School Library Lady

The following are COHS student reviews of “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen.

Genre: Romance

Pages: 360-392 (depending on publisher/edition)

Reviewer: Nicole C.

Elizabeth is at the age where she is to marry, but turns down a proposal from Mr. Collins. Her sister Jane is involved with Mr. Bingley, but he soon taken away from her by Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy has an eye on Elizabeth and proposes. She immediately turns him down for all that he has done and the blames put on him by Mr. Wickham, a man Elizabeth likes. It is soon discovered that Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy have an awful relationship and Mr. Wickham is the evil one. Mr. Bingley is reunited with Jane, and in the end Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy marry.

It was an interesting book, but it was hard to sometimes understand the language, for we are not used to hearing it in this time and day. The romance, of course being a girl, captured my attention, and it had a great ending

1. To show the deceit and burden of love. How it can trick you by looking pretty on the outside, but evil within. Once you have learned that you are able to tell what true love is.

2. Your opinions change, so do not let your first impression be your last about a person.

3. Jane Austen made the reader believe that Elizabeth disliked Mr. Darcy so much that nothing would become of them, and then she went 180 degrees in the other direction! The two of them fell in love, which made a good ending.

4. Why does Mr. Darcy keep Mr. Bingley from Jane? Jane and Mr. Bingley are reunited.

Reviewer: Jenevie A.

Elizabeth Bennet is a woman who is very smart, kind, and beautiful. She has four other very beautiful sisters. Her mother, Mrs. Bennet, tries very hard to get her daughters to marry. Jane then falls in love with Mr. Bingley, a rich man she met at a party. Mr. Bingley was very fond of the Bennet Family, yet his friend Mr. Darcy was not. Mr. Darcy is a proud, stuck-up man. He did not leave a good impression on Elizabeth. Mr. Wickham comes in to Elizabeth’s life and tells her lies about Mr. Darcy. Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy had a bad relationship in the past. Mr. Bingley had to leave Jane because of something Mr. Darcy said to him.  Jane refuses the proposal to Mr. Collins. Elizabeth finds out the truth about Mr. Wickham and realizes that Mr. Darcy is the good guy. Then at the end of the book Jane is reunited with Mr. Bingley and Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy get married.

My opinion of the book is that it is good. I love “love stories” so I enjoyed this book very much. It had moments where it was boring and slow, but over-all it was a good book. At first, I was confused because the way they talked and what everything meant in the old-days. It is easy to catch on none-the-less. My favorite character was Elizabeth because she is a strong, independent, and intelligent.

1. The Authors purpose was just to tell of a complicated love story that Elizabeth Bennet goes through.

2. The Theme of the book is to never underestimate the power of love. Also your first impression of a person may always not bee correct.

3. The author developed the story around the theme by showing the dislike from Elizabeth towards Mr. Darcy. The author then shows the interest Mr. Darcy has with Elizabeth, yet Elizabeth still does not approve of him. Then the author shows Mr. Wickham comes and tells lies about Mr. Darcy.

4. The main issue that the book raises is the complicated love between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet.
Reviewer: Brian K.

The novel starts out with the family discussing the news of Mr. Bingley renting Netherfield Park Manor. Mr. Collins, their cousin, comes to visit after Elizabeth overcomes a cold from traveling in the rain. Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth, who refuses him multiple times, and he moves on to ask both Jane and Catherine, who finally says yes. The two get married and move away. Elizabeth also gets proposed to by Mr. Darcy at the end, and she says yes. The book ends with her saying yes.

I really liked this book. I think they should teach this at a younger grade level than they do. Elizabeth Bennet’s character is so much like the modern woman trying to find the “perfect man.” I really enjoyed this book.

1. Jane Austen’s purpose in writing this book was to show the “modern woman” how to act while engaged.

2. The theme of P&P is marriage, while the thesis is choosing your own person to marry.

3. The method of development in P&P is by showing how difficult and negative marriage is, such as this quote; “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance” by Charlotte.

4. The issue it raises is that women should be independent in their search for marriage, and not allow other people to interfere with their decision.

Reviewer: Olivia d. R.

The novel starts with the family of Elizabeth Bennet at a party, there, they discuss there acquaintance Mr. Bingley who we later find out Jane likes. Mr. Bingley later tells her lies about another acquaintance she meets named, Mr. Darcy, who she is not fond of already. Elizabeth gets sick and it forces Jane to stay with Mr. Bingley. Through the many proposes Mr. Collins asks Elizabeth for her hand in marriage many times, which she denies, until her finally marries a sister of hers. After Elizabeth finds out the truth about Mr. Darcy she likes him and he propose to her, and she agrees.

The crossing paths of the lovers kept me interested in the novel. To my surprise the book was still appealing and I enjoyed the generic and cliché ending.

1. The author’s purpose of writing this novel teaches the reader to not judge a book by its
2. A theme of the story is to not judge a book by its cover and things are not always as they seem. It is displayed in the book by false identities that Mr. Darcy is said to be.
3. Even through Mr. Bingley’s doubts about Mr. Darcy Elizabeth falls in love with him. A quotation that furthers this thought is “Stupid men are the only ones worth knowing, after all.” (pg. 154)
4.  A main issue of Pride and Prejudice is deceitfulness. In the novel Mr. Bingley told Elizabeth lies about Mr. Darcy which made her not like him.

Reviewer: Amylee M.

The book starts off with the Bennet Family, but the story mainly focuses of Jane the eldest and Elizabeth the second eldest.  The females of the family become excited when a wealthy young man named Mr. Bingley moves into the neighborhood.  They meet him at the ball along with Mr. Darcy; during this time, Jane and Mr. Bingley develop a liking for each other and Lizzy develops a hatred for Mr. Darcy.  When Mr. Bingley leaves to the city, the family becomes distressed.  When Lizzy finds out it was Mr. Darcy’s doing, she becomes enraged.  When she meets Mr. Darcy again, he proposes to her and she tells him she will never marry him.  When she coincidentally meets Mr. Darcy again while at her Aunt and Uncle’s house; she is surprised by his civility.  They get to know each other and find a liking of each other.  In the end, they end up falling in love and getting married.

I really enjoyed this book.  It taught me a very helpful and valuable lesson.  I really liked the sarcasm and comedy that the author used.  I also liked the twist of the story, and the deep change that the characters go through throughout the story.  I found the language very sophisticated and intriguing and think the author did a wonderful job.

1. The author’s purpose for writing the book is to entertain, but also to teach the moral lesson that people are not always as they seem and that life is unpredictable as is love.
2. The theme of the book is that people are not always as they appear and that love is unpredictable, and the thesis is the author uses Darcy’s and Lizzy’s relationship to show this.
3. The author shows this in several ways.  At the beginning of the book, Lizzy judged Mr. Darcy and deemed him to be mean and unruly, but at the end of the story they ended up happily married.  For example, when Lizzy was thinking of Mr. Darcy, “No; hatred had vanished long ago, and almost as long been ashamed of feeling a dislike against him that could be so called”(Pg. 255)
4. The main issue that the book raises is that people tend to misread or misunderstand others, which leads to judging their character improperly.  The book takes the stance that you should get to know someone before you judge them.

Reviewer: Stephanie E.

The story beings when everyone in town hears that the Netherfield Hall is now being occupied by rich, upperclassmen. Once they find out that a prominent bachelor is among them, every girl begins to get ready for the town ball which the men and his sister are attending. Upon arrival, the Bennet’s meet the rich man everyone was talking about, Mr. Bingly. He came with his seemingly cold and bitter best friend Mr. Darcy who has twice the income of Mr. Bingly. Mr. Bingly immediately takes an interest in the eldest daughter of the Bennet’s, Jane. Though both are shy, the two people begin to fall in love. During this time, Elizabeth meets Mr. Darcy and sees him as an insufferable proud man, but always seems to run into him. Time goes by and the men go back to London leaving Jane heartbroken and confused. At this time, Elizabeth’s best friend Charlotte invites her over to stay at her new home. Charlotte, Mr. Collins, Elizabeth’s cousin, and Elizabeth all go to dinner at Lady Catherine’s estate. Elizabeth soon finds Mr. Darcy there and realizes that he is her nephew. A few days later, Mr. Darcy drops in on Elizabeth and proclaims his love to her. A disgusted Lizzy tells him that she knows he separated her sister and his best friend. Mr. Darcy defends himself saying that he did it for his own good. After telling the gentleman that he was the last man in the world she would ever marry, Mr. Darcy leaves but comes back later to give her a letter. Elizabeth returns home and finds her aunt and uncle who invite her to go see Pemberly. She accepts and yet again runs into Mr. Darcy who shows her his softer side. After getting a letter from home saying that her sister has run away., however, she leaves again. When the family ordeal gets settled, Mr. Bingly returns with Mr. Darcy. He then proceeds to ask Jane to marry him. She accepts, and that night Elizabeth gets a visit from an angry Lady Catherine asking if her nephew and her are engaged. After telling her no, she leaves. Once Mr. Darcy shows up again, he asks her if her feelings have change. Saying that they had, they become engaged to much anger with his aunt. Both couples end up happily married at the end.

This book quickly became one of my all time favorite books, with Elizabeth’s wit and quick humor, I found myself immersed in the book. The timeless story of forbidden love always makes a good reading, and Jane Austin knew exactly how to write it. Also, it gave me an inside of relationships and regular living during that time. I not only read a good story, but attained a history lesson as well!

1. The Author’s purpose for writing the book was to show the differences and troubles with different social classes intermingling. She also tried to teach people to go against the typical gender stereotypes.
2. Jane Austin’s theme of the book was not being so judgmental and not to jump to conclusions, while the thesis of the book was overcoming social issues with love can benefit in the future.
3. The method Austin supported her thesis by having many people frown upon Lizzy’s social standards. “Heaven and Earth!—of what are you thinking? Are the shades of Pemberly thus polluted?” (346) “his sense of her inferiority, of its being a degradation, of the family obstacles which judgment had always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on with a warmth which seemed due  to the consequence he was wounding but was very unlikely to recommend his suit.” (188). Through this it shows that people actually though Elizabeth was on a lower level as a human then them
4. The main issue of the book was trying to overcome social and economic burdens. The issue first becomes addressed when Mr. Bingly takes an interest in the eldest sister, Jane. Problems also ensue when Mr. Darcy asks for Elizabeth’s hand in marriage. An outraged Lady Catherine attempts to save her family’s upper class ways by making sure they do not wed. The book’s issue becomes solved at the end when both couples end up being married despite warnings.

Reviewer: Amanda G.

Elizabeth’s mother hopes that her children will marry into money. Darcy and Elizabeth first meet at a ball hosted by Mr. Bingley, a rich bachelor. Darcy is soon fond of Elizabeth because of her personality traits. Darcy, much later on, declares his affections and asks for Elizabeth hand in marriage. Elizabeth refuses him because she thinks that he ruined Mr. Wickham and broke up. . .

1. Jane Austen wrote this book to shed light on possessive parents, love, and different social classes.

2. The theme of the book is love, and opposing social classes.