An Ageless Austenian Work of Literary Pride

Jane Austen’s "Pride and Prejudice" is a supremely timeless study of how a free-spirited woman in the 19th century Britain countryside begins to accept herself for who she is. No matter how many times it has been adapted for the stage and screen, several generations of both men and women alike have come to treasure the novel’s universal quintessence of what it means to be human.

Almost every female who lived during the famed author’s era, and those living in today’s trend-setting society, can, no doubt, clearly identify with Elizabeth Bennett’s drive towards independence and mature self-righteousness. In fact, you might as well say that both Elizabeth and the author herself were vast years ahead of their time.

Austen’s literary prodigy doesn’t see herself as “pretty,” but we can almost immediately start to believe that her perceptive emotional intelligence is what ultimately makes her tick. Although she is too trustworthy of herself because of Darcy’s defective judgments against her, she soon realizes that her seeming superiority over others can make her change and grow for the better, even if her rational decision-making is far from the reaches of true flawlessness.

Another unforgettable moral code in this irresistible story of individualistic love and integrity is one that’s particularly inspiring. In a world where the gap between the rich and the poor is ever more apparent, almost every avid reader can certainly come to grips with their social injustices and hopefully transform themselves out of respect for others not necessarily “like” them. Early on in the story, Lady Catherine demands that Elizabeth not marry Fitzwilliam Darcy, a tremendously affluent and stridently reserved aristocrat. Catherine is so arrogant about his proposal to wed Elizabeth that once she begins to embarrass him, she begins to have a sudden change of heart.

Elizabeth, knowing that she requires an open, honest aptitude towards her partner, finally ties the knot, and all, including the once-cynical Lady Catherine, live happily thereafter.

There are a vast majority of young women nowadays who want to marry or have a serious, committed relationship with a man not because of his charming personality, but because of his socioeconomic prestige and movie-starish looks. Love doesn’t necessarily conquer all in this increasingly complex world, but life in overtly materialistic 21st century America can still pick up on Elizabeth’s peerless self-determination to make things as best as they make it to be. As we should all know by now, money isn’t everything. The true aspect of life that does matter, on the other hand, is something that, regardless of social and cultural change, remains to be cherished: It is what we know on the inside rather than the outside that can make us come together. And that, as you can see, is what we can call sheer, Lady Catherine-like redemption.