Getting Started

The first few chapters of Pride and Prejudice serve almost like an introduction to the story. Jane Austen focuses on introducing the characters and explaining what the story is about in those chapters. The book starts out saying “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” (1) This pretty much states what the story will be about because all that happens in the story is based on this belief. There, in the very first page, I can already have an idea of what the book is about.

One thing that I found interesting in Pride and Prejudice is that everything is quite straightforward. In chapter five, Mary explains Pride as a “feeling of self-complacency” (14) and says that “A person may be pride without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourself, vanity to what we would have others think of us.” (14) This tells the reader how the word Pride is used in the story which could have been vague otherwise.

Unlike in other books where I would have to infer the personality of a character through his or her actions, in Pride and Prejudice the characters are described with much detail. Mr. Bennet is described to be “so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice” (3) Mrs. Bennet is described as a “woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper” (3) All other characters are described in the same way. While reading the first few chapters, what I felt was that events and conversations took place for the sake of introducing the characters. I thought of this because description of characters followed a dialog or a incident where the described character is mainly involved in.

Unlike many of my classmates who are already familiar with the story, I am completely new to this subject. I’ve heard the title Pride and Prejudice many times but I never got to read or watch it. I never thought it would be that interesting or that good. My first impression of the book is that it's different from other books that I read before. The idea of having women be in power really surprises me.