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I’ve never been a classics reader, to be honest. So I read very selective classics. And I recommend even fewer.
So here’s the latest classic that I read and most definitely recommend.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, the most loved British author, and Britain’s favorite book. The story is quite widely known. Published in the 1800s this book continues to rule hearts even today in 2021.
I think the term most eligible bachelor must have originated from this book. When we say Mr.Darcy, what comes to mind is a proud, vain British lord who has no regard for anyone other than himself or those very close to him. Then we have the heroine Elizabeth, who has four sisters and is the daughter of a gentleman with limited resources and means. We have a mother whose only aim in life is to get her daughters married. And we have possible contenders looking for a favorable marriage with the girls. And then we have a classic haters-to-lovers trope here.
The story is charming. That’s the best word I can choose to describe Austen’s flowery writing and mighty wordplay. Sometimes I thought why she wrote paragraphs to convey something as simple as getting lost, but we need to keep in mind that this novel was written in the 18th century, where a woman’s elegance, language, beauty, class all mattered immensely, and casual language had no place amongst the British.
Nevertheless, I was compelled to read this book from start to end. And not just that, I then had to watch its various movie adaptations over the years that added a charm to the beauty of this sweet novel. My favorite, of course, was the one featuring Kiera Knightley, followed by our very own Indian version of the classic featuring Aishwarya Rai.
I’ll link all the promo videos here and share the best quotes from the book with you. I have also come to love all the various cover editions for this novel over the years, and would love to share these too. Take your favorite of the lot.
“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! -- When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”
“A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.”
“In vain have I struggled? It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
“There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.”
“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.”
“Angry people are not always wise.”
“Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.”
“There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”
“I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.”
“You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged; but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever.”
“I am the happiest creature in the world. Perhaps other people have said so before, but not one with such justice. I am happier even than Jane; she only smiles, I laugh.”
“To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love”
“For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?”
“An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.”
“He is a gentleman, and I am a gentleman's daughter. So far we are equal.”
“You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.
“A girl likes to be crossed a little in love now and then.
It is something to think of”
“Her heart did whisper that he had done it for her.”
“Oh, Lizzy! do anything rather than marry without affection.”
“I certainly have not the talent which some people possess," said Darcy, "of conversing easily with those I have never seen before. I cannot catch their tone of conversation, or appear interested in their concerns, as I often see done.”
“Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind. But vanity, not love, has been my folly.”
“Nothing is more deceitful," said Darcy, "than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast.”
“Now be sincere; did you admire me for my impertinence?"
"For the liveliness of your mind, I did.”
“Do not consider me now as an elegant female intending to plague you, but as a rational creature speaking the truth from her heart.”
“I might as well enquire,” replied she, “why with so evident a design of offending and insulting me, you chose to tell me that you liked me against your will, against your reason, and even against your character?”
“It is happy for you that you possess the talent of flattering with delicacy. May I ask whether these pleasing attentions proceed from the impulse of the moment, or are they the result of previous study?”
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