Please complete all blog posts pertaining to Pride and Prejudice in the comments section of this thread. Blog posts are assigned weekly for the duration of the Lit Circle, and are due by 10pm on Thursday nights.
Students posting in this thread will be: Michelle, Tamra, Meghann, Melanie & Jennifer
Happy Reading!
16 comments:
Hi, I haven't died yet. Anyway, I'm really liking the book so far. I really didn't want to read Jane Austen because I was under the impression she was a mushy romance author, but I really love the way she writes! Anyway, I am very confused by the younger sisters. I'm confused because the older two are so great, but the younger three are terrible. It isn't subtly suggested in their actions either. The mom casually mentions in conversation multiple times how bad they are. I don't understand why that is. Is it just the time period that makes it okay for her to talk about her daughters being ugly and hard to marry off?
I've heard so much about Pride and Prejudice. I heard that its a great book and then I heard that its boring and hard to read because its confusing. I just got the book today and I think that it'll be a little confusing to read but I love the plot. I noticed throughout the novel Austen uses a lot of rhetorical devices, for instance irony is used in the first sentence of the book. I'm excited to read the end!
I also agree with Tamra, I thought this was going to be some mushy book to the equivalent of Twilight, but I can't complain so far.
My first guess on why Momma Bennet is a nut-job? She probably has some weirdo obsession with marrying her daughters because she is living vicariously through them.
Maybe I'm judging people too quickly in the text; I'm no fan of mothers who make me feel anxious just from the very beginning.
She makes me think of a Toddlers and Tiaras mom... *Shudder*
Ahh, my favorite! Brownie points all around! :) If you're having trouble, stick with it! Michelle, I love the comparison to a stage mom; that perfectly describes Mrs. B. (Sidenote: if your group chooses to watch a version of P&P, please do yourself a favor and watch the "good" version, with Colin Firth. It is long, but much much better than the other adaptations).
Al-right, here we go!
So we've been picking up on the theme of reputation in the novel even toward the beginning; in this time period, it's obvious your family name has a big role in your status in society. This is especially clear with the whole Mr. Collins situation.
He's honestly just a pompous jerk who got lucky. The thing that irritates me the most about him is his claim that Elizabeth is only "being a girl" and not accepting his ridiculous (and inadequate) marriage proposal after SEVERAL TIMES OF ASKING. He can't even take no for an answer, which makes me want to chuck the book across the room.
Then he goes ahead to marry Charlotte - I think because he's only trying to make Elizabeth jealous - and tries to show all of the gorgeous, wonderful things in his house when Elizabeth comes to visit.
This guy irks me. I'd imagine he's not very good-looking and has to overcompensate. :-P
I completely agree with you Michelle. Collins is just a jerk. I find it funny how he thinks Elizabeth is being modest in declining his marriage proposal, even after several attempts. At first I liked Wickham but when i found out that he was ca-noodling with another woman who was wealthier than Elizabeth i didn't care for him anymore. And I found it kind of absurd that Charlotte married Collins even though they like just met.
same here about Mr.Collins. I also found it strange the Mr.Darcy didn't appear much, even though he is the main guy character....did anyone else feel the same?Oh, and I found Mr.Bingley to be extremely frustrating.....he was so lovey-dovey with Jane, and then he went and frogot about her!!!I know it was because his sisters were keeping him away from Jane, but still.....
Why are all the men in this book so bad? Haha. The only one who doesn't drive me nuts is Mr. Bennett. He's the onlyone down-to-earth who isn't so concerned with money. Personally, I also like Mr. Darcy, even though he's supposed to be so judgemental. I think his character is just blunt. I just see him as honest, but I think it makes him out to be a bad guy. Except for when he said that he couldn't be even "tempted by" Elizabeth. I just don't get him.
Alright so after reading this week, I don't like Wickham more than before. Him lying about Darcy and how he promised him a living and a trying to take Darcy's money from him!! what a liar! So now I feel bad for Mr. Darcy because he was at first the "bad guy" but ends up telling the truth about Wickham. Elizabeth should feel bad about being awful to Mr. Darcy and stupid for trusting Wickham. So yeah...
I'll go off of what you said, Jen, and make note of the characterization shifts in the book.
Wickam, who is a rock star amongst the Bennet girls, ends up becoming the bad guy in the book when he starts his lying and stealing.
Mr. Darcy, in the beginning of the novel, seemed like the pretentious, egotistical butthead. I remember yelling furiously about him, but after we see a few instances of him being a bit more heartfelt and becoming the victim, we feel sorry for him and root for him.
I'm liking these character shifts, they give me hope that not all the characters are jockstraps.
I love love love this book. Mr. Darcy has been in it so rarely, and now that we got to the chapter where she's in Pemberly, I'm bummed about our stopping point! He contrasts Mr. COllins significantly; Mr. Collins claimed that they would make a good match, and then immediately gave up. Everyone thought badly of him, but it wasn't often mentioned. He was full of pride, but he didn't have much to be proud of. Mr. Darcy has loved Elizabeth for a ridiculously long time (kind of), she turned him down, but he didn't give up. He had a terrible reputation, but didn't deserve it at all. He had enough money to be a proud person, but he is not conceited.
I know! Mr.Darcy had seemed so...cold, and now he seems really nice....I felt so bad for him when Elizabeth rejected him....and then I partially felt bad for Elizabeth because she felt so horrible after reading the letter and understanding why he did what he did. Not to mention her seeing the changes in his persona. But I think something is going to happen, because he told someone that he had thought Elizabeth handsome, but does not now. I know he might have done that just to get rid of the woman, but his tone seemed angry and slightly truthful....as in that's what he thought he felt. You know what I mean?
I LOVE the ending soo cute! I find it sweet when darcy is talking to Miss Bingley and he called Elizabeth "rather pretty" at one time but now considers her "one of the most handsomest women of my aquaintance."♥♥ It makes me giddy inside. Anyways, the part I love the best in the final reading was when Lydia and Wickham might not get married and then Darcy pays Wickham to continue with the wedding. Darcy says he did it because its Elizabeths sister but its because of his love for Elizabeth.
I find it funny how Wickham believes he didn't do anything wrong and for asking money in return for him marrying Lydia. While Lydia is unaware of the problems shes caused with her family and possibly ruining their reputaion and everything. (sorry if this doesn't make sense)
So yeah good book! It definitley got better.
I also thought the ending to be good~~~ Altough we didn't actually get to see the whole marriage scene... Anyway, the further along i got in the book, the easier it seemed to read it. Because the writing style was so different. But even though it was so long, and a bit harder than normal to read(not hard though), I liked it. I'm glad I read it. Wonder if the movie follows it(to a certain extent, I know they can't do it word for word), or changes a lot....
I really liked it too! I found that article that Meghann brought in today to make a lot of sense. Twilight does stupidly try to imitate Pride and Prejudice, but she doesn't stick to it. I really liked the last line "'And they were both ever sensible of the warmest gratitude towards the persons who, by bringing her into Derbyshire, had been the means of uniting them." It was just a really great way to tie it all together. This book was one of the best written novels I've read.
I posted earlier this evening, but I still didn't see my post after a ton of refreshing the page, so I'll just recap what I said...
The book, overall, was pretty good. The writing was a little difficult to get used to, but I'm liking the messages and social norms Austen was writing about during the time. I also like how she makes sure the readers know Lydia, the bratty teenybopper with her broke soldier husband, ended up continuing their marriage and spent a ton of money. *Surprise, surprise....*
I wish I didn't call Elizabeth and Darcy's love so early in the novel, though, I would've liked to keep guessing. Or maybe it could've been progressing toward the end of the book so I can "aw" aloud and make those sort of faces like when you see a baby bunny. :-P
Overall, good book. Now the challenge is writing the paper.
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