Well, I have read the first four chapters and decided to give a quick account now. I started to read the fifth, but it feels like a new section while the preceding four were very much linked. I may be wrong in this, but it felt like a natural section to deal with as a whole.
I admit I am very surprised at the writing style. I expected something like George Elliot in style but it's more like Wilde's "Importance of Being Earnest". I did not expect the amount of conversation. The first two chapters contain practically no descriptive narrative aside from what is gleaned from the conversations. The first real section of descriptive narrative is in the third chapter. In the fourth we begin with yet another conversation followed by a "wrap up" of sorts.
Of course, the scene is well set as far as character is concerned, but as a novice I have no idea of the Bennets social status. Obviously they have sufficient status as to be within Bingleys sphere, but not wealthy enough to be financially independant without marriage. There is no description of their house, clothing or even their general appearance. As such I have almost indiscriminately attached faces to names that may well prove to be completely wrong for their character. Through some perverse trick of the mind I am seeing Keira Knightly as Lizzie, but Colin Firth as Darcy. I have not yet seen the new movie, but I'm aware that Keira is playing the part and that Firth played Darcy in the BBC version so I suppose thats a simple enough reason. I see Mr Bennet as a Jim Broadbent style character, with an easy humour and the ability to keep it in a houseful of women
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/77smile.gif)
. Bingley I imagine as a thoroughly likeable but empty headed chap in the vein of a Hugh Grant or Hugh Laurie. The other sisters have so far made no impression except for the eldest who I see as a sort of trophy blonde. Mrs Bennet I could imagine as a Judi Dench.
What is obvious almost immediately is Austens ability to write sardonic wit very well. I find myself very much identifying with Mr. Bennet and smiling along with his teasing and deliberate obtuseness. It's hard to imagine how or why he ended up married to an apparently social climbing harridan like his wife, although there is a sense of genuine affection there. I wonder a little at the first line. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." I'm not sure if this is meant to be ambiguous or if that's merely a modern reading. I mean by this that it could mean he
needs a wife, that he
wants a wife or simply that he
does not have a wife. Is this a clever play on words or simply a result of less precise modern language? I have no idea. I like the idea that it's intended to be ambiguous. That any man who does not have a wife, must therefore want and need one. If so, it's very clever and plants the notion firmly in our minds.
I found the Ball a little staged. It seems like were are being manipulated to like Bingely and dislike Darcy without being allowed to make up our own minds. I would have preffered this to be a little more ambiguous. Of course, it may simply be that this model has been copied so often that it now appears unoriginal, but I found myself thinking of Renee Zellweger and Colin Firth's first meeting in Bridget Jones Diary. However, it's more than made up for by Lizzie's shrewd assesment of the entire setup in chapter four.
One point. This may have been mentioned, but without going back to read, I have no idea where Lizzie fits in the family from a marriagable point of view. My impression is that she is not the youngest, possibly the third or fourth child?
I'm sure all will be made clear as I progress.
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