Pride And Prejudice- Enduring Appeal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Pride And Prejudice- Enduring Appeal - Essay Example According to Lilian Robinson the 'great subjects' of Pride and Prejudice are 'class, love, money and marriage'. (p. 179) The producer of the television adaptation of this classic feels that 'though it's about many things, it's principally about sex, and it's about money: those are the driving motives of the plot'. (p. v) Sir Walter Scott commented in 1827, Also read again, and for the third time at least, Miss Austen's very finely written novel of Pride and Prejudice. That young lady had a talent for describing the involvements, and feelings, and characters of ordinary life, which is to me the most wonder I ever met with. The Big Bow-wow strain I can do like any now going; but the exquisite touch, which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting, from the truth of the description and the sentiment, is denied to me. (Gilson 475) There are several reasons that account for the enduring charm of this novel. But the main strength of the book lies in its characters that people can easily identify with. Just take away Elizabeth or Darcy from the novel, would it still enjoy the same popularity that it does today, I doubt that. There is something immensely powerful about the way characters have been sketched especially Elizabeth and Darcy. Combined with vibrant characters is the orthodox romance- and together they give us a work that simply refuses to relegate. Elizabeth is a free spirited young woman who hates to be confined by the norms of the society. Miss Bingley at one occasion describes Elizabeth's free spirit as "an abominable sort of conceited independence, a most country town indifference to decorum." (26) Darcy is on the other hand a man with the world at his feet. When such a man falls in love with the otherwise plain looking Lizzy, the world has to sit up and take notice. Isn't this the story we could all relate to with its fairy-tale yet identifiable content Romance has an enduring quality about it and when presented with characters that are both lively and real, you have a deadly combination. That explains why Pride and Prejudice has never failed to attract the audiences in over two centuries. Strong vibrant characters and powerful romance make this work exceptionally outstanding for centuries. According to G.K Chesterton, Jane Austen "knew much more about men" than the Brontes or George Eliot (109). He further claimed that there was "an infallible force to her irony" and a "stunning weight to her understatements" (xv) Having said all that, the fact remains, had it not been for Lizzy's independent spirit and Darcy's arrogance, we wouldn't be obsessing over the enduring appeal of Pride and Prejudice the way we do today. Lizzy was everything that a woman in the 18h century must have hoped to become. She was intelligent and outspoken yet sensitive and loving. Regardless of what some feminist studies might reveal, Lizzy was not a feminist. She was strong and powerful because she was intelligent but she was neither against marriage nor was she above falling in love with men. Another thing that makes her absolutely irresistible is her ordinariness. Lizzy was not beautiful in the traditional sense. But she had her own beauty- beauty that comes from being original. She was a first rate version of herself at all times. Her genuine