This Penguin Classic is performed by Indira Varma, who has starred in Luther and Game of Thrones. This definitive recording includes an introduction by Vivien Jones. Stephen Sullivan, who rated this with six stars of five, is now on a summer travel break from Goodreads, so I can publish this admission: He was right. It is a wonderful book. I had to grow into it, much as I had to grow into my love for Mrs. Dalloway. But now that I'm here, I am a full-on fan. My Review: All right. All right, dammit! I re-read the bloody thing. I gave it two stars before. I was wrong-headed and obtuse and testosterone poisoned. I refuse to give it five stars, though. Look, I've admitted I was wrong about how beautiful the writing is, and how amusing the story is. Don't push. We see Elizabeth working on herself internally while also working on the external social factors. ‘ There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others,’ Elizabeth confesses, ‘ my courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.’ Her pride makes her malign others, assuming Miss darcy, for instance, to be a ‘ proud, reserved, disagreeable girl’ only to find she is ‘ amiable and unpretending.’ It is her intelligence I find most charming, and while she may misjudge, she has the emotional intelligence to self-diagnose and course correct. Insightful notes highlight Austen’s artistry and point out the subtle ways she develops her characters and themes.

You tell me what, on the surface of this earth, is more astonishing, more astounding, more miraculous than that. Jane Austen and I Had A Moment. She's Had A Moment with literally millions of English-speakers for over 200 years. She's had moments with non-English speakers for more than a century. Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy are cultural furniture for a large percentage of the seven billion people on the planet. (Large here is a relative term. Less than one? Still amazing for a book 200 years old.) Part of a series of vintage recordings taken from the Penguin Archives. Affordable, collectable, quality productions - perfect for on-the-go listening. Read more Details Pride and Prejudice is simply a joy to read, a dance of manners and affection between the leads and a parade of human silliness in the supporting cast. Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.’ No sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she had hardly a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes ... 'Enter Darcy, a man who is royally pissed off; he has fallen in love with someone considered far beneath him, to declare his love for her is to step outside the realms of his supposed pedigree: it is a form of social death. So he is a man torn in two. At the route of things, he is a product of his society; consequently, he is affected by its values. Although he hates it all the same; thus, the long sullen silences, the seemingly moody and arrogant exchanges with Elizabeth. But it’s all the expression of a man struggling to deal with the raging tempest of emotions that have taken hold of his mind: his being. Few have failed to be charmed by the witty and independent spirit of Elizabeth Bennet in Austen’s beloved classic Pride and Prejudice. When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. In the sparkling comedy of manners that follows, Jane Austen shows us the folly of judging by first impressions and superbly evokes the friendships, gossip and snobberies of provincial middle-class life. This Penguin Classics edition, based on Austen’s first edition, contains the original Penguin Classics introduction by Tony Tanner and an updated introduction and notes by Viven Jones. There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”

And how could he think she would ever agree to marry him after the way he convinced Bingley that Jane didn't love him?! It comes with so many silly rules, so many silly expectations. Those of social station and wealth must be seen to marry someone of the same “worth” regardless of the feelings involved; they must be seen to marry someone on their level of class structure. But what of love? What of passion? Should it be quenched because of these all-encompassing silly constructs?

Success!

So, quite obviously, the BBC miniseries (in all its 327 minute glory) is the only version that is acceptable. The other movie was such a travesty to this book, that I wept big, fat, angry tears...like the spoiled brat that I am. Another of Austen's strengths is her prose style, which is witty, precise, and elegant. Her use of irony and satire adds depth and nuance to the novel, allowing her to critique the social norms and expectations of her time while still entertaining her readers. During my first reading of Pride and Prejudice, I had known I was hugely underqualified to review this book, though at the same time I had hoped, if I read all of her books, I might, in time, write an acceptable review for this masterpiece. Now that I’ve read them all, and also P&P for a second time, all I can say is I still don’t consider myself remotely qualified to write an objective review. But it is impossible not share one’s opinions after reading this: this book, for me, is as best as it could get. So, for the time being, I’ll have to be content with writing what I consider to be a subjective overview, which, I’m certain, does not do much justice. However, I hope that someday my sense in classical literature would become good enough to truly appreciate how remarkable this book is. Bonus! A studious and completely objective discussion of the merits of the leading actors and actresses in the major P&P movies and TV miniseries.

Something I always find extremely entertaining in these types of classics is the underhanded savagery delivered through a facade of polite smiles and impeccable manners. It’s admirable, really 😂 . Though the domain of Jane Austen’s novels was as circumscribed as her life, her caustic wit and keen observation made her the equal of the greatest novelists in any language. Born the seventh child of the rector of Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16, 1775, she was educated mainly at home. At an early age she began writing sketches and satires of popular novels for her family’s entertainment. As a clergyman’s daughter from a well-connected family, she had ample opportunity to study the habits of the middle class, the gentry, and the aristocracy. At 21, she began a novel called “The First Impressions,” an early version of Pride and Prejudice. In 1801, on her father’s retirement, the family moved to the fashionable resort of Bath. Two years later she sold the first version of Northanger Abbyto a London publisher, but the first of her novels to appear in print was Sense and Sensibility, published at her own expense in 1811. It was followed by Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815). This movie also has a third strike against it, the travesty of its rewriting of Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s personality.) Indeed, Austen slowly reveals the dangers of false perception as she gradually peels away the mask of this stoic pillar of aristocracy, and underneath blossoms a misunderstood and sensitive soul. So the romance plot is born. Elizabeth eventually loses her prejudice and sees through Darcy’s false pride. Darcy loses his integrated construct of prejudice and ignores the pride of his relatives. As ever with Austen, the title of the work is suggestive of the main motifs; she’s never subtle as its all ways clear which way her razor sharp sarcasm is pointed.

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Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us." Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story takes place in the fictional town of Meryton, England, in the late 18th century. The novel follows the life of Elizabeth Bennet, a witty and independent-minded young woman, as she navigates the social mores of her time and falls in love with Mr. Darcy, a wealthy and proud arist