Great Ending

Finally, I finished the book! Seeing as to how I had already seen the movie and read the easier adaptation of the novel, I already knew how it was going to end. Regardless, I love the ending. Throughout the whole novel, Austen gives the reader the idea that Mr. Darcy is an arrogant, prejudice, and exclusive man, but she does not allow him to share his personal view until the middle of the novel. This gave me as a reader a feeling of disgust towards Darcy. After he presents Elizabeth with the letter explaining the reasons behind his actions, which to her seemed terrible and selfish, the story changes completely. The story then becomes more of a game between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. They cross paths more than once and they constantly search for each other.

This novel had the exact storyline of a fairytale. The girl and the boy are star-crossed lovers who seem to have no way in which they would ever unite and then by a stroke of fate or luck, they end up meeting falling in love, fighting for that person, caring for that person, sweeping them off of their feet, and then finally they marry them. Its the typical princess story that every girl wants to experience as her life. As for her sister, she had the exact same ending, but without so much hardship or focus in the novel. I'm really glad Lady Catherine did not succeed in scaring Elizabeth off into not marring Darcy. I didn't like her character at all! Since the beginning i knew that she would be a snooty, mean, and selfish person who would cause much hardship in the "fairytale."

I really enjoyed reading this book and I hope we read more books with this type of storyline. Thank you Rachel for suggesting it :) .

Boys wont stop until they get what they want (no matter how they do it)

In these pages, Mr. Collins finally gives up his chase for Elizabeth, but he is not satisfied. Luckily for him, Miss Lucas came by to visit her dear friend and caught sight of him. As a woman, she is very agreeable and nice; however, she is very plain and is in the same financial state as the Bennet family. Any marriage that could provide her with a comfortable home would be a wish, or in this case, chance she would be willing to take. The fact that Mr. Collins would choose Elizabeth's best friend could only mean one of three things: 1) it was love at first sight [not likely], 2) he was so desperate to be married that he chose anyone else who was likely to have him, 3) as revenge to Elizabeth for refusing his proposal. Which of these motives led him to be with Charlotte we will never know, but we can each make inferences from the following information of the novel.

The couple united soon after Lizzy's rejection of Mr. Collins, and they married almost immediately after. Of course the whole Bennet family was invited to the wedding, but was it a slap in the face to Elizabeth that her friend was marrying the man that had proposed to her not much time before? Could they continue to have the same inseparable relationship? Im sure if Elizabeth really did not like the man, then she would have no problem with her best friend marrying him, and if she really loved her friend then she would want whats best for her which would clearly be to marry, seeing as to how she was already beginning to age.

Mrs. Bennet was furious with the matter. She felt ultimate jealousy which took over her body whenever they came to visit, "she regarded her with jealous abhorrence. Whenever Charlotte came to see them she concluded her to be anticipating the hour of possession; and whenever she spoke in a low voice to Mr. Collins, was convinced that they were talking of the Longbourne estate." The book mentions many times, and it is quite obvious by her actions, that Mrs. Bennet worries about the time of her and Mr. Bennet's death. Where would her children go? Where would they stay? Would they be ruined? Would they be married? Would they have any other chance to be married? These question would haunt her for the rest of her life until she saw each of her daughters happily married and settled.

Ohhhhh! Rejected!!

In pages 75-90, we see women in power. Men have many weaknesses. They would never admit to any of them, and they would and will do anything to fix or hide their weaknesses; however, it seems that they still haven't found a cure to one of their worst weaknesses...women. In this part of the book, Mr. Collin's nears the end of his stay at Longbourne. He feels he must act know in order to fulfill his patroness' wishes as well as his own to marry and to settle the long dispute between his family and the Bennet family. There is only one small problem; he needs to find a woman to fulfill this must. At first, he selects Jane, the eldest and most beautiful of the Bennet girls. Once he informs Mrs. Bennet of this selection, she tells him at once that Jane is very near having a proposal of her own from another admirer. He immediately takes this into consideration and opens his eyes for another woman who would be suitable to play the role of his wife, and who would satisfy Lady Catherine's judgements. Next in line came the fair Elizabeth Bennet.

Elizabeth has never been one to not follow her heart. She has a feminist attitude and cannot dream of ever making a choice, such as to marry Mr. Collins, that would effect her the rest of her life and surely make her miserable and regret her decision. The proposal came to Elizabeth, "before she had time for anything but a blush of surprise." (page 79) This only added to the graveness of her tone when she responded to his "over the top" flattery. She answered him as politely as possible saying, "you are too hasty sir, you forget that I have made no answer. Let me do it without further loss of time. Accept my thanks for the compliment you are paying me. I am very sensible of the honour of your proposals, but it is impossible for me to do otherwise than decline them... you could not make me happy, and I am convinced that I am the last woman in the world who would make you so." (pages 81-82) With this, Elizabeth tried to make her opinion/ refusal known, but Mr. Collins would not hear of it. He was charmed by everything about her. Her refusal only made him more persistent. Women usually have this effect on men. With the right acts and gestures, they can have men do just about anything for them.

At the end of the book, this womanly strength presents itself again. Mr. Darcy finally makes it known that he is deeply in love with Elizabeth. He even proposes to her "against his better judgement." Elizabeth; however, refuses his offer seeing as to how she cannot even imagine being with the one person who tore her sister and Mr. Bingley apart, along with destroying officer Wickham's life. The reasons were unknown to her, making her refusal as valid and agreeable to the reader as possible, but later on in the novel, Mr. Darcy provides her with a note explaining what really happened and why it occurred in that way. Being away from Elizabeth made Darcy sad, mad, and with many other mixed emotions. He felt he had to be near her in order to be happy. He did everything he could to help her family and to show Elizabeth that he could be worthy of her love if she let him. Like mentioned before, women have this effect on men. Men are very competitive. This is for the sole reason that they want to impress and win over women so that they may have a successful life and a grand partner to share it with (grand partner in each persons particular eyes.) Women will always have a leading reign on men. Men are like animals, they many times cannot control themselves when they find someone they like and might even love. This makes women on a pedestal compared to men, and it will always be like this. There is nothing in the world that could change this.

My Movie!

Just to start off, I must inform everyone that I own and love this movie! Although, I could not understand why Mr. Tangen would only assign the first 10 minutes of the whole movie, when we are in the middle of the book. Apparently he's "cool like my juice." (people in my class would understand that statement) This movie portrays Mr. Bingley as a popular but somewhat shy man, and it certainly does not do Mr. Darcy any justice.

Before studying the book in class, I had already seen the movie and read a version of the book meant for children in middle school. Yes, it had some pictures and medium letters. With all of this, I pretty much knew the whole story by heart, but it was missing details and a few of the characters that don't come up very often in the novel. The movie portrays Darcy as prideful, but not nearly to the extent that the book depicts. This does not allow the watcher to feel the hatred for the character that Jane Austen is trying to describe. The point of the story is for the reader to loathe Mr. Darcy as deeply as Elizabeth does throughout most of the novel. Only until she reads the letter and becomes aware of many other circumstances is that supposed to change. The scene from the link shows the first impression the reader/ watcher receives when Darcy is first introduced. Pride, the definition of this age, shows itself very strongly in this character. Darcy refuses all invitations to dance and barely glances at Elizabeth, whom he says, "she is tolerable but not enough to tempt me." Ironically, Mr. Darcy is subconsciously captivated by Elizabeths grand and dark eyes. This raises the questions, "Will their be a turn in the story? Will Mr. Darcy show a side to him that is not expected?"

The character of Mr. Bingley does not have a dramatic difference from the book to the movie. In both, he is shown as a weak person who has his decisions made for him. His sisters easily convince him to leave what he loves and to move on. When someone loves something, they should be adamant about having and doing everything to have that, in this case, person. They should not be easily persuaded into leaving all behind. In the novel, due to Mr. Darcy's influence in his dear friend's life, he does end up coming back, but can barely keep his grips in the situation. He must face what he left behind without reason, and he must make amends to those whom he hurt in his absence.

It's Not What you Know; It's Who you Know.

The Bennet girls seem to be very popular in their area. They are known as pretty and intelligent. Because of the size of the towns in which they reside, everyone knows everyone. Gossip is the center of attention. Especially when new people come into town.

In chapters 12-16, a few regiments of officers come into the small town of Meryton to stay until they have to deploy again. This news, of course, travels quickly throughout all of the small towns. The youngest of the Bennet girls, Kitty and Lydia, rejoice at the news and take off at once to their uncle's house. Their uncle has great connections with the regiments; therefore, he always has part of the militia at his house for dinner. The girls spend every afternoon at their uncle's until one day, their father informs them of a special guest that would be joining them for the weekend. When he arrives, he is very polite and formal with the family. (He uses formal register... hehehe) He seems to already know plenty about the Bennet family, which makes them, especially the younger ones, feel very popular.

During the visit, the girls are bored to tears. They try to show interest in what Mr. Collins has to say, but his monotone voice and praise for his "fortunate patroness, Lady Catherine De Bourgh." (pg. 49) Soon enough, they persuade Mr. Collins and their parents to let them go to Meryton for the evening, and surely enough the permission is granted. Whilst in town, the girls ran into officer Denny who introduced them to officer Whickham. As this took place, Mr. Bingley, along with Mr. Darcy, rode into town. They came straight up to the girls and said hello. To this, Mr. Collins saw the Bennet girls as well connected with the higher society. He thought this as good news to bring back to his patroness. Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham exchanged cold looks and then parted ways. This gave Elizabeth curiosity as to what may have happened in the past, but she did not inquire, in case it was a touchy subject.

Everywhere the girls went, men's eyes followed eagerly. They charmed all they met. Their uncle's happened to have a dinner the following evening, to which the girls were invited. Here, the girls flirted and talked to many officers who were staying in Meryton, and Elizabeth finally found out what she had been inquiring all along.

Two-Faced Bee's with Itches

Chapters 9-12 consisted of two- faced people. It began with Jane and Elizabeth staying at the Netherfield house, due to a terrible sickness that had overcome Jane. The Bingley sisters acquired this negative trait, and they used it on their guests. Jane, a very sweet girl, neglects to admit that the sisters have not been completely honest with her or her sister about their feelings of them and their family. but then again, they do not dislike Jane, just her social status and connections. They feel she can do so much better and that she deserves to be put into a higher society, but they would never say this to her face, instead they simply pretend to be her best friend and to like her family.

Elizabeth on the other hand is not so gullible. She realizes their contradicting personalities, but she does not show any retaliation, for they are caring for her beloved sister who has been very sick. She uses this time to learn the ways of "high class people" although she does not believe she will use it often. She is kind but very honest to all, even when what she has to say is a bit witty. She does not appreciate this double attitude.

I for one, hate two-faced people. I would rather a person tell me what they honestly think once so that I may change or stop being with that person, then have that person hate, mock, and have to put up with me. I feel that those kinds of people have low self esteem and need to get the attention of another person by ridiculing and mocking others around them. I would call them "bees with itches" (my mother does not let me say the real word but this kinda works) because bees are mean but they need help cuz they are itching :) hehe

The Chase is Always Better than the Catch.

In chapters 6-9, Mr. Darcy begins to have a change of heart. He comments on Elizabeth's grand dark eyes and he finally asks her to dance. Her refusal only increases his attention towards her. She proves herself to be an independent woman who is not insulted easily. Elizabeth talks to her good friend, Charlotte, who explains to her that "in nine cases out of ten, a woman had better show more affection than she feels." (pg 15) With this, Charlotte tells Elizabeth that Mr. Bingley does not know Jane as they do. He does not know her disposition or the way in which she shows her feelings. Elizabeth is convinced that Bingley and Jane are in love and she refuses to do something with the advice given to her by her friend.

Mrs. Bennet, always on her toes waiting for an opportunity to unite Jane and Mr. Bingley, sends her daughters to all of the balls in the country. Here, Elizabeth finally gives Mr. Darcy a respectful taste of his own medicine. His eyes are opened to this young lady, and he begins to want to know more about her. He watches her carefully for the remainder of the evening.

This is very typical in men. With this novel, we see that men do not change throughout generations, for they still like to have to work to get what they want. They like the chase much more than the catch. A man would much rather have a woman refuse him at first and have to work in order to be noticed that to have her affections with a snap of his fingers. This is why women always tend to be so mysterious and "hard to get."

Towards and in chapter 9, Jane receives a letter from Mr. Bingley's sister, Caroline, saying that she must join them for dinner at their mannor. Mrs. Bennet does not allow Jane to take the carriage for she is quite sure that it will rain that day, making it impossible for her to return home. Ultimately Jane becomes terribly sick causing Elizabeth to walk 3 miles to where she was, and to stay with her for about a week until she got better. In this time, Elizabeth was ridiculed by the sisters for her lack of poise, art, and talent on the "pianoforte."