Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice was written by Jane Austen and originally published in 1813. However the first manuscript of the novel was written by Austen more than ten years previously and called First Impressions. The novel focusses on the love of two people, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, and how they manage to build a bridge across the class divide they inevitably face and break down one anothers pride and prejudice. Darcy is a wealthy upper class man whereas Elizabeth is the second eldest of five sisters in a middle class family, both growing up in a rigid Victorian society.

The aspect of courtly love between Darzy and Elizabeth is central to the novel. Courtly love often refers to love that has to overcome many obstacles, and the strictly drawn class divide in Pride and Prejudice is perhaps the biggest interference in love. In this way, Pride and Prejudice is similar to the greatest love story of all time, Romeo and Juliet, because two young lovers have to battle against the odds of family prejudice. Another aspect of courtly love commonly explored is that of love at first sight, and Austen inverts this cliché because Darcy and Elizabeth originally dispise eachother. However, the original name of the novel, First Impressions, demonstrates that Austen had this factor of courtly love in mind when writing her novel.

Pride and Prejudice is a novel "defined by dialogue" and is generally free of elaborate metaphors and description. This is where Austen's novel differs from other literature I have read around my course of Love through the Ages, nost notably Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Whereas Tess was written solely around two lovers, exploring their emotion through the use of detailed and charismatic imagery of nature by Hardy, Pride and Prejudice has the benefit of other characters interpretation of events. For example, the view of Elizabeth's aunt and uncle, Mr and Mrs Gardiner, on Mr Darcy is considered as particularly valuable to Elizabeth and is therefore also treasured by the reader. Also the views of Elizabeth's sister Jane are highly credible and the two eldest Benner daughters often confide in eachother.

I thought that Austen's classic was highly enjoyable and through Elizabeth and Darcy she has created two timeless heroes. The courtly love exemplified by the two lovers is ideal to compare to other forms of less romantic love.