Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
This book and its plot are so well known that any sort of synopsis would be rather superfluous.
You know, I knew going in that there would be far less focus on romance than in the adaptations I’ve seen (as near as I can tell, Austen’s main use for it is that her women be happy in their marriages, since marriage was the greatest security available for women of her class, and it wasn’t a security Austen herself had) but wasn’t really expecting there to really be so little of it. Not that I’m complaining, though I did end up rather fond of Darcy. (I think I’m fonder of Bingley, though. He’s sweeter, if a bit adverse to independent thought at times.) I was also initially surprised at how less refined the writing was than Emma’s, though P&P is an earlier Austen, and Emma was much later.
I think what I liked best about this book was Elizabeth’s sense of humor. I mean, it isn’t unusual for heroines of classical literature to appreciate a good joke, but I don’t think I’ve encountered one before who literally saw the humor in almost everything. Especially picking on stuffy men.
I know people like to make a big deal about Elizabeth not considering Darcy as a romantic possibility until she saw his house, but I think it was pretty necessary. Elizabeth is incredibly stubborn, and Darcy started out “that annoying stuffy guy who it’s fun to make jokes around and pick on” and then became “that stuck up A-hole” with Wickham’s story and learning he warned Bingley away from Jane, and learning the truth about Wickham only raised him back up to “that annoying stuffy guy who it’s fun to make jokes around and pick on.” I think she needed to be aware of an actual benefit of letting go of her stubbornness before she could consider anything else. I mean, she could probably put her mother and all her younger sisters in that house and not run into them for a week if she wanted.
One other near-unique thing about it (and something that’s still extremely uncommon today) is that, for once, it’s the guy who has to change his worldview and make allowances and adjustments for the girl, instead of her having to accept his flaws/bad behavior and try to live up to his expectations. I mean, Elizabeth has to adjust and give the guy a chance to prove himself, but he still has to do most of the changing and unbending. (I think that’s where the real “wish fulfillment” aspect, if there is one, comes in. It’s not getting rich or landing the hot, brooding guy, but getting more than you could have hoped for without having to change who you are or put up with his garbage, while still growing as a person, and that’s still very uncommon, in combination, for women in fiction.)
Also, I think I kind of ended up annoyed on Mrs. Bennett’s behalf? I always thought there was something about her that didn’t make it into the two adaptations I’ve seen, but there really isn’t. I mean, she is pretty awful, and would be frustrating under any circumstances, but most of her awfulness is worrying that she and her daughters will end up in poverty soon if she doesn’t get them married. She annoys me, but I think I pity her more than anything else.
Oh, and I like Caroline Bingley, and you can’t stop me.