#with the extra complication of people thinking wickham was the more talented of the two

[vashti-lives]

Huge apologies to @sweetfirebird who unlocked one of my secret controversial fandom opinions tonight and now has to suffer through a lot of contextless gibberish.

[sabrinasdrafts]

“Pride and Prejudice"

First Impressions, is the original title of Pride and Prejudice, and it is what most people think the novel is about. But, it's really about second chances. Jane Austen is famous for her romantic novels set in Regency England, contrary to popular belief; Jane is more of a realist than a hopeless romantic. She has a firm grip on the necessities of real life and its demands. Pride and Prejudice follows the stories and lives of the Bennet family, with the second eldest daughter as the protagonist; Lizzie Bennet. As far as protagonists go, Lizzie belongs to the A-list. She's relatable to most people, because of her lively attitude, her sense of humor, she's everyone's best friend or the friend you wish you have. Readers feel instantly in love with Lizzie, her mind is active, and her voice is loud throughout the novel. And through the novel, Lizzie's process of thinking is felt, her ideas are told, reasoned with, and expressed through her actions, giving us a glimpse into her feelings.

 The story starts with the arrival of a new family, into the neighborhood, which brings about the issue at play in the novel and at that time in 18th century England, where a young woman's main concern in life is to marry well. Jane Austen here offers a revolutionary premise that a woman can choose her own happiness over securing her future with a comfortable home, and her responsibility towards her family and what's expected of her.

When this eligible bachelor; Mr. Bingley, his sisters, and his friend are introduced into the Bennets society, he takes a shine to Lizzie's older sister; Jane, who is an angel basically, everything that's good and pure, without the over-energized attitudes of Lizzie. While Pride and Prejudice is in all truth a romance novel, it's not about love at first sight, falling head over heels for someone you just met, or a passionate infatuation based on physical attraction. It's about a deep emotional connection between two people, as they get to know one another -and know themselves- better, between Lizzie, and Bingley's best friend; W. Darcy.  While some may construe Pride is Darcy's fault, and Prejudice is Lizzie's, it's not as simple as that. They are both human, and so, in a way flawed, and these are ones of the best characters in literature.  Pride and prejudice are their faults, both of them. Mr. Darcy is prejudiced against the rural society, based on his belief that they are less civilized, less sophisticated, less cultured than he or his usual companions are. So he decides first hand that he wouldn't meet anyone interesting here, no one worth his time, his attention, or even his conversation, so he wastes no effort to act politely, or friendly with anyone he meets. And Lizzie's prejudice against Mr. Darcy is because she overheard him saying she wasn't pretty enough for him, and  while her prejudice is certainly more justified, it is much stronger than his towards her, she holds it firmly for the better part of the first half of the novel, like the line in the 2005 movie adaptation, she admits "that (liking Darcy) would be most inconvenient, since I sworn to loathe him for all eternity." She is slighted by him, she gets hurt and stays mad at him for a long time because of it. Even, without her realizing she's actually decidedly against him, she who delights in her ability to read and judge people, is blinded to his character, because of that encounter.  The story sails off with Jane, and Bingley, falling in love, and her mother's hopes and schemes to get the pairing to wedding aisle, and with that Darcy and Lizzie are forced into being together on several occasions, where Darcy starts to see Lizzie for who she is. And instead of falling for her beauty from the beginning, he begins to appreciate her characters, respect her mind, falls for her easiness and personality. He has a lot of time to observe her, and he starts to fall for her. And when he realized that, he holds back, his pride plays here, but it's reasonable, given his status, his duties, and the expectations of his family to uphold their station. As for Lizzie, she's is set on her judgment of him, when Mr. Wickham walks in, into their lives, he's a charmer, unlike Darcy, whom he has a history with. Wickham's side of their tale paints Darcy as the villain, which soothes Lizzie's account of him.  Jane's story, while started of more pleasantly than Lizzie's, is hindered by the same social restrictions of that era. And, with his sisters' persuasion, Mr. Bingely leaves. The following months has the Bennets in despair, with a broken-hearted Jane, and a bored Lizzie with Wickham's departure. When the dreaded cousin arrives as a guest at their state, he tries to mend the relations by hoping to marry one of the daughters of the man whose house he shall inherit. However, Lizzie puts her own happiness above convenience and rejects him. Months later, Lizzie and Darcy meet again, where he finally gives in and admits his feelings to her, shocking her, and to his own surprise, she rejects him. This is more of a gamble than rejecting her cousin, and again Jane Austen shows that a woman can refuse to marry someone, whom she's not in love with. Darcy demands an explanation, and Lizzie informs him of her knowledge that he helped persuade Bingley to leave Jane, and gives him Wickham's account. Enraged, hurt, Darcy writes her a letter to explain his side of the story, turns out, after all, he's not the villain here. As luck would have it, Lizzie's summer plans throw her near Darcy's home and she can't stop her curiosity from seeing it for herself. They're given a second chance where they meet again, with open-minds and new opinions of one another. Darcy is still in love with her, and he heard her and wants to prove that he can change, that her first impressions of him weren't entirely true. And Lizzie, learning the truth of his history of Wickham, ashamed of how she judged him, is now seeing him in a new light, in his element, and with him working extra hard to impress her, it works. Then, as life goes, things get complicated when her sister gets involved with Wickham, Darcy rides to the rescue, and even more honorably, keeps his actions a secret. Before Lizzie finds out, she's tormented with the idea that he won't love her anymore, which makes her wonder about her own feelings for him, and when she learns what he's done, she's flooded with gratitude, and her regard for him strengthens. Will they find each other and make it work? I always prefer a story with a happy ending, even if some people might call it predictable, I enjoy the predictability of good winning in fiction because really, how often does that happen in real life?!   It's a story of how two people, despite there different circumstances, different backgrounds, find each other, and against all odds, even against themselves, they fall for one another, and mercifully, they are given a new chance to make it work, and they do. It's hopeful, romantic, with a good dash humor and sarcasm as is Jane's style, and it's a classic. There's a reason this particular novel stood the test of time, and it's a testament to its author's talent and innovation. Pride and Prejudice is a definite "must-read".