Pride

As I tried to find an example of a prideful person in the novel, I couldn’t think of a more perfect example than Lady Catherine. The way she looks at her guests, the way she talks and how she refers to other individuals reflect this characteristic trait. While talking to Elizabeth about her skills, including music, she states that “There are few people in England, I suppose, who have more true enjoyment of music than myself, or a better natural taste. If I had ever learned, I should have been a great proficient.” (Austen, 130) For being such an old and supposedly experienced individual, Lady Catherine is simply disastrous at treating others, specially when it comes to appreciating other’s skills. The screenshot above exposes Lady Catherine’s attitude toward Elizabeth, a condescending look accentuates her characteristic trait: pride.

As Lady Catherine continues, she directs her attention at her daughter, of whom she explains that she would have also been prominent in the music realm “if her health had allowed her to apply. I am confident she would have performed delightfully. How does Georgiana get on, Darcy?” (Austen, 130) The sudden look at Lady Katherine’s daughter, her looking down at the ground and the rapid change of topic expose how Lady Katherine is truly disappointed of her daughter, how she searches for excuses behind her unattractiveness and her limited skills. The necessity of being perfect and her desire of hiding her faults supports my vision of a prideful individual.

Age

Does age really mature us? I would argue experience and intelligence is the true key. As seen in Pride and Prejudice, character’s such as Elizabeth are more conscious of their surroundings and the society they live in than other characters such as Lady Catherine de Bourgh. In chapter 29, Lady Catherine criticizes Elizabeth for being so frank with what she feels: “‘Upon my word,’ said her ladyship, “you give your opinion very decidedly for so young a person. Pray, what is your age?” (Austen, 124) Lady Catherine appears as a childlike figure in the movie, not so solemn and experienced as I imagined her. Catherine seems to act based on her whims and not on logic. I truly hate when older people dismiss younger individuals’ perceptions and ideas based solely on their age. I believe that if one is truly brilliant one will listen to what others have to say, regardless of age. Lady Catherine’s questioning deflects what Elizabeth was pointing at, trying to dismiss the possibility that she wasn’t right.

Marrying For the Sake Of It

In both the Pride and Prejudice film and novel versions, Mr. Collins appears as a desperate man who searches for acceptance in his family and community. As seen in the screenshot to the left, when he proposes Elizabeth to marry him, we can see how he appears as a solemn but ridicule figure even failing to gain Elizabeth’s attention. What he is saying doesn’t help him either as he states that his reasons for marrying are “first, that I think it a right thing for every clergyman in easy circumstances (like myself) to set the example of matrimony in his parish. Secondly, that I am convinced it will add very greatly to my happiness; and thirdly, which perhaps I ought to have mentioned earlier, that it is the particular advice and recommendation of the very noble lady whom I have the honour of calling patroness” (Austen, 80). The idea of marrying to satisfy others is completely out of order in my idea of what marrying is for. The idea of a man trying to convince a woman to marry him by stating these reasons for marrying is completely absurd.

Later on in the film, we see how Mr. Collins kneels down and continues trying to convince Elizabeth to marry him. He doesn’t even look at her in the eye, he is just doing it as if it were a task he was assigned. He doesn’t understand why she won’t accept his proposal stating that: “My reasons for believing it are briefly these: it does not appear to me that my hand is unworthy your acceptance, or that the establishment I can offer would be any other than highly desirable.” (Austen, 82) Throughout the novel we have observed how money is fundamental in starting and maintaining a relationship. Maybe this hasn’t changed, but I think it isn’t as explicit now. The idea of Mr. Collins arguing that what she would be getting must be satisfactory comprehends this societal establishment. Mr. Collins’ marriage proposal seems to be an obligation, an action who’s only real motivation rests only in satisfying society’s needs and receiving its approval.

Prideful Vocabulary

-Laconic (45)

-Threadbare (45)

-Atonement (48)

-Affability (50)

-Bequest (60)

For The Better?

Society requires us to have certain requisites to do just about everything in our daily lives. The characters of Pride and Prejudice are no different: “A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, all the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved” (Austen, 29). What everything comes down to in getting a job, entering college or being in a team is if you meet the requirements. Why are we obsessed with such things? Because there are too many of us? Because we haven’t found another way to compare different individuals? But is this for the better? I don’t really think so. Just that definition of what a woman should be able to do seems quite limiting to her desires. The idea that we are not perfect may imply that we aren’t supposed to meet up to complex requisites but rather find our unique passions that are born within.

Later on in the novel we are presented with a case in which Miss Bingley offers advice to Darcy as he writes a letter: “The perpetual commendations of the lady on his handwriting, or on the evenness of his lines, or on the length of his letter, with the perfect unconcern with which her praises were received, formed a curious dialogue, and was exactly in unison with her opinion of each” (Austen, 34). These lists of things that a writer must do or the way a woman should be are pretty established. We must play the game and try to meet these requirements in order to succeed. But aren’t we supposed to make a future of our own, to discover the endless possibilities available, to enrich our souls with new different things and to understand our world’s complexities from different points of view including our own?

As I thought about how language may be responsible for such a thing I remembered a sentence from Rayuela which states that language “al igual que el pensamiento, procede del funcionamiento aritmético binario de nuestro cerebro. Clasificamos en sí y no, en positivo y negativo” (Cortázar, 436). We need to make a checklist out of everything. It isn’t enough to be able to describe something but to be able to say what it isn’t. Suddenly tables and graphs start to make sense, we are one thing or another. Meet the requisites or not.

Feelings And Long Sentences

Sentences in Spanish are generally longer. You just have to open any book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Cortázar, Faciolinze or Sabato to notice how a sentence can be a page long. These sentences generally deal with complex feelings and events that impact the meaning of the book. As I continued reading Pride and Prejudice, I noticed how Austen includes long, complex sentences in much the way our Latin writers do.
“It was generally evident whenever they met that he did admire her; and to her it was equally evident that Jane was yielding to the preference which she had begun to entertain for him from the first, and was in a way to be very much in love; but she considered with pleasure that it was not likely to be discovered by the world in general, since Jane united with great strength of feeling a composure of temper and a uniform cheerfulness of manner, which would guard her from suspicions of the impertinent.” (Austen, 14-15)
In this sentence a narrator exposes what Elizabeth thinks about the relationship between her sister and Mr. Bingley. All of the feelings that make this sentence up could be easily divided and turned into several sentences, but suddenly something would be lost, a line of thought. This 93-word sentence has a spirit of its own, it’s the perception of one of the sisters about the other, it shouldn’t be divided into any simpler forms as it reveals more of Elizabeth than of the subject it deals with.

Austen uses these long sentences to narrate the story and support what has been said by incorporating the opinion of one of the characters as seen in page 25:
“The sisters, on hearing this, repeated three or four times how much they were grieved, how shocking it was to have a bad cold, and how excessively they disliked being ill themselves; and then thought no more of the matter: and their indifference towards Jane when not immediately before them, restored Elizabeth to the enjoyment of all her original dislike” (Austen, 25).
Commas in this sentence provoke a sense of laughter when employed to separate the different elements in a list referring to the different reactions the sisters have towards being sick and Jane’s health state. In the same sentence we are also presented with Elizabeth’s reaction to the sister's comments and her final change in state of mind. Given the thematic of the book, Austen’s long sentences are perfect for the drawn out complexity of human thoughts and emotions.

First Sentences

As I ventured into the world of Pride and Prejudice I noticed how the first sentence of each chapter is critical to understanding the meaning of the section. Yes, this happens in almost all novels but not quite with this intensity. The first chapter begins with a generalization of the role of a rich, single man in society, something the rest of the chapter elaborates in detail. We see how the arrival of a young man, Mr. Bingley, forces the parents of young girls to bond with him, including Mr. Bennet, who states that he will not go to talk with him. The first sentence of Chapter 2 juxtaposes with the impression we have of Mr. Bennet from Chapter 1: “Mr. Bennet was among the earliest of those who waited on Mr. Bingley” (Austen, 3). The first five pages reveal a playful character in Mr. Bennet and a solemn, motherly figure in Mrs. Bennet, completely devoted to finding
wealthy husbands for her daughters.

The beginning of the third chapter “Not all that Mrs. Bennet, however, with the assistance of her five daughters, could ask on the subject was sufficient to draw form her husband any satisfactory description of Mr. Bingley” (Austen, 5). The reader rapidly discovers how the first sentence reveals the main subject of the chapter, the first interactions between the Bennets and Mr. Bingley. The early structure of the book resembles a newspaper article, a headline, or the chapter’s first sentence followed by a body which captures the story presented. This structure helps the plot be effective in conquering the reader's attention and giving him the main points of the idea the author tries to make.

The fourth chapter does much the same with the first sentence in which the narrator states that “When Jane and Elizabeth were alone, the former, who had been cautious in her praise of Mr. Bingley before, expressed to her sister how very much she admired him” (Austen, 9). The chapter deals with the relationship between the Bennet’s daughters, how varied their personalities are and how they begin to interact with Mr. Bingley. The power of each of these first sentences is as strong as the importance of the headlines of newspaper articles with the difference these sentences completely capture the readers attention to continue the Bennets/Bingley journey.