My Favourite Book

Reading books is becoming rare in this age and time of the internet and movies. But I still enjoy the feel of a book in my hands and savour the joy of reading. I enjoy many genres of books ranging from the fast paced thrillers to auto biographies, from the historical to futuristic. But one book stands out from the others and which I read over and over again. It is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

Taking place in the early 1800’s, Pride and Prejudice is a comedy centered around Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, their five daughters, and the various adventures at their Hertfordshire residence of Longbourn, and mainly narrates the clash between Elisabeth Bennet, the daughter of a country gentleman, and Fitzwilliam Darcy, a rich aristocratic landowner, whose relationship starts from dislike but at last they fall in love and are happily united. Pride and Prejudice reflects the manners and customs of the time Austen was living, which had set a precedent for novels dealing with realism. The significance of the title helps determines the actions of the two main characters and thereby the course of the plot. “Pride” is an unrealistic exaggeration of one’s importance. Prejudice prevents people from judging others according to their real merits. Both pride and prejudice are moral distortions and prevent the individual from seeing things as they really are.

Jane Austen presents many themes in her novel Pride and Prejudice. Some of these are relevant even to today’s society but none so much as the main themes of pride and prejudice. There are two main themes because one usually leads to another. Too much pride in one’s self is present in today’s society. This is usually linked to the wealth of a person. People who are wealthy tend to have an over abundant amount pride and this leads to prejudice, just as the story goes. The book gives us a lesson on how to forego our pride and prejudices and look beyond to see the true nature of people.