Pride and Prejudice
This semester I have read the book-- Pride and Prejudice .It was written by Jane Austen .
Now ,I want to introduce this book to you and my reflections after reading it.
I will give a brief introduction to the author—Jane Austen .She was the second daughter and
seventh child in a family of eight. She was an English writer , who first gave the novel its modern
character through the treatment of everyday life. She is one of the realistic novelists. She drew
vivid and realistic pictures of everyday life of the country society in her novels .
Then the Brief introduction to the background .The book Pride and Prejudice is set during the
Regency period, around 1810. Women were very much second class citizens, and only men could
inherit land and property. This is why Mrs Bennet, with 5 daughters, is so eager to marry them off ,
they can't inherit the estate on the death of their father, it must by law go to the closest male
relative –Mr. Collins .
The story begins .Now I introduce the relationships among the main characters .Mr. Bennet
and Mrs. Bennet have five daughters ,they are Jane ,Elizabeth ,Mary ,Kitty and Lydia .Jane and Mr.
Bingley ,Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy ,and Lydia and Mr. Wickham are new couples .Mr. Collins is a
male relative of Mr. Bennet .And his wife is Charlotte ,the best friend of Elizabeth . The whole
book is focused on the stories of the five couples .
Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are the two most important characters .Elizabeth is the most logical and
level-headed ,thoughtful ,intelligent ,practical, sharp ,and sensible girl .Mr. Darcy is
wealthy ,pride ,cold, and forthright ,and always feel superior than others. They met at a ball hold
by Mr. Bingley . In the beginning ,they were distant from each other because of their prejudice and
Mr. Darcy’s sense of superiority .In spite of Elizabeth’s family was poorer than his ,and it had
lower status than his family ,he was deeply attracted by her .But because of his sense of
superiority ,the first time he proposed to her ,he dwelled more on how unsuitable a match she was
than on her charms ,beauty or anything else complimentary .It was no wonder that Elizabeth
refused him .But the series of events they both have experienced gave them the opportunity to
understand one another and the time to reconcile their feelings to each other .Thus ,their mutual
understanding is the foundation of their relationship .
Jane and Mr. Bingley met at the ball,too .Jane is the most beautiful ,innocent ,kindhearted ,res
-trained ,friendly ,cheerful and always ready to think the best of others .Mr .Bingley is
handsome ,gentle ,well-educated ,good-natured ,friendly ,cheerful and always ready to think the
best of others .They fell in love with each other at the first sight ,but Jane didn’t show her love
easily because she was restrained .As an unmarried woman ,her reserve showed she was
educated .But in front of her ,it almost made her miss her true love .It was her shortcoming .In
fact ,they are so similar in nature and behavior that they can described together .Their principal
characteristics are goodwill and compatibility .They showed to us true love unhampered by either
pride or prejudice .
Lydia and Mr. wickham’s marriage is just for fun ,I think .Lydia is implusive ,credulous and
narrow-minded .Mr. Wickham is handsome ,but he is really a bad guy .Lydia eloped with Mr.
Wickham ,and she was easily taken in by Mr.Wickham’s sweet words.Mr. Wickham believed that
marriage was a way to approach the fortune .Lydia was just his tool to gain money .Their
marriage was doomed to be a tragedy .
Mr. Benent and Mrs. Bennet have been married for 23years ,but they were unhappy .Mr.
Bennet is sarcastic humor ,intelligent and reserved .Mrs. Bennet is noisy ,foolish and
ignorant .They got married because of Mrs. Bennet’s beauty and her first impressions .But the
experience of 23years life had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character .As a
result ,he became a victim of romanticism with no illusions .He had to sometimes retreat to his
study to avoid his wife .Their marriage may be a mistake .
Last part is my reflections .The book’s main idea maybe love and marriage . From Jane and
Mr. Bingley ,Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy ,we can see their true love for each other and their happy
marriages. From Lydia and Wickham ,Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet ,we can see their unhappy
marriages. The relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy reveals the feeling cannot be
brought on by appearances ,and the importance of getting to know one partner before marrying .
The relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy reveals the feeling cannot be brought on by
appearances ,and the importance of getting to know one partner before marrying .This is what we
can learn from Jane and Mr.Bingly .In Mrs. Bennet’s eyes ,money and possession determined
everything ,including marriage and love .In modern times ,some people may still think so .But I
must say ,a marriage without love is unhappy ,just as Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet . As Lydia ,we
can learn that do not be impulsive all the time ,sometimes you should keep your reason .Do not
judge a man by his looks .
Then How can we fall in love with the right person and harvest a happy marriage? In my
opinion, both money and love is important. Money is the basis. Since we are ordinary people, we
need to eat, to dress, to live and so on. It doesn’t mean that we must get married with rich persons
but persons who can at least give you a secure life. However, the most important aspect for a
marriage is true love. The marriage without love would eventually move toward disappointment
and suffering. True love can sweep away all the setbacks on the way of marriage. True love makes
Elizabeth give up her prejudice and accept Darcy again. And real love makes Darcy change the
attitude of being arrogant and win Elizabeth’s heart . After undergoing so many setbacks, they
finally walk together.The second is never judge a person simply depending on first impression.
We can see the same idea in a very famous novel—Jane Eyre. Although Jane didn’t have a
very beautiful appearance, her personality and spirit was superior to those women who wore smart
clothes in up-class society. Now put this idea in our real society .Many warm-hearted people are
cheated by those so-called beggars .Many of us give them money just because those beggars look
very poor ,and they need ous small amount of money to solve their food problem .But putting off
their mask ,maybe some of those beggars are richer than us .
In a word ,beautiful things do not always hide from beautiful appearance. On the contrary,
ordinary shells usually breed dazzling pearls .