Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice

Memory:

The first main event is the ball at Meryton, where Jane Bennet meets Mr. Bingley and Elizabeth Bennet sees Mr. Darcy. Jane Bennet dances with Mr. Bingley twice and Elizabeth’s first impression of Mr. Darcy is that he is very proud. Almost a month later, Mr. Collins, who is a cousin to Mr. Bennet, visits the Bennet’s household and proposes to Elizabeth. Elizabeth declines his offer, though. Jane soon receives a letter from Miss. Bingley stating that their family has decided to leave for London. A few days later, Mr. Collins proposes to Charlotte Lucas and she accepts. Jane eventually goes to visit Miss. Bingley in London. Elizabeth goes with Sir William Lucas and Maria Lucas go to visit Charlotte Collins. Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam arrive at Rosings. Then, Mr. Darcy proposes to Elizabeth, but she declines. Elizabeth, Jane and Maria head home together. A few weeks after their return, Lydia Bennet, the youngest sister is invited to Brighton. Elizabeth leaves again with the Gardiners for a tour. Then, they realize they must head back to Longbourn because Lydia has run away with George Wickham. Once Lydia and Mr. Wickham are located, they come back to Longbourn and decide to marry each other and depart. Mr. Bingley arrives at Netherfield. Then, Bingley and Darcy dine at Longbourn. Mr. Bingley soon proposes to Jane and she happily accepts. Then, Mr. Darcy proposes again to Elizabeth and she accepts. In the end there is a double wedding and Mrs. Bennet is a very happy mother. The most memorable moment in Pride and Prejudice for me was when Mr. Bingley proposes to Jane. Even though Jane and Mr. Bingley aren’t the most important characters, this part of the book really stood out for me because Jane was very excited and so was Bingley. It was so clear that they would be a happy married couple.

Cognition:

I understood the main plot and most of the sub plots, but from time to time the characters confused me because I had no idea who was talking. Sometimes, the way everyone would talk would be a little confusing because this book was first published in the 1800’s. People would talk and act very differently compared to how people talk and act today. The main plot line characters are Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Elizabeth is twenty years old and is almost the eldest sister in the family. She is her father’s favorite. Elizabeth was prejudice against Mr. Darcy at first. This is because she was lied to several times by Mr. Wickham and when she first met him at the Meryton Ball, she thought him too proud. Mr. Darcy is twenty-eight years old. He has a lot of pride because he thinks Elizabeth isn’t good enough for him.

Ethics:

Elizabeth’s moral standards aren’t the same as mine. She believed Mr. Wickham’s lies and she judged Mr. Darcy before getting to know him. Elizabeth does not know Mr. Wickham that well, but still believes him. I wouldn’t believe him because I don’t really know him very well. If you don’t know someone that well, do not believe everything they say. I do not think Elizabeth should have judged Darcy right away. He might have seems like a very haughty person, but he turned out to be a nice man. You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, like Elizabeth. Darcy was a very proud man at first, but he morphs into a more caring character later on in the story. At the beginning of the book, his moral standards might have been different than mine, but near the end of the book, his moral standards might be similar to mine. Lydia shows moral courage. She believed it was right to run off with Mr. Wickham. Even though I believe this is wrong, it shows that despite the consequences, she followed her heart. Elizabeth was placed in a situation where she did not know what was wrong or right. Elizabeth was lied to by Mr. Wickham and then was told the truth about Mr. Darcy by himself. Elizabeth did not know that Mr. Wickham was lying and was placed in a difficult situation.

Synthesis:

The title Pride and Prejudice is tied to two of the main characters of the book. Pride is tied to the character Mr. Darcy. This is because he was thought to have a great deal of pride. Elizabeth also believed Mr. Darcy to contain too much pride because he thought himself too good for Elizabeth. The word “Prejudice” in the title is tied to the main character Elizabeth Bennet. She prejudiced Mr. Darcy based on what other people thought of him and based on when they first met. This gives the story a great deal of meaning. This also means the book is mostly about Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet.

Evaluation I:

The story is from a long time ago and is well-written although it would be nice if Jane Austen told who was talking more often. When three people are talking, it confuses me who is actually speaking, but it is usually easy to infer who is talking. Other than that, I like how the book is written. It makes me feel like I go back in time. I usually don’t read books dated back to the 1800’s. This book is unique because of its wording and vocabulary. The plot is very believable. Back then, I believe it was normal for women to find husbands because they had nothing else to do since women’s roles were different back then.

Analysis:

All the characters are from the eighteenth century. The books takes place in different locations all around England. There are many different points of view. Mr. Wickham obviously does not like Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth believes Mr. Wickham’s lies about Mr. Darcy, although realizes he was lying. Lydia believes she was doing the right thing by running away with Wickham. Mrs. Bennet believes her daughters should marry. Elizabeth goes through different stages of belief throughout the book of who to believe.

Application:

None of the problems from the book relate to problems in my life. Elizabeth judged Mr. Darcy based on her first impression of him. Lydia runs away with Mr. Wickham and that causes a problem later on in the book because running away would bring disgrace to the entire Bennet family. I have never ran away from home with someone because I would never want to and I have no reason to. I also try not to judge people from my first impression. Mr. Darcy was mistreated by Elizabeth because she thought he was very proud and didn’t like her. I learned to not judge people and that everything in the past was very different compared to how everything is today. Girls now wear pants and they do not wear dresses as often. The world has changed and new inventions have been created. For example, television and computers were created.

Evaluation II:

This book from a scale of one to ten would be a six for me. It is not the best book in the world, but the story is good. Overall, I think the book is pretty good, but I don’t like the way it is written because it confuses me. I’m not a fan of book from the 1800’s to the 1900’s. I like fantasy or adventure books, but I want to try some new genres. I think this book would be more in the romance genre of books. I would recommend this book to people who like happy endings or to people that enjoy old-fashioned books.