Did you know we have just started (slowly... or quickly!) reading Pride and Prejudice? We are going to have some chatter each Saturday to urge us all on and help us get the most out of the book, and also to gather some fresh insights, really!
You might know that I have watched many different versions of P & P (preferring the Colin Firth one), but this is my very first time reading the book. Maybe it is your first time too, or maybe you are an old hand...!
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You can read online here ::
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
Mr Bennet seems to prefer Lizzy to his other daughters, and indeed seems to consider his other girls a bit annoying in general. Is he teasing? Is he doing the Dad thing, making fun of the girls he really wholeheartedly adores? Or not?! Are they really the peskiest girls ever? Or is he being a bit nasty?
Mrs Bennet is completely absorbed with finding husbands for her daughters. Does this make her the sensible one, trying to secure the future of her and her husband without a house full of grown up girls hanging about forever more.... Or does this make her (as suggested by one of this very blog's readers) A Real Housewife Of Longbourn, seeking the richest husbands possible for her girls so she can eat bonbons and buy special sparkly things for her hair and pat cats all day long?
Poor Kitty and her cough. Have you seen Julia Sawalha play LYDIA (thanks Souraya!)? She is divine.
Why didn't Darcy want to dance with Elizabeth at this first Ball?
Why did Mr Bennet stay home and read a book, do you think? Don't Dads go to balls?
There is a LOT of dialogue, how do you find that? I am loving it. I am doing the character voices in my head as I read...
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xx Pip
I think Darcy was nervous to dance with Lizzy. He wanted to appear aloof and survey the situation before abandoning all of his senses.
ReplyDeleteObviously, a man with high standards and coming from the city, may not be accustomed to letting his hair down and having a good time.
The dialogue is like chewing a gobstopper..a bit hard at first but once you've reached the 5th or 6th chapter..it gets juicy!
I know this may sound silly but with the new editions of the book is the dialogue the same?
My book was printed in 1950 something.
I agree a bit with Tracy. I think Mr Darcy was thinking, "I should really be the senisible one here and make sure no one does anything silly like my friend Mr Bingley is in danger of doing with that Bennet girl."
ReplyDeleteI think Mr Bennet is just being a dad, and teasing the other girls. I'd find them a bit annoying too. They're being teenagers (before the word teenager was coined) afterall!
Oh, please may I join you? I meant to add my name last week but never got around to it.
ReplyDeleteP&P is my comfort book - I read it twice a year, for the past 10.
I loved Mr Bennett. I loved that he saw something more in Lizzie, that he saw she was smart as a whip, witty, loving, deeper. those younger three really were so shallow (I have a Lydia in my family - my youngest sister - she's 32 and still she's Lydia).
As for the ball - I suspect Mr Bennett didn't suffer fools gladly, and a ball would have been his idea of hell. I confess, I'd rather stay home and read a book too,lol.
The BBC version is my favourite. In my humble opinion, having seen many, the rest are an abomination..
I think the mother is just worried about her daughters, they have no money to support them if they don't get married so she's trying to get the best matched so the whole family is secure.
ReplyDeleteI love Pride and Prejudice and i'm so glad we're having this little read.
The Bennett sisters father favourtism bothers me-probably because there's a bit of it my family too! While on the one hand it's refreshing he's a father that clearly knows his daughters characters well, I still want him to be nice about them all!
ReplyDeleteMy copy is a modern version and the dialogue is the same-I'm sure there would be an outcry if they tried to change anything!
I think the relationship between Mr and Mrs Bennett is nicely balanced - she is outwardly obsessive about finding the perfect men for her girls, he is more practical and does his bit to assist, without getting too involved in all of the 'silliness'.
ReplyDeletePerhaps he sees more of himself in Lizzie and this is why he favours her. I don't think he is being deliberately mean.
I never really liked Mr Bennett, I always thought he was mean and slightly lazy. If all the girls get turned out of their home after his death it doesn't affect him at all! HE'LL BE DEAD.
ReplyDeleteYet he doesn't seem to be making much of an effort to secure his daughters' and wife's future, whereas Mrs. Bennett is the other extreme. She may be a bit over the top about it but she's the one who would have to look after 5 daughters with a dead husband and no home.
Definitely later in the book you see how little he likes to get involved even if the reputation (and marriageability) of his daughters is at stake. That's something he can do to help their situation, yet he chooses not to.
Well that's my two cents :D
I love that you have a character plot grid!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I've read P&P, well, to be honest the first time I've got this far through reading it! I haven't seen any of the tv/film adaptations either so other than references to it in other things the story is quite new to me.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tracy's metaphor of the gobstopper.
I also agree with CottonAndCard on Mr. Bennet's seeing himself in Lizzie. They are verysimilar in character and I think it is possible to get along with a member of your family much better than everyone else without having less love for them. They seem to have a deep understanding of each other.
I am having difficulty liking any other characters other than Mr. Bennet and Lizzie. Mrs. Bennet makes me angry, Jane though sweet is far too naive, the younger sisters are really just typical teenagers. Mr. Darcy, please tell me there is more to his personality - my friend tells me he was her first love! why?
one more thing - why after 5 daughters and 25 or so years of marriage do Mr. & mrs. Bennet not talk on a first name basis?
this is the first time I have read P&P and am loving it. I've seen the BBC series a couple of times.
ReplyDeleteIt is such a formal time with introductions, visits, balls and good marriages. The language throughout is very formal although just scratching the surface leads to a juicier story all the way through.
Lizzy's parents are fun - Mrs Bennet with her "good marriage" obsession and Mr Bennet for his "whatevs" attitude are interesting - he does what he can without being over the top about it. He is completely overrun by womenfolk who talk about frivolous things like lace and dresses. No wonder he is fond of Lizzy who comes across as wittier and more intelligent than the other girls. I like the others as they are so different from each other - plain & smart, pretty & silly, beautiful & naive - all bases covered. Lydia is my favourite of the sisters for her can do attitude and lust for life (and men) - she is very entertaining and generally tells it like it is.
I'm warming to Darcy but I'm only 5 or 6 chapters in so far.
Ooh may I join in? I ever so love this novel and have a beautiful cloth bound version that has been singing out for me to read it again, it has been many years since I have.
ReplyDeleteFrom memory I found Mr Bennet divine.
A man of his age and position in 19th Century England would not have lent himself to the gossip and frivolities of the women in his household, but deep down the futures of his daughters would have been of large concern, but not in outward appearances. Mrs Bennet- bless her, was perhaps a parody or a fusion of many such women of Jane Austen's time. Indeed a suitable provider for one's daughter would have been of utmost concern to any mother and her spiritedness in this cause, in a time when women cannot provide for themselves, makes for wonderful reading.
Perhaps Austen is making a point by having Elizabeth as the fathers favourite- that wisdom and intelligence should be esteemed above all else??
As for Mr Darcy refusing to dance, I have always been intrigued myself, I feel he probably looks down on the society he has stumbled into, but I look forward to hearing other ideas on this.
(I have never met a Mr Darcy in film or tv that came anywhere close to the Mr Darcy of my imagination, sorry Colin lovers.)
I am not currently partaking in this book club suggestion (don't have it, might get to it later, not in reading mode at the moment, and other similar excuses) but though those of you who are might enjoy this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.madeit.com.au/detail.asp?id=264704
I just gave my friend a set of Pride and Prejudice cups and saucers and she LOVED them. Very fun and cute and big-ups to anyone who makes really nice up-cycled stuff (plus it';s the type of gear I reckon Meet Me at Mike's regulars will like!)
Enjoy the book!!! I might join you, evetually.
I am sorry to be so tardy in joining your meeting (hastily shuffles chair into back row...)
ReplyDeleteI've lost count of how many times I've read Pride and Prejudice, have watched BBC version a good few times, and have just started watching "lost in austen" again (a mother's day present!)...
I LOVE the dialogue, and I love trying to talk like Elizabeth Bennet... and generally failing (this is one of the things I enjoy about Lost in Austen - Amanda, a person from present day London suddenly immersed in Pride and Prejudice, attempting to speak in a manner befitting her surroundings... but ending up saying phrases like "you could land a bloody jumbo there"...)
As for Mr Bennet, I think he is all too aware of the situation his wife and daughters face, but uncomfortable with throwing them at eligible men as a solution...
Looking forward to chatting again next week!
I think it was quite natural for Mrs Bennett to worry about her future and that of her daughters. If they hadn't married well then that would be calamitous for her if Mr Bennett pre-deceased her. Society of that day made it very hard for women and the poor house or falling on the help of relatives like the Dashwoods in Sense and Sensibility.
ReplyDeleteI do think that Mrs Bennett was a bit of an air head though :) I agree a bit with the other readers that Darcy was aloof because he was shy and also he did look down on the society he was in, too.
so i am also not officially in the book club but love this book and may start reading as well!
ReplyDeleteI really like Mr Bennet and i agree that during that time he wouldnt have been caught up in all the gossip and if there was a boy in the family it would have been very different the boy would have been Mr Bennets favourite.
Claire they talk on a first name basis as thats what they did in those days everyone called each other by Mrs and Mr as far as i'm aware...
Its funny when i first read this book when i was 16 i hated Mrs Bennet i used to think she was a busy body and let the girls live their life and leave them in peace.
but as i have re read it i feel she is trying to do the best for them (given the times) she just goes about it the wrong way and over the top!
I just downloaded this to my stanza app on my iPhone so that I can join in. Love love love all Austen film/tv adaptations but shamefully have never read any of her books!
ReplyDeletehmmm, I actually think chapter 42 has answered my question about Mr & Mrs. Bennet. I think Austen is reinforcing their distance from each other. I'm aware of the formalities of the time but I'm pretty sure husband and wife would use first names in the privacy of there own home - for instance Mr. Collins refers to his wife as Charlotte when talking to Elizabeth.
ReplyDeleteI'll admit I'm warming to Mr. Darcy now
My theory about Mr Bennet is that he sees Lizzy as the son he didn't have, he seems to be able to confide in her and talk to her about things he wouldn't dream of saying to Mrs Bennet or his other daughters - even Jane, who I think would probably be his second favourite.
ReplyDeleteAs for Mrs Bennet trying to secure husbands for her daughters, I think this makes her sensible in a financial way, but the way she actually goes about it in reality is completely bonkers & actually does more damage than good.
I think Darcy didn't want to dance with Lizzy because he was being a grumpy twat, but then I think he changed his mind when he saw that Lizzy wasn't as dense as the other country girls.
Mr Bennet stayed home to read a book because he is a sensible man. No, I think he stayed home because he knew that the other girls would make fools of themselves & he didn't particularly feel like seeing it.