Let me just start by saying that I am not out here trying to take down one of the most celebrated female authors of all time. I also think its worthwhile to note that this was my first time reading a Jane Austin novel all the way through, after having consumed hundreds of romance novels that may not have existed without her.
I would however also note that I’ve also read Georgette Heyer, whose I loved, despite the same being true of her (except being widely celebrated, since she is very wrongly NOT), so I don’t know, maybe I am trying to take Austin down a peg.
Let’s do this.
Plot (such that it is): Elizabeth and her sisters are all in need of “settling” on account of there not being sufficient family resources to support them once their parents die. Despite this seemingly existential thread facing them, the family seems to have made no effort whatsoever to either equip their daughters with marketable skills (such as those needed to be governesses) or with opportunity to meet eligible bachelors (such as by funding a season). Fortunately, these gals have read The Secret, and know that if you really really want something, it’ll just pop up nearby. Indeed, a few eligible bachelors do appear. Of course, given that they are women, they get no real information about them, so they resort to gossip. The gossip, as it turns out, maybe isn’t 100% true though?? Pretty much no shenanigans ensue, unless you count going to visit people at their houses and complaining about how boring it is being shenanigans.
Okay, let’s just get this one dealt with – I don’t care for Elizabeth or any of her sisters or their parents. They seem like the sort of unformed people you get when you give them a haphazard education and zero life experience. And they don’t really gain any life experience over the course of the book, so they don’t become any more interesting.
Elizabeth’s defining characteristics are that she likes reading, walking, and judging people. Make no mistake, these are all excellent fun, but that is her WHOLE thing. She doesn’t DO anything. None of them do. Not even the stuff that rich ladies are allowed to do, like charity work. They also seem to have no particular skill in the things that rich ladies are supposed to have, like household management, or any skills in things that they’re not supposed to have like farming or fiction writing or astronomy or fucking five card loo for fucks’ sake. Just nothing. Oh, we’re also TOLD that Elizabeth has relentless good cheer and doesn’t hold a grudge (this is the key appeal for Darcy), but this doesn’t really come across in any of her actions or dialogue, most of which are based on judging people from a distance, being inflexible, and having limited interest in information that may suggest she judged someone too quickly or hashly. I don’t typically associate such traits with cheerful people who don’t hold grudges.
Darcy is a bit more complicated, in that he’s one of those decent guys whose morality is a little too black and white for the life he leads and it gets him into trouble here and there. Certainly though, he is at least an ACTOR in this book. He makes mistakes, but that’s inevitable when you actually DO something. He is the one to propose, to try and explain himself (against her accusations, all of which are founded on baseless gossip shared by strangers), to do things for Elizabeth even after she shuts him down (including things that take an enormous amount of effort and personal risk), to try again with her. Frankly, I can’t say I was a huge fan of him, but I certainly felt that he could do better than some country bumpkin with more opinions than wisdom and zero skills as a wife. I don’t really see their relationship as being founded on anything other than her being the first person to tell him “no”.
Then there’s the “plot”, with endless visits to country houses, which Elizabeth complains about ad nauseam. This weird subplot with this charming con artist who seems to have somehow missed the gossip about the Bennetts’ not being rich despite it being well known in the community, where he seemed to go out of his way to ingratiate himself with the neighborhood pastime of gossiping. How does he not know?? How?!
I didn’t really feel like I understood any of the characters. They just sort of went around doing stuff. It felt like Austin had a specific point she wanted to make (pride = bad, prejudice = also bad, gossip = okay sometimes?), and tacked it onto a bunch of two dimensional characters and half baked scenes. There are a handful of fun lines in there, but they are so buried it’s hardly worth chasing them down.
So there. I didn’t like it. I’m not reading any more damn Austin. Come at me.