tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221433808285580112.post7387269714203210648..comments2022-03-04T17:48:40.060-05:00Comments on Attic Salt: A Literary Blog: Pride and Prejudice, Chapters 12-24Amy Cavanaughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16472980425269161491noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221433808285580112.post-56878063279704305142010-04-12T20:59:34.172-04:002010-04-12T20:59:34.172-04:00I like your point about Austen divvying up flaws i...I like your point about Austen divvying up flaws in "Pride and Prejudice" - the characters here seem more realistic and well-rounded than in "Sense and Sensibility."<br /><br />And overall, I can see why this is the Austen novel that gets the most attention. She's improved on every point where "Sense and Sensibility" needed to be improved upon - characters are more fleshed out, dialogue is snappier than before, her heroine is astounding. It's really great stuff.Amy Cavanaughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16472980425269161491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1221433808285580112.post-70624658889302720912010-04-12T12:33:09.720-04:002010-04-12T12:33:09.720-04:00I love Lizzie's scene with Mr. Collins, as I t...I love Lizzie's scene with Mr. Collins, as I think it's some of Austen's most unambiguously feminist writing. When he persists in dismissing her refusal as the ruse of an "elegant female" and Lizzie shuts him down, I feel like cheering every time. Rereading, I'm almost shocked by my undiminished joy in lines like this one:<br /><br />"I do assure you, sir, that I have no pretensions whatever to that kind of elegance which consists in tormenting a respectable man. I would rather be paid the compliment of being believed sincere." <br /><br />I mean, that, there, is a great line. And it's even more astonishing because, although many things have changed, many men are still trained to view a women's refusal as the opening volley in an argument he can still win, rather than a final, honest answer to a question. So when Lizzie stands up for her own right to state the meaning of her words, it's more empowering than it should be. <br /><br />Another thought I've had, reading this right on the heels of Sense and Sensibility, is that Austen has done a much, much better job divying out flaws here. While it was difficult to take Marianne seriously and Elinor often came off like a martyr, her Jane and Elizabeth compliment each other so well, and are both genuinely good, lovable people. Jane's flaw, being too trusting and refusing all but the best possible interpretations of someone's actions, is not a moral failing. Lizzie's propensity to pre-judge people and satirize foibles is actually a more serious shortcoming, but because it is rooted in good humor and genuine emotional insight, neither is it wholly bad. And, more importantly, it's very fun to read about. This even extends to the book's "villains" who, because they have either diminished power or are merely stupid, rather than truly mean-spirited, end up being much more comic than depressing. Comparing Fanny Dashwood and Caroline Bingley, for example, shows two similar snobbish characters, but because Caroline is an unmarried girl shown to be pathetically in love with a man who does not return her interest, rather than the woman in control of kicking Elizabeth's mother out of her home, Caroline is easy to laugh at, and even feel sorry for.Cassandra Mortmainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02980440861507976453noreply@blogger.com