On Pride and Prejudice

I read Pride and Prejudice last week and I really enjoyed it. I loved the vocabulary and the way the characters spoke and thought about things.

When I first started reading this quite a while ago, I couldn't understand what they were saying. The sentances were so long that by the time I finished a sentance, I couldn't remember what the beginning of the sentance was about. But I think the reason I enjoyed it so much this time is that I had practiced reading other books and I was now able to understand a bit more than I had before. Maybe watching the movie helped too.

Don't we all have a bit of Lizzy's prejudice and Mr. Darcy's pride when we first encounter new situations or new people? Concerning Lizzy's prejudice: It isn't until we have all the facts that we can make a true judgment of a circumstance or a person's character. If we try to judge before we have all the facts we will hopefully change our opinions to match up with what is true just as she did. Our perceptions become united with the true reality and our attitudes and beliefs transform. Even though like Lizzy, it may be embarassing or difficult to accept, I believe it is usually a very positive experience if one is open to it. It goes the same for Mr. Darcy: Because he was teachable enough to make the truth of his actions known and then correct them under torture of injured pride, he experienced a very positive outcome.

It is truly amazing how impactful to change feelings and words associated with those feelings are. She was instrumental in changing Mr. Darcy's damaging pride to a sensible humility. He was a character that was willing even in injury to his pride to consider his mistakes and try to make them right. We find that he was a good man all along and just completely misunderstood by those who did not truly know him. I think it was his pride that kept him from allowing himself to be really known by others who he mistakenly thought were beneath him. I am sure there are all types of pride that creep into the mind and then the heart of the unaware christian. (Consider Mr. Collins reaction to Mr. Bennet at the elopement of Lydia.) It's nice when we are blessed enough to be corrected before we seal our fate too terribly in the wrong direction.

It is interesting to note that if Lizzy had not had some prejudice against Mr. Darcy's pride she would have never known of his goodness because she would not have spoken so strongly to him at his request for engagement and he would not have checked his behavior to show her his goodness. Lizzy's prejudice and Mr. Darcy's pride actually worked together for their good as it was resolved in the end. If you think that without Lizzy's negative opinions of Mr. Darcy and Mr. Darcy's snobbish demeanor, they never would have come together in the way they did, and we would not have such a wonderful story to learn from. Thank goodness we do! What a delight!