As I begin to remedy my failure to have read any of Jane Austen's novels, I chose to start with Pride and Prejudice, perhaps due to familiarity or perhaps due to it being her most popular.Familiarity and high expectations did not diminish my first written Austen experience.
Pride and Prejudice is a complex romance which harkens to the silly romance novels I read as a teenager only so far as to enhance its brilliance.
Elizabeth is sculpted as a completely sympathetic, bright and witty woman. Darcy is only slightly less sympathetic and is more interesting in his character development throughout the novel.
These two are contrasted nicely with many other lesser characters who share some of their character flaws without any of their redeeming qualities.
The preoccupation with class is a dominant theme throughout the book and one with which it is hard for the relatively class "un"conscious to relate. Only by surrendering to the mores of the time can the reader make sense of the characters' choices and prejudices.
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