* * *The popularity of Pride & Prejudice doesn't seem to be based on any particular yen for literary fiction or for Harlequin Romances. In Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen caught something that is so basic to the human experience (and in particular, the female human experience) that the book almost couldn't help but be popular, even more popular now than when it was published.
I came to this conclusion while listening to Pride & Prejudice on CD. It is an incredibly funny book, although it helps to hear it read rather than to read it. (Some people hear language when they read; I do not--I scan multiple words at a time--so the experience of reading something to myself and of hearing it read can often result in two different experiences.)
Charlotte argues that getting to know someone is pointless; it's all so superficial anyway. One might as well simply express a ton of interest. Eliza argues that one can't express a ton of interest unless one feels a ton of interest. Charlotte points out that expressing a ton of interest is the best way to retain the man's attention. Eliza rolls her eyes over that. If the man has any hutzpah, he'll wait around to see if a ton of interest might be heading his way, won't he? Charlotte contests that men may have hutzpah but they are also kind of stupid. If one wants a boyfriend, Charlotte maintains, one has to go out and get one [pick one up at Walmart after waiting in line for 45 minutes]. But, returns Eliza, one doesn't want to end up with the WRONG boyfriend [or, she might have added, with a Mr. Collins who is hard to shake]. At which point, Charlotte gives up. If you're going to get all idealistic . . .
Charlotte ends up with a good living, a house
and a pompous (but mentally absent) husband. Austen rewards Eliza with true love. After all, Austen had
Charlotte's opportunity and forsook it for the sake of her integrity.
That is, even when she ended up with nobody, Austen still opted for
Eliza's point of view. And despite Charlotte being somewhat right, we still root for Darcy and Elizabeth because their relationship is founded not on flirting techniques, "twenty ways to amuse one's boyfriend" and "what women really want" fluff, but on themselves. Although they undergo personal revelations about their own characters and each other, neither of them has to jump through dating hoops for the attraction to work. Darcy is attracted to Elizabeth from the beginning because of her personality. Elizabeth realizes she is attracted to Darcy when she visits his estate and learns what a great manager he is. It is what Darcy & Elizabeth already are that eventually brings them together.
Connections to M/M Romances will follow...
