Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Book Review Example

A story set in the early 1900s, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice talks about the basic issues that women in her time experience. Being an individual who is observant and intuitive about the world around her, it could be understood that her plot and settings are also based on what she knows. Witty and direct; this is how her book could actually be described. The assumption of development in the society back then is highly dependent on classes, gender biases and social separation that identifies the being. This situation largely affected the individual understanding of humans about themselves. Relatively, it could be analyzed that it is because of this instance that women were set aside, considered as priced possessions of men, women stand beside their chosen mates as if they were objects specifically made to be presented and be shown of as the source of their men’s pride.

Compelling as the story is, Austen tries to outline her opinions about her society through this very story. Being a woman herself, it could be realized how much her personal understanding of self worth has been echoed through this material. What makes up a woman? What is the purpose of womanhood? These two questions could be considered as the foundation of the most important message that Austen is trying to send out through this written novel.

To note the said value of her message, she used characters that would echo her personal understanding of the society as it operated years back then. What constitute womanhood in her eyes is that of its simplicity and the minds of the women being accustomed to such point of ‘simple’ thoughts about themselves and their identities. She noted how women are made to concentrate on matters that would best define them and one of which is imagining. To note, she mentions, “A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.” (Pride and Prejudice). Take into consideration how whimsically defined the thinking of a woman is. As if caring for nothing but finding a better purpose in life, a woman is accustomed to living a life that is dedicated to finding a mate and living alongside with her man, no matter what that individual might think of her. Considered as trophy-wives, women are given less care when it comes to identifying their real worth in the society. Austen describes how the elite society specifically imposes prejudice among women as they considered minor members of the community who can do much less, hence are in need of being supported by their men.

Relatively, this reading serves as an eye opener to the past. A matter that specifically identifies well with the sociological arrangement of those living in the upper economic tier of the community; this story provides more than just a source of entertainment to readers, instead, it provides a sense of understanding the past in the eyes of a woman. It also provides a ground work on understanding why women craved for liberation; a sense of freedom from the idea of being accustomed to a life that is dependent on men alone.

What the story describes about the separation of identity between men and women could be noted as something much different to the situation at present. However, there are still specific considerations that could be accepted as valid descriptions of the current situations especially when it comes to the relationships shared by men and women. The value of marriage in this story is stipulated as somewhat vague. At present, the meaning of marriage still remains confusing. While there are more developed relationships between men and women today, marriage remains blurry to some that they do not accept the idea to be possibly suitable for their kind. Some others who get into the engagement and later on to marriage continue to learn the meaning of this relationship as they go through their lives as mates. Overall, the book of Austen provides a great indication about human nature, human relationships and the prejudice that occurred then and now and how all these elements define the facts behind human basics.

Work Cited:

Austen, J. (1813). Pride and Prejudice. United Kingdom: Penguin Classics.