January 2013 celebrated 200 years of the classic and evergreen Pride and Prejudice- one of finest and loved works by Jane Austen. Made aware of this 200th anniversary, I decided to watch my Jane Austen favorites Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility back to back to relive the great moments.
The narratives and the structure of the story is mirrored in both the books with characters so fine that one can forget that they are literary. Jane and Ellena, Lizzy and Mary Anne are so classic that I cannot help but look for their existence in my life and my relations. However, the strong, arrogant yet completely mysteriously vexingly charming and unignorable Mr Darcy cannot be compared to Mr Ferrer in Sense and Sensibility. The characterization of Mr Darcy is unbeatable and even till today is a unsurpassed benchmark. However it is not the relived pleasure of these literary treasures that captured my thoughts but the article in the NewYorker paying tribute to 200 years of Pride and Prejudice.
The article talked about the life of Jane Austen and the lack of glory that she endured during her early years of writing. It talked about the fact that her work got its due mostly after her passing and that she died a spinster and a virgin at the age of 41. Another comment in this article "'Do women love assholes, the way that everybody says?" or do women like changing them and stripping them off their asshole like nature into men they love? was something that has stayed with me.
I cannot decide what is more harsh, the reality of Jane Austen's life or the fact that her work is merely a literary genius and will be refined to the walls of fiction and cinema. Love for Lizzy changes Darcy is perhaps one of the main memories of this book. Is it literary work like this that has caused women generation after generation to break their heart over Darcys of the world who may have the arrogance but who may never really change for them? If Jane Austen had presented her characters differently would the notions of what defines love change, at least for some? It is so easy to find a Mrs Bennet, a charlotte and even a Mr Collins, but the to find a Mr Darcy is a matter of luck.
Would we as women be spared knowing that men dont really change and least of all for a woman? Would we have been better off with words of advice from Charlotte? Would we be happier remembering that Mr Ferrer claimed Ellena only after being left?
Will pride and prejudice still be read and re-read for 200 more years (with the expectations that if I am like Lizzy, I will find my Darcy) if we remind ourselves constantly that Jane Austen never really married for love or for money?
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2013/01/happy-two-hundredth-birthday-pride-and-prejudice.html
The narratives and the structure of the story is mirrored in both the books with characters so fine that one can forget that they are literary. Jane and Ellena, Lizzy and Mary Anne are so classic that I cannot help but look for their existence in my life and my relations. However, the strong, arrogant yet completely mysteriously vexingly charming and unignorable Mr Darcy cannot be compared to Mr Ferrer in Sense and Sensibility. The characterization of Mr Darcy is unbeatable and even till today is a unsurpassed benchmark. However it is not the relived pleasure of these literary treasures that captured my thoughts but the article in the NewYorker paying tribute to 200 years of Pride and Prejudice.
The article talked about the life of Jane Austen and the lack of glory that she endured during her early years of writing. It talked about the fact that her work got its due mostly after her passing and that she died a spinster and a virgin at the age of 41. Another comment in this article "'Do women love assholes, the way that everybody says?" or do women like changing them and stripping them off their asshole like nature into men they love? was something that has stayed with me.
I cannot decide what is more harsh, the reality of Jane Austen's life or the fact that her work is merely a literary genius and will be refined to the walls of fiction and cinema. Love for Lizzy changes Darcy is perhaps one of the main memories of this book. Is it literary work like this that has caused women generation after generation to break their heart over Darcys of the world who may have the arrogance but who may never really change for them? If Jane Austen had presented her characters differently would the notions of what defines love change, at least for some? It is so easy to find a Mrs Bennet, a charlotte and even a Mr Collins, but the to find a Mr Darcy is a matter of luck.
Would we as women be spared knowing that men dont really change and least of all for a woman? Would we have been better off with words of advice from Charlotte? Would we be happier remembering that Mr Ferrer claimed Ellena only after being left?
Will pride and prejudice still be read and re-read for 200 more years (with the expectations that if I am like Lizzy, I will find my Darcy) if we remind ourselves constantly that Jane Austen never really married for love or for money?
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2013/01/happy-two-hundredth-birthday-pride-and-prejudice.html
