I’m reading “Pride and prejudice” and I’m strangely enjoying it. I like the characters and the story, I’m really hooked with the book, but I don’t really know why it is so interesting and how Austen makes me feel interested in a book that, maybe just in the surface, is so mundane.
In the past, I also read “Sense and sensibility” for University and I also enjoyed it very much.
How do you think Austen makes this? How does she make a realistic and simple book so interesting in its story and its characters?
Her main characters are always very relatable and realistic, with quirks and issues and strengths and weaknesses. She easily imbues them with natural complexity and depth of character. While they are in some ways nothing special, they are still unique and totally believable, fitting into their setting while being clever enough to not quite fit in - just like so many people feel about themselves.
A little bit weird, a little bit rebellious, a little bit lost, a little bit faking it, a little bit brave, not afraid to admit when they were wrong 9at least to themselves - and us readers - if no one else) - all these qualities encourage us to feel sympathy and a sense of camaraderie. We cheer them on, we hope for the best, we laugh and cry with them because we feel like we know them - they are very much like us in some deep and human parts of our souls.
She was a master of character development because she was incredibly observant and gifted with the ability to put what she observed into words we can understand and relate to.
You wrote that beautifully.
I feel like the conversation below sums up how Jane Austen’s writing is both so dense and so amusing and so enthralling.
If you dont know Elizabeth Bennett - this makes her sound like a fortune hunter. Which is instantly relatable on the surface.
If you read the book you know Elizabeth is very much NOT impressed with money, and is almost a snob in how she treats rich people. So here she is ACTUALLY admitting she is wrong. She misjudged Mr Darcy, and in saying she is wrong is actually poking QUITE A BIT of fun and derision at herself. She is exposing this to her favorite sister whose opinion she holds very high - so you also get the understanding and the deepness of connection between Jane and Elizabeth - that Jane feels so comfortable being so vulnerable, honest, and silly to her sislter.
Additionally, after you have read it many, many times and pick up other things from the book and sources, Elizabeth is also saying “Mr Darcy is a good landlord to his tenants and he takes good care of the people and lands that belong to him and he is responsible for.” This is in counterpoint to her Father. She loves her Father very very much, but through some fault of his own he will not be providing for his daughters. He could do more to secure them good marriages and watch out for their reputations, but he throws his hands up and walks away instead.
P&P is NOT EVEN my favorite Austen - but some of the lines in Austen are so dense with meaning and the deep interconnectness of these families. It is truly rereadable and reinterpretable every time you read it.
Tl;dr Jane Austen is a genius of dense thoughtful reading.
Thank you for this explanation. Somehow I didn’t realize Jane Austen’s writing was such “high context”. As a programmer who (sadly) primarily reads dry non-fiction and almost exclusively communicates in a “low context” manner, understanding the hidden depth and nuance of her writing is a delightful surprise.
This is a great illustration of the levels of meaning in Austen and I appreciate that you explained it so well because I also see people use this quote to say Lizzie loved him for his money. Which is so opposite to Austen’s meaning! I don’t think Elizabeth’s praise of Darcy is a comparison with her father though. We see no indication in the book that Mr Bennet poorly treats his tenants or servants. He does what’s required to get his daughters introduced to Mr Bingley. He doesn’t want his daughters to marry for money, which we know is huge for Austen. He misjudges Lydia but Darcy did the same thing with Georgiana, and both men learn their lesson. Mr Bennet is confident his daughters will do fine on their merits and while frustrating, it turns out he’s right, both Jane and Elizabeth marry excellent men who don’t care about their family’s shortcomings. Mr Bennet is one of the few people who at the end join “their family party at Pemberley.”