I don’t know how many times I’ve either read or listened to or watched the film adaptation (or miniseries version of) Pride and Prejudice. I love Jane Austen, and this is her quintessential novel, the most memorable of the bunch. What is it about Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett that makes them so compelling? We all identify with Elizabeth, surely. She’s spunky and smart, self-deprecating at times, and she also so dearly loves her sister–her primary motivations are unselfish. And Mr. Darcy of course has all the worldly advantages: wealth, looks, and status. But in this story, we get to know him twice, through Lizzie’s eyes: once with her false assumptions of his pride and arrogance, and once when she looks at him instead through the softened eyes of knowing herself to be beloved. All of us want someone to fight for us, no matter how undeserving we believe ourselves to be… and this novel vicariously delivers.
My rating: *****!
