Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen revolves around Elizabeth Bennet, the second child out of five girls. Of all her sisters, Elizabeth succeeds as the most sharp, clever, and independent, but she is prone to making judgments based on first impressions, which sometimes leads to negative outcomes. Elizabeth’s mother, Mrs. Bennet’s main goal is to marry her five daughters as quickly as possible. In the beginning of the novel Mr. Bingley, a wealthy bachelor comes to Meryton accompanied by his sisters and his close friend Mr. Darcy. At a dance held by Mr. Bingley Elizabeth meets Mr. Darcy and initially sees as arrogant and haughty. Because Elizabeth is so caught up on her first impression of Mr. Darcy that she fails to see how they are a perfect match. There are many obstacles which postpone Elizabeth from uniting with Mr. Darcy, such as her own initial feeling towards Mr. Darcy, his own conceited attitude, other snobbish girls, like Mr. Bingley’s sisters, and her own family. Luckily Elizabeth’s charm repeatedly draws Mr. Darcy’s interests and she eventually succeeds in overcoming all of the obstacles.

Overall I enjoyed reading Pride and Prejudice, especially the second half of the novel. I think I would give it a seven out of ten. I favor how Jane Austen portrayed Elizabeth throughout the book and the description that was given for all the characters. Pride and Prejudice offers a great variety of different characters, some who are lovable like Elizabeth, and some who are completely irritating like Mr. Collins and Mrs. Bennet. Through this novel Jane Austen was able to incorporate social, moral, and economic issues that can appeal to many readers.