ABookReportofPrideandPrejudice傲慢与偏见读书笔记英文

A Book Report of Pride and Prejudice

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An introduction to the author

The book is written by Jane Austen (1775-1817), an English novelist whose realism, biting social commentary and masterful use of free indirect speech, burlesque and irony have earned her a place as one of the most widely-read and best-loved writers in British literature. Jane Austen was born in a small town Stiven. She was the youngest of seven children in her family. And her father is local church parish pastor. Though Jane had never attended to a formal school, she was educated well by her father and older brothers as well as her own reading. When she was about 20 years old, she began to write novels and published 6 novels in total. However, it’s a pity that she died at the age of 41 and unmarried all her life.

Plot summary

Pride and Prejudice mainly describes a special love story of an arrogant man and a woman who prejudices the man. Of course, they clear up their misunderstanding and get married finally.

Two leading roles of the novel are Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Elizabeth is a lovely and clever woman who grows up in the village. The most important thing is that she pursues free love. She hates her mother’s idea of treating marriage as a tool to attain interest and vanity. That may be why she asks if Jane really love Charles when their mother wants Jane to marry Charles and why she refuse the courtships from Mr. Collins and Mr. Darcy. Fitzwilliam is an arrogant man first. He treats anyone with whom he isn’t familiar chillily. However, Elizabeth changes him, and he becomes a real gentleman eventually.

My comments

The beginning of the novel says,“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of good fortune must be in want of a life.” This sentence just

state the background of the novel. Though the Industrial Revolution made British modernize rapidly, it’s conservative in village. Female’s social position bent comparatively at that time. Thus women tried to get a better and richer life by marrying men with a lot of property. The first scene of the novel is that Mrs. Bennet tell Mr. Bennet about the new owner of Netherfield: Charles Bingley, “a single young man of large fortune from the north of England”. The only mind in her heart is to let one of her daughters marry him and then the others can marry gentlemen like him. From this scene, I just find Mrs. Bennet is so philistine and feudalistic. Maybe she is the epitome of women in that era which women just live relying on men like vines live relying on trees.

However, Elizabeth is different. She doesn’t agree with her mother. In my opinion, what Elizabeth thinks may be on behalf of the author. Women should have their own work, should have their own love, should have their own choice and have their own life. In the era that the consciousness of women doesn’t wake, this thought was deviating from the norm. Nevertheless, it just was popular among the youth, then the masses. That proves the importance of the background. In that social context (the Industrial Revolution), women’s consciousness will wake up sooner or later. Thus, Jane’s opinion can be accepted soon.

Though most people like Elizabeth best, in my heart, Fitzwilliam is the most attractive. Not because I am a girl. Fitzwilliam’s character is the main reason. Maybe he is arrogant at first. But that’s not because he look down upon others. It’s just for he can’t get along well with strangers and his parents only teach him pride. Finally, he changes himself and is gentle to everyone. Love changes him. As we all know, if someone can be changed by love, he must love deeply. Mr. Darcy is just the man with deeply and undivided love. Besides, he is a direct person. He just expresses his impression directly. Love is love, and hate is hate. This kind of man is more reliable.

The other leading role, Elizabeth, is popular among women because of her thought of free love. To have her own real lover, she even refuses the courtships from Mr. Collins and Mr. Darcy (the first time) who are recognized as best husband in others’ eyes. The main line in the novel is her attitude to Fitzwilliam: from prejudice