Pride and Prejudice: a love story

Pride and Prejudice is novel by Jane Austen that was published in 1813 and since then, there has been numerous movie and show adaptations of this book by Austen.

Call me cheesy but ever since I was a little girl, I have been obsessed with love stories and pretty much anything romantic. It was no surprise when my aunt made me watch the 2005 movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice for the first time as a teen that it would become my favourite movie of all time.

Even though it was written more than two hundred years ago, I personally believe Pride and Prejudice to be one of the most romantic love stories, showing all of us that a good story is truly timeless.

I am sure you are wondering what this story is all about. The story starts with our main character, Elizabeth Bennet.

Once upon a time there was a young woman named Elizabeth. Elizabeth was truly ahead of her time as she was very outspoken and very well read. She lived with her four sisters (one older, three younger) and parents.

She spent most of her time reading, going for long walks and truly enjoying her life while her sisters were in a desperate search for a husband. Even though finding a suitable husband was seen as main task for women in that time period, Elizabeth was quite skeptical of men, and truly believed that she would die an “old maiden”.

But, one day while she was at a ball with her family, handsome (and quite wealthy) Mr. Darcy walks in. They lock eyes for a second and Elizabeth realizes that this was the first time in her life that she intrigued by a man.
However, as a daughter of a farmer, Mr. Darcy saw Elizabeth as ‘socially inferior’ as he was known for his rank and fortune.

Because of his prejudice of Elizabeth’s social standing, Mr. Darcy was rather snobby around Elizabeth, putting her down on multiple occasions and letting his friends do the same.

Because of Mr. Darcy’s unbearable pride and snobby nature, Elizabeth started thinking Mr. Darcy was quite stuck-up, and believed the rumours that were spread about his ‘evil’ character.

Until finally, Elizabeth finds out that despite his snobby demeanor, Mr. Darcy has been helping her sisters in secret by finding them suitable husbands and financially supporting them.
Mr. Darcy then confesses his love to Elizabeth and apologizes for letting his prejudice cloud his judgement.

As a result, Elizabeth also apologizes to him for judging him so harshly due to her negative first impression and believing the rumours about him. They get married and live happily ever after.

While the storyline nothing extraordinary, I find the most recent movie adaptation to be extremely memorable due to it being able to tell this story with a female gaze. Even though the characters live in the 1800s, Elizabeth and all the other women in the story are not portrayed as the “perfect little creatures” that men fantasize about, but rather as flawed and relatable characters that show strength and vulnerability simultaneously.

The complexity of the characters, longing stares and gentle touches between lovers, the light piano soundtrack, the elegant yet simple regency era fashion, and the beautiful landscape of England work together to create the most memorable love story of all time.