Pride and Prejudice
By Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice is a novel published in 1813. It was first published with an
anonymous author but later on revealed that it was Jane Austen who wrote the
masterpiece that comes with 3 different of volumes. Different questions might start to
ponder as a reader; “Why did Jane Austen choose to hide herself as the author of the
book?”, “Why didn't she feel proud as she write her piece?”, “What made her decide to
reveal her identity?” and lastly “What is the story all about?” “Is the story related to the
happenings in her life?” “Did the story influence Jane Austen's decision to publish it
anonymously?” Let us answer these questions as we go through her life as well as her
novel entitled Pride and Prejudice.
Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 at Steventon, Hampshire. She
was the seventh child out of eight children which are composed of six males and two
females. Jane lived a quiet life. When she reached the age of 20, her passion for writing
started to surface and in 1797, two years since she started writing she wrote “First
Impressions” - the first version of Pride and Prejudice which was rejected. With that,
some readers concluded that she published her books anonymously in order to avoid
criticisms for her works. Although during her time, it was common for female writers to
not include their names on their books since it wasn't appropriate for them before to
write or be involved in literature and make profit out of it. Women were not expected to
have their own careers. Instead they were expected to marry a well of man for financial
stability.
That scenario presented above can be pictured out in this novel of hers. Mrs.
Bennet, the mother of Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty and Lydia only wants to see her
children be married with a well-of man to ensure their future and financial stability. She
hoped and prayed that before she's gone her daughters are all taken cared of and will
not have any problems and conflicts when it comes to finance. As I dig deeper into the
life of the author, I realized that the situation where Mrs. Bennet was in, did not just
based on what's happening to the society before but it was influenced through her
father. He grew up being an orphan but was helped by his rich uncle that made him at
attend school, be ordained by the Church of England and was elevated in social
standing. He worked hard in order for Cassandra – Jane’s sister, to marry a man whose
family was of a higher social status. In the novel, that is what Mrs. Bennet also wanted
to achieve in order to have a peace of mind before she will leave her daughters.
In addition, both the novel and the author’s life dwell with religion. One character
of whom Mr. Collins, is a clergyman. When we say a clergyman, he is a priest, a
minister or a religious leader in Christian institution. Jane Austen’s father was also a
clergyman. Aside from that, both of them also have another similarity which is being
helped by another person. Mr. Collins was the one who inherited Mr. Bennet’s
properties while Austen’s father was able to survive life with the help of his rich uncle.
The closeness between the Bennet sisters in the story is also a reflection of the
relationship between Jane Austen and her sister, Cassandra. Both of them rely to each
other thru good and bad times. Their bond is much stronger than we all think. Aside
from being siblings, they also consider each other as close friends and companions
throughout their entire lives. That I think is the reason why Austen chose to have her
characters as five sisters who have great relationship towards each other. It shows the
importance of building good relationship between family members. Having it will
eventually help you have someone who's willing to be with you all the time.
Jane Austen also gave us a glimpse of what life is the moment we lost a father,
or even someone who's the source of income in the family. Immediately, financial
stability will start to create chaos in the family if family members are just expecting
financial help from one person only. The time Mr. Bennet died, and his inheritance was
inherited by another person - since men are the only allowed to inherit something and
all Bennet siblings are women, they somewhat had a hard time coping up with their
usual lifestyle. This is also a reflection of what has happened to Jane Austen and her
family in real life. When his father died, they were left without enough money to live a
comfortable life and the life they were used to when he was around. They just depended
on the help of their friends and relatives. However, they were lucky enough to have
Edward Knight, Jane Austen's brother who helped them be relocated in a place owned
by him.
Another thing that caught my attention all throughout reading the literary piece
and finding out about Austen's life is that, the love and marriage she presented in her
novel is very much different from what she experienced in real-life. In the story there's a
love that even though family were against to, the love still continued and eventually was
able to fight and happily expressed. There's a love that was covered by prejudice and
later on changed into a romantic one. The love that they fought for and eventually
enjoyed. As for Jane Austen, although she experienced love, she never had the chance
to get married. She was able to capture the heart of someone named Tom Lefroy, but
later on he married someone who was an heiress, since he's the type of person who
married someone for money. Eventually, she fell in love with a clergyman, but months
later, he fell ill and died. Time came when someone proposed for a marriage, but the
next day, she changed her mind. And I think that person was the last person she was
involved with romantically. Afterwards, she decided to focus on her works and gained
recognition for it.
Later on, Jane Austen died due to Addison's disease. Since she was alive, she
did not put her name as the author of Pride and Prejudice. Instead, it was her brother
who revealed that it was Jane who wrote it. Henry Austen published Northanger Abbey
and Persuasion that comes with a biographical note stating that those were Jane
Austen's work including Pride and Prejudice.
And now, thanks to Jane Austen, we've got the chance to enjoy wonderful literary
pieces, travel our imagination unto the different scenarios presented and at the same
time, know much about her as a person, and as an author.