Pride and Prejudice (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Tony Tanner (Introduction) "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife..." (more)
Key Phrases: elegant female, Miss Bingley, Miss Bennet, Sir William (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

Next to the exhortation at the beginning of Moby-Dick, "Call me Ishmael," the first sentence of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice must be among the most quoted in literature. And certainly what Melville did for whaling Austen does for marriage--tracing the intricacies (not to mention the economics) of 19th-century British mating rituals with a sure hand and an unblinking eye. As usual, Austen trains her sights on a country village and a few families--in this case, the Bennets, the Philips, and the Lucases. Into their midst comes Mr. Bingley, a single man of good fortune, and his friend, Mr. Darcy, who is even richer. Mrs. Bennet, who married above her station, sees their arrival as an opportunity to marry off at least one of her five daughters. Bingley is complaisant and easily charmed by the eldest Bennet girl, Jane; Darcy, however, is harder to please. Put off by Mrs. Bennet's vulgarity and the untoward behavior of the three younger daughters, he is unable to see the true worth of the older girls, Jane and Elizabeth. His excessive pride offends Lizzy, who is more than willing to believe the worst that other people have to say of him; when George Wickham, a soldier stationed in the village, does indeed have a discreditable tale to tell, his words fall on fertile ground.

Having set up the central misunderstanding of the novel, Austen then brings in her cast of fascinating secondary characters: Mr. Collins, the sycophantic clergyman who aspires to Lizzy's hand but settles for her best friend, Charlotte, instead; Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. Darcy's insufferably snobbish aunt; and the Gardiners, Jane and Elizabeth's low-born but noble-hearted aunt and uncle. Some of Austen's best comedy comes from mixing and matching these representatives of different classes and economic strata, demonstrating the hypocrisy at the heart of so many social interactions. And though the novel is rife with romantic misunderstandings, rejected proposals, disastrous elopements, and a requisite happy ending for those who deserve one, Austen never gets so carried away with the romance that she loses sight of the hard economic realities of 19th-century matrimonial maneuvering. Good marriages for penniless girls such as the Bennets are hard to come by, and even Lizzy, who comes to sincerely value Mr. Darcy, remarks when asked when she first began to love him: "It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley." She may be joking, but there's more than a little truth to her sentiment, as well. Jane Austen considered Elizabeth Bennet "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print". Readers of Pride and Prejudice would be hard-pressed to disagree. --Alix Wilber --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Description

Few have failed to be charmed by the witty and independent spirit of Elizabeth Bennet. Her early determination to dislike Mr. Darcy is a prejudice only matched by the folly of his arrogant pride. Their first impressions give way to true feelings in a comedy profoundly concerned with happiness and how it might be achieved.

Edited with an Introduction by Vivien Jones

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books (December 31, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141439513
• ISBN-13: 978-0141439518
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,844 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for first time Austen Readers/A Must for Austen Fans, June 7, 2001

By	Margaret P Harvey (Charlottesville, Va United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Pride and Prejudice (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

I have always loved the style and social politics of the Regency period (the time of Jane Austen.) But when I read "Sense and Sensibility" in 7th grade I found the first few chapters lifeless, dull and hard to read. Two years later I was encouraged by a friend to give "Pride and Prejudice" a try. I did and have since become a complete Janeite. I am now able to peruse joyfully through "Sense and Sensibility" with a new understanding and appreciation of Jane Austen. The reason? "Pride and Prejudice" is fresh, witty and is a great introduction to Jane Austen's writing style without the formality of some of her other novels (unlike S&S and Persuasion Austen does not give us a 10 page history of each family and their fortune.) If you have never read Jane Austen or have read her other novels and found them boring, read Pride and Prejudice. The characters, and the situations Austen presents to them, are hysterical and reveal a lot about Regency society and morality. This book perfectly compliments a great writer like Jane Austen and is essential to every reader's library. The Penguin Edition of the book is stellar and I personally recommend it not only for the in-depth and indispensable footnotes, but also for the cover that is non-suggestive of any of the characters' appearances. In summary "Pride and Prejudice" is a great book for beginner Austen readers and seasoned fans, and Penguin Classics is a great edition for fully enjoying and understanding the book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you only read this in high school, it's time to read it again!, October 18, 2005

By	Beth Cholette "doctor_beth" (Upstate NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Okay, I admit it: I read Pride and Prejudice in high school and didn't like it. However, age and the wisdom that comes with it helped me to realize that my dislike of the book probably had more to do with my dislike of my then-teacher, who had the ability to make even the greatest literary masterpiece seem dry and dull. In recent years, I've read most of Jane Austen's other novels and have enjoyed them immensely, and so I have finally worked my way back to Pride and Prejudice.

The story is familiar to most: it centers around the five young Bennett sisters, who range in age from their mid-teens to early twenties, making them quite ripe for marriage (at least according to their mother). And then there are the men, for as the novel's opening line notes: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Such a man, Mr. Bingley, buys a house close to the Bennett family, and initially, he seems fated to marry the oldest, loveliest Bennett girl, Jane. Bingley is accompanied by his haughty friend, Mr. Darcy, who, while possessing an even greater fortune, quickly earns the dislike of all those he meets, particularly Elizabeth, the strong-minded second Bennett daughter. And from the pride held by each of the four principle characters described above (but namely Darcy and Elizabeth), Austen derives her prejudice.

In many ways, Pride and Prejudice reads like a modern-day romantic comedy, complete with misunderstandings and mishaps. Similarly, the embarrassment which Jane and Elizabeth suffer at the hands of their mother and younger sisters would make them perfect candidates for today's reality TV. But of course, Austen's writing contains a level of wit and subtlety rarely found in any contemporary form of entertainment, making this novel is a true classic-a rare gem that still shines brightly to this day.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Penguin setting the Kindle ebook standard, June 16, 2008

By	David Hensley (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I won't presume to review Austen, so this review covers the quality of the Penguin release. Many of us have discovered that the "free" ebooks on Gutenburg and other sites frequently have such poor formatting that they are irritating to read. One can either re-edit the book to fix the problems, or just live with them and have an inferior and annoying reading experience.

Penguin's P&P is the closest ebook equivalent to the joy of reading a quality physical book--the text is perfectly formatted for the Kindle, it's been proofed, and the supplemental material is almost overwhelming. Detailed intros, useful hyperlinking and a wealth of information on Austen's times, including fashion, furniture, and food and drink, are included. It's truly an immersive experience.

I believe this book will be seen as a turning point for ebooks: the point at which editorial and publishing quality became a significant purchase criterion. Early ebook adopters (myself included) were willing to spend hours cleaning up Gutenburg editions and formatting them for the device du jour. No longer. The ebook is moving past the early adopter stage and is making inroads into a market that expects quality editing, publishing, and supplemental materials. I'll definitely pay a reasonable amount for an ebook that I can just start reading, instead of tinkering with, and that provides a comfortable feeling of having gotten one's money's worth.

Penguin has set the bar for ebook quality with this release. I urge anyone with a Kindle to get a copy--*this* is the ebook experience we've been wanting.