Pride and Prejudice - A Life of Fairytales

Jane Austen

First published in 1813

Trade paperback edition published by Barnes & Noble     
Books in 2004

392 pages

Jane Austen’s love story would not be nearly delicious had it not served us a plate of tasty appetizers that consists of ill-formed first impressions, prejudice and misunderstanding, all of which have caused our heroine, strong-minded Elizabeth Bennet, take a disliking of our hero, prideful and principled Mr. Darcy, right from the start. Not to mention that the ladies’ gossip did not help either.

Elizabeth is as lovable as any Austen’s heroines, and just like the other heroines, Elizabeth is not without flaws. She is very perceptive but sometimes has too much confidence in her ability to read people. When she overhears Darcy criticize her look as “only tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt (him)”, she easily becomes irritated and quickly decides Darcy’s character at face value, without prudently finding out his real strength. When comforting Elizabeth, we find her mild-tempered sister Jane says:

            “We must not be so ready to fancy ourselves intentionally injured. We must not expect a lively young man to be always so guarded and circumspect. It is very often nothing but our own vanity that deceives us. Women fancy admiration means more than it does”.

            But Elizabeth is too romantic and too stubborn to be sensible, thus began a story of emotional growth.  For Elizabeth and Darcy, pride and prejudice are not flaws but character traits that require minor adjustments, and before long the couple comes to recognize each other’s merits and live happily ever after. Now you may wonder, why are pride and prejudice are not condemned as unacceptable qualities in the Austen’s day? That is because the gentry society considers pride not as arrogance but as a manner worthy of one’s rank in social status. They also see prejudice as a quality of discrimination that is helpful in preserving the order and stability of aristocratic class. New ideas and progressive thinking, which could cause disarray of the upper-class, are quickly fended off by this sense of prejudice.

            The union of Elizabeth and Darcy could not have been more what the readers ask for. Not only is that Elizabeth and Darcy admire each other dearly, but Darcy is also an incredibly wealthy man! In an age when friendship, economic motive and family ties and religious duty are all more acceptable incentive for marriage than romance, Elizabeth and Darcy’s relationship is as perfect as a fairytale!

            It is interesting that Jane Austen, the woman who wrote about many happy-endings, remained single her whole life. It is said that she once accepted a proposal from a wealthy man, only to turn it down the next day, reason being that she felt that she didn’t love the man enough to marry him. This action is just as shocking as when Elizabeth refuses Darcy’s marriage proposal. The motives behind these two refusals are very much alike, since neither Jane Austen nor Elizabeth Bennet sees marriage as a mercenary pursuit. It seems like that Austen has written herself into the story. I often wonder whether she used this story, as well as many others, to compensate the loneliness in her non-existent romantic life, but I would very much like to wrong than to accuse Jane Austen to be a lonesome and fragile spinster. Austen chose her to live her life the way she preferred, with a strong sense of self and faith for romance, two virtues as timeless as fairytales, certainly still need to be preached to young women in modern days. In a letter to her niece Fanny Knight, Austen wrote:

                        “Do not be in a hurry; depend upon it, the right Man will come at last….”

Sense and Sensibility - A Matter of Head and Heart

 Jane Austen

First Published in 1811

Published by Penguin Classics in 1995

409 pages

Meet the Dashwood sisters. Elinor, the eldest of all three daughters, is considerate, reserved and very sensible, while Marianne, the second daughter of the Dashwoods, carries a set of characteristics completely opposite of those of her older sister. She is wildly romantic, outspoken and emotional. In the pursuit of love, neither sister was successful at finding happiness by solely relying on their natural instinct, be it Elinor’s sensible reasoning or Marianne’s uninhibited passion. Marianne falls head-over-heels in love with deceitful Willoughby who, in the end, confesses that he’s never had the intention of returning her affection. At the same time, Elinor finds out that the man that she has become attached to, Edward Ferrars, was already engaged to someone else.

Early on in the story, Jane Austen established the parallel progression of both sisters’ love lives. The obvious contrast between Marianne’s and Elinor’s different ways of dealing with the pain caused by every turn of event allows readers to identify and compare the mental capacity and behaviors produced by each disposition – sense and sensibility. Austen has chosen Elinor as the person who delivers most of the important scenes in the story. It is not hard to detect that Austen favors the cool-headed and thoughtful Elinor over the romantic Marianne who is still too young and stubborn to compromise her emotions outburst for the consideration for others and circumstances. The main contrast between Elinor and Marianne codes of conduct lies in Marianne’s romantic insistence that desires be spoken, whereas Elinor requires that they be silenced. When Marianne learns that Elinor has silently suffered just as much as she has, if not more, she is ashamed by comparison with the virtues of her sister Elinor. But is this to say that sense is a superior form of disposition than sensibility?

If we define Elinor and Marianne’s temperament with our modern-day psychology jargons, Elinor would certainly be labeled as someone with a high EQ, whereas Marrianne a not so high one. The ability of reserving one’s emotions and thoughts and directing them to an appropriate outlet at an appropriate time is a derivate action of delayed gratification which is the most important sign for high EQ. Elinor possesses exactly this ability. It is unfortunate that women in Jane Austen’s time could only bestow this power in tasks that are no more impressive than the task of searching for a good husband. However, when Elinor puts her high emotional quotient to use in the matter of love, she fails miserably. Her cautiousness and emphasis on form have delayed her from getting to the truth that would have made her suffer much less by lessening her attachment to Edward Ferrars.

While reading texts from the beginning part of the book where the sisters are excitedly speculating of the verity of affection from their prospective lovers, I was fondly reminded of the scenes from movie “He is just not that into you”.  Throughout time, women have waited by either their door or their phone for their lovers to call. It is undeniable that women have disposed to be emotional, and they have been in the passive and submissive position during courtship for as long as time. What Jane Austen is trying to tell us with Sense and Sensibility is that neither being highly sensible and logical nor being crazily romantic and emotional guarantees the success of love. Sometimes, women have to love with their heart, just as much as with their head.

The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

Title: The Secret Garden

Author: Frances Hogdson Burnett

Genre: Children

Publisher: Geddes & Grosset 2004

Length: 222 pages

When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle, everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen.

10-year-old Mary loses her parents to epidemic cholera. She is sent away to her uncle who lives at Misselthwaite Manor in England. Mary's life begins to change after she discovers a secret garden next to her uncle's house. While she tries her best to revive the dead garden, she realizes that there is so much more to life than just feeling lonely and getting everything her way. Like the roses and lilies that sprout to life in the secret garden, Mary becomes healthier and happier. However, Mary is soon to realize that she is not the only person whose life has changed because of the secret garden.

"The Secret Garden" is essentially about the power of positive thinking, a classic children book where something valuable is to be learned. The young characters are all very lovable. The beauty of their innocence is hard to find in many children/YA books nowadays. Although the story is enjoyable, I can imagine that this book could be too wordy for young children who lack of long attention span. Parents could instead read this book to the kids before bedtime. 

Now why did I read this book? Well, I read it because I wanted to see if this book would be suitable for translation and brought to China's children book market which lacks of quality books. I have to admit that this is the first time in a long time since I've read a children book. I am glad that I picked "The Secret Garden" to jump start my memories because this book is awfully sweet and refreshing. I decide not to translate this book in the end due to various reasons, but I do not regret reading it.

A Tale of Two Cities

Author: Charles Dickens

Published by: Penguin Group, 488 pages

Opening: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

It is not easy to review a classic, let alone a classic with great historical implications such as Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. However, as a devout Dickens reader, I feel obliged to review his book.

Like many great literature in history, A Tale clothes itself in multiple layers of meanings and the story can be enjoyed on various level depending on the age of the reader. On the most superficial level, it is an intimate story of kinship and love with the tumultuous backdrop of French Revolution. Lucie reunites with her long-lost father (Doctor Manette) who has suffered years of political imprisonment in the Bastille. With Lucie's loving care, Doctor Manette struggles to maintain his sanity which is otherwise reflected by his obsessive shoe-making activities. During this time, Lucie is met and pursued by two suitors - Charles Darnay who is an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton who is a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer. As the story progresses, Lucie marries Darnay and war breaks out in France. Darnay is arrested for his acrostic association. Doctor Manette learns to let go of his fear and irrational rage towards his prosecutors through helping Darnay. But it is Sydney Carton who makes the ultimate sacrifice in the name of justice and his undying love for Lucie.

Of course, Dickens' stories are never to be taken lightly at its face value. There are always deep and even deeper implications, which makes his books so much more intriguing. The most important implication of this book is the French Revolution. Unlike other books from the genre of historical fiction, Dickens used only a handful of characters and successfully delivered the epic movement of history and portrayed the clash of classes by microscopically examining the relations between Manette, Darnay and the Defarges. There is strong conflict between the lowly working-class such as the Defarges and Darnay who is crowned as an aristocrat only by birth but would rather earns an honest and modest life by laboring for it. Then, there is Manette. Caught between two clashing forces, his unforgettable past gives him the urge to hate Darnay and the likes of him, yet Darnay's marriage with his daughter represses him from exposing his inner feeling. Manette's internal struggle and fragility is seen everywhere in the book and his dependence on his daughter Lucie is somewhat disturbing to me.

The Defarges are the central characters who represent the roaring mass that overrun the Bastille. At the end of the story, readers will discover the Defarges have ulterior motive for uprising and for relentlessly trapping Darnay. I don't want to give away too much but it does have a hollywood-ish dramatic effect where everyone turns out to know everyone in the end.

Readers may wonder why Dickens chose to focus on two cities rather than just one. The answer becomes quite obvious as we move onto later chapters. To Docotor Manette and Lucie, London is a safe haven where they are able to live at peace and with abundant joy. Paris, however, is a city of turmoil. With each trip they make to Paris, they lose more and more control over their lives. Without London to contrast Paris in the story, it is hard to show how much damage the war has caused.

This book is different, yet I wouldn't consider this book a historical fiction more than a general fiction. As much as this book is different from his other master pieces such as Oliver Twist and Great Expectations (which are both my favorite), Dickens' writing still focused on character development and the relationships between them, as well as the contrast between classes.

If you ever complained about Dickens' writing style to be lengthy and full of descriptions, this book actually is a lot of lighter on the wordy description and uses more of dialogues to lead the story, which means that Dickens is trying to fade out his voice in the story and allow the readers to perceive the characters with more imaginations.

Regardless if you are a Dickens' fan or not, I suggest you pick up and read one of his books, if not this one, any other one will be just as good. To me, Dickens' books are timeless and I like how most of his characters have a sense of purity and goodness in them than are hard to find in most books.