Jedi Teen's "First Impressions" of Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice has long been one of my favorite novels. Recently, Jedi Teen enjoyed it for the first time. We read it out loud in the evenings (which was the first time that Yodad -- Jedi Teen's dad -- had ever heard the book too).

For our first joint review, we thought we'd have a conversation about the book.

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Obi Mom: Well, Jedi Teen, what did you think of Pride and Prejudice?

Jedi Teen: It caused me great felicity!

Obi Mom: What a great word!

Jedi Teen: The book was a great vocabulary builder.

OM: Were there any other words you particularly noticed or liked?

JT: She kept using the words "pride" and "prejudice."

OM: Kind of fitting, huh? Who in the book did you think was proud? And who was prejudiced?

JT: Hmm, that's tricky. There were lots of misunderstandings. At the beginning, Mr. Darcy was proud, because he didn't want to dance with Lizzie.

OM: He kind of insulted her, in fact. At the beginning, did you think he was going to be the hero?

JT: From things I'd heard, I had a feeling he was important. But if I didn't know, I probably wouldn't have thought so.

OM: Austen is really good at what's called "misdirection." She sometimes tries to fool you by letting you believe that characters are good when they're bad, or bad when they're good.

JT: Like Wickham!

OM: Right. At first, Wickham seems like a pretty good guy. And part of the reason we're not sure about Mr. Darcy is that we sympathize with Elizabeth, and she believes the lies that Wickham tells about Darcy. What did you think of Wickham at first?

JT: I really wasn't sure if he was trustworthy or not.

OM: Did it surprise you when he ran off with Lydia?

JT: Yes! I didn't think he'd do that.

OM: Who in the story was prejudiced? Do you think that Lizzie was kind of prejudiced?

JT: Yes, because when Wickham tells her things about Darcy, she believes them even though they aren't true. She doesn't want to believe good things about Darcy because he didn't ask her to dance.

OM: Right. She decides right off the bat that he's an insufferable bore and thinks he's better than other people. But it turns out that Darcy is somewhat insecure, especially in new situations. Even though he is handsome and rich, he doesn't always feel comfortable with people he doesn't know, especially when they are from different worlds or situations. So in some ways, he's prejudiced too. What about the other characters? Which ones did you especially like?

JT:  I liked Jane.

OM: She and Lizzie are great sisters. Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra were really close, and I think maybe that's why she loved to write about sisters. Although not all of Lizzie's sisters are shining examples of character!

JT: Like Lydia! I think her mother influences her.

OM: Yes, and Mrs. Bennet is not the wisest of women. Although I think Austen wrote her character in some ways to be humorous. She really is a very funny writer. Were there other characters that struck you as funny?

JT: I think Mr. Collins is funny sometimes.

OM: He sure does love to talk. And talk. And talk....

JT: SPOILER! I liked it that people got married in the end. I guess that's not too much of a spoiler.

OM: Probably not. Most people who have heard of Austen have probably heard that she likes to marry off her characters in the end.

JT: Like a Shakespeare comedy.

OM: Yep! I like that Austen writes about real people who sometimes make real mistakes. They make wrong judgments and they sometimes do things that aren't terribly wise. But she also gives us hope that in the end, people who really love each other can find ways to tell each other that and live happily ever after.

JT: The end! :)