10, in a League of Their Own

‘It is a Truth universally acknowledged that a man in search of…’ a Magnum opus to read can do no better than to select one of the works that are part of the Heritage, the Treasures of mankind to such an extent that even when reacquainted with it – it is not the first time that I am ebullient about all this dazzling adventure – one understands that this is part of the Reason why we are here: to admire Jane Austen and be proud to be part of the species capable to Create something like this…it stands there with the Mona Lisa, perhaps not the animals cut in half and placed by the honorable Damien Hirst, perhaps the wealthiest artist of this age, David by Michelangelo, paintings by the Impressionists, Van Gogh and any other miraculous, glorious Work of Art created for the benefit of the enchanted public or readers…

Therefore I must confess that I followed with great joy and exuberance the antics of the fabulous Elizabeth Bennet, the one who makes the case for feminism long before women will have gotten the vote and then gradually equal rights with men – though that is still a painful process in many lands – the sublime heroine that has quite a few flaws, for she rejects proud Darcy with vehemence and based on a few false assumptions and wrong analysis – albeit the man is also the beneficiary of some quite negative character traits, indeed, it will be interesting to see what the readers will say about this in the post ‘Woke’ era, if they do pay attention to it – but she is so fantastically charming, adorable that this reader was anticipating with Joie de Vivre the moment when she will have made peace with the now subdued, dedicated, honorable, decent, honest, intrepid man who will have helped the Bennet family restore their honor after the reckless Lydia has run away with the vicious, though initially broadly admired Wickham…

About this elopement, modern readers would feel either amused or, probably more likely for the very militant, aghast at the moeurs of the époque wherein a young woman was considered lost if she chose to follow her instincts or a temporary infatuation and spend time – never mind have sex – with a man, under circumstances which would condemn her in the eyes of her class – indeed, this is a wonderful chef d’oeuvre that touches and often explains in detail aspects that regard love in the Regency era, but also class differences, money matters – surely, thousands of books have been written only about these aspects of this classic novel – which appear in the first few lines, when the rather inept Mrs. Bennet – a character to savor, but interestingly depicted with a very satirical brush – is enthusiastic about the arrival in the neighborhood of Mr. Bingley, a man with five thousand  – which would be quite a few million today – and a prospect for one of her five daughters, in particular because he has a good fortune.

Mr. Bingley does seem attracted to Jane, the eldest of the five sisters and the closest to Elizabeth, and they appear to be destined to marry soon, only Mr. Darcy and the young man’s sisters do not see this marriage into the Bennet family as appropriate for the higher class to which the potential groom belongs…in fact, one of the two major points of contention, nay quite fervent conflict between the future main lovers is the interference of Darcy in the affairs of his friend – thinking or sure that Jane does not love his friend, he advises Darcy to stay away and goes as far as to hide the presence of Jane in London and try to break the connection between the two.

Though he considers the Bennet family as beneath his status- the proud man has an even bigger fortune than Bingley and he might make the Fortune top 500 richest today – Mr. Darcy is surprised and quite upset to find that he is first taken with the ‘fine eyes’ of the clever, courageous, emancipated, creative, amusing young woman and then gradually he falls in love with her, decides eventually to ask her to marry him, but at this stage, he is so arrogant and generally disliked that is not only rejected, but in a manner that leaves him in no doubt as to the violence of the hatred that the subject of his passion feels for him – one reason is the vicious role he played in the destruction of Jane’s prospects for happiness and a good marriage, and the other main objection is based on the story told by the officer George Wickham, who claimed that Darcy had been unjust to him, taken away the position that would have made him a clergy with a good position and all the narrative indicates that the suitor has acted with vile dishonesty and meanness, preventing a man favored by his late father from having a good life.

However, in a letter responding to these accusations, if Darcy admits to have been the one who advised Bingley to stay away from Jane, thinking the latter has no feelings for his friend, on the question of Wickham, the truth seems to be the opposite, for the ungrateful young man has rejected the clergy position himself, has accumulated vast debts – as he would do again and again – and in general preferred a life of debauchery and dishonesty – he went as far as to seduce the fifteen year old sister of Darcy and tried to convince her to run away with him – a stiff jail sentence will have awaited him in this age – an endeavor that he will repeat with Lydia, when the Bennet girl will be away from the parents and ready to fall prey to this ruthless, immoral and ultimately abject officer, interested only in his own vain passions, instincts and desires, without regard to what happens to the rest.

This is when the difference between Wickham and Darcy, the vicious and the moral, the bad and the good is in evidence, for the rejected, but still loving aristocrat will do his best to find the seducer, who had no intention to put a stop to the dishonor and marry the girl – these were different times, and today the opposite would be way more advisable…that is they better spend days and nights together and then separate, rather than spend decades destroying each other, though fundamentalists, Trump supporters will still prefer the centuries old option, no sex before marriage and then lifelong misery, not always, but most of the time – but he has to make a serious effort to convince this ghoul, for he has to pay his debts, which amount to considerable sums, then he has to procure a position for him and all this in secret, for he asks an uncle to take the credit for all this generosity and solving the insurmountable problem…

Elizabeth will learn about the role played by Darcy, first from the reckless Lydia and then more details from her aunt, and then she starts to understand that beneath and beyond her first few encounters with Darcy – contradicting thus to some extent Blink by Malcolm Gladwell  http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/blink-power-of-thinking-without.html - the noble man has proved to be munificent, modest – after taking pride in his position, he has moderated his stand – persistent, loveable and much more…he may even be dignified enough to gain her love in return, if he still desires it…

You can find this book for free, since the copyright has long expired, in eBook format at http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page and as an audiobook at https://librivox.org/ , where you can also volunteer and read such magnum opera for others to enjoy, if you have the skill that is, unlike some bozos who read but nobody understands what they say…