Reading Report of Pride and Prejudice
The introduction about the author Jane Austen was born on December 16th, 1775 at England. She was the seventh child and the second daughter. She was called--\"the most perfect artist among women\". She was brought up in a restricted environment, and only recognized little of humanity. Receiving a broader education than many women of her time, she started to write for family amusement as a child. She was good at writing the love story between the young man and the young lady. And her writing style is always humorous. The background was that of the lesser gentry who lived in the country in comfortable pleasant surroundings. Although Austen didn't get married, her social life was active and she had romantic dreams. Jane Austen did not write many works, she wrote five well-known novels: Sense and Sensibility(1811), Pride and Prejudice(1813), Mansfield Park(1814), Emma(1815), Northanger Abbey(1818), and a short fiction: Lady Susan(1794).
The Summary of Pride and Prejudice The narrative begins with Mr. Bingley, a wealthy, charming and social young bachelor, moved into Nertherfield Park in the neighborhood of the Bennet family. Mrs. Bennet had five daughters, and marring all her daughters was her biggest wish all her life. Mr. Bingley was soon well-received, while his friend Mr. Darcy made a less favorable first impression by appearing proud and condescending at a ball that they attended. Mr. Bingley fell in love with Jane at first sight, and it soon became apparent that they had formed an attachment to each other. By contrast, Darcy singled out Elizabeth, who overheard and joked about it despite feeling resentment. At the same time his arrogance behavior and the smear from Wickham led Elizabeth to misunderstand and was biassed against Darcy.
Mr. Collins, a clergyman, who was the legal inheritor of the Bennets, came to Longbourn to find a wife. His proposal to Elizabeth was declined at once. Then he asked Charlotte for marriage. And meanwhile, Elizabeth made acquaintance with Mr. Wickham, a military officer who claimed to be seriously mistreated by Mr. Darcy. She was fooled by him and more disliked Darcy.
Darcy couldn't restrain himself from loving Elizabeth, so he proposed to her.But his attitude was still so arrogant that Elizabeth declined him firmly. This hit made Darcy noticed the outcome from proud and conceited for the first time.Leaving a long letter to explain the things around him and Elizabeth, he left her painfully. Elizabeth felt regret after reading it. Not only feel guilty for misunderstanding of Darcy, but also ashamed for the behavior of her family members.
Elizabeth gradually changed her views of Darcy. When Darcy met her in his own manner again, his sincere attitude and dignified behavior made her considerably surprised. Their reacquaintance was cut short, however, by news that Lydia had run away with Mr. Wickham. Hearing this bad news, Darcy secretly solved the trouble at his own expense. When Elizabeth knew this, she was much grateful to Darcy. Finally, they walked out of the frog which was pride and prejudice, happily married. And Mr. Bingley came back to reach his love--Jane, happily lived together too. My comments on this book Pride and Prejudice is Austen's great work.Through the discussion of the different marriages and love, the writer demonstrates her concept about love and marriage: love and marriage are closely associated with property and society, however, love and marriage can not only be decided by the superficial affairs. An ideal marriage should be based on mutual affection, respect and common interests. She's against the marriage based only on wealth or social status. By the description and discussion of the four marriages in the novel, we can see that Austen fully expresses her views on love and marriage. The marriage based on social position and money
can't bring happiness in life. Aimless marriage and love are unpractical.
In the Pride and Prejudice, the poor Elizabeth who was born in a small landlord family, was deeply loved by rich and powerful Darcy. Regardless of the status and wealth gap, Darcy wanted to marry Elizabeth, but his first proposal was firmly declined because of his pride. His pride was also a reflection of the difference in status. As long as there is pride, it's impossible to have the ideal marriage. Later, Elizabeth personally observed Darcy's manners and courteous behaviors, especially he had changed his arrogance. So Elizabeth eliminated her misunderstanding and prejudice on Darcy, which won the great marriage with Darcy. Elizabeth's two different attitudes towards Darcy actually reflect the female's pursuit to independent personality and equal rights. This is the progressive significance of the characters of Elizabeth.
In addition, Austen has also written several of Elizabeth's sisters and his girlfriend's marriage which used to compare with the heroine's ideal marriage. For instance, Charlotte and Collins are living in a comfortable life after marriage, but there's no love between them. Such a marriage is actually social tragedy hidden under the gorgeous coat.
In my opinion, although Pride and Prejudice whose theme is somewhat narrow, dull and lack in plot twists, Austen's depiction of the character's psychological activities and social reality is great. Different from many other books at that time, Pride and Prejudice is full of women's thinking, worldview and style of life, rather than from a male'a point of view on the world. And it fully reflects the style of the times. Austen does well in shaping the distinctive characters in everyday ordinary things. And her language is discretion. She is fastidious in the selection of words in the dialogues and description, which is humorous with the satire and contrasts the characteristics of the characters in a humorous way. This innovation makes her work of art has its own characteristics.
