A Contrast of Classics: Pride and Prejudice and Emma

If you’ve read this blog for very long, then there’s no doubt that you know what I like. I tend to wear my preferences on my sleeve (or my tee shirts, as the case may be). If you had to answer a multiple choice question about me, I’m sure you’d pass with no problem. 

Which of the following does Emily not enjoy:
A. J.R.R. Tolkien
B. C.S. Lewis
C. Star Wars
D. Sports

See? You’ve already got a 4.0 in my class without even trying.

But did you know that I also enjoy Jane Austen? That may not surprise you since I’m bookish, but then again it may surprise you since I’ve never mentioned her in nearly three years of posting. But there it is: I like (some) Austen.  

For Shame

If your eyebrows went up at the qualifying word in parentheses, fret not. I’ll explain myself, beginning with why I’m just now breaking my Austen silence. I was recently inspired to read (or re-read) all the works of Jane Austen. What turned my interest away from yet another perusal of The Silmarillion or Perelandra? Well, as much as I hate to admit it, it was a movie—and a pretty corny movie at that. I watched The Jane Austen Book Club, a 2007 film based on a novel by the same name. What motivated me wasn’t stellar acting or thrilling dialogue. Frankly, it was the feeling of shame that I wasn’t able to recognize more of the references to Austen’s novels. And for me, guilt is a pretty effective propellant. 

Here I am with a Bachelor’s degree in English Education, having taught British Literature for eight years, and I’ve only read two of Austen’s novels. I’ve listened to one or two more on audiobook, but for me, things tend to go in one ear and out the other. Words that come in through my eyes stick around a lot longer. So the fact that I didn’t understand the allusions to Mansfield Park and didn’t laugh at the Sense and Sensibility jokes made me determined to be a better student of Austen. 

Hold Your Tomatoes, Please

I’d already read Pride and Prejudice and Emma several times, but I decided to start with them anyway. The others could wait until I’d whet my appetite for Austen. I tackled Pride and Prejudice first. It not only held up to my memory of its merits, but it also exceeded my expectations. I love that book. Then I cracked open my old college copy of Emma. It also held up to my memory—I remember disliking it in college, and I disliked it again. 

Now, if you’re a diehard you can feel free to heckle me. I may deserve it. All I ask is that you hear me out before disowning me entirely. I plan to write a mini-series on the contrasts between these two books, not just to defend my position but to discover it as well. I wanted to like Emma as much as I love Pride and Prejudice, but I just couldn’t. Why are the characters and plot of one book so lovable while the others are so aggravating? We’ll dive into these questions and more in the upcoming posts.

A Glimpse into the Future

I resisted the urge to dive right in to a discussion of the characters today. I wanted to give you a chance to blow the dust off of your copies of the novels and give them a read. Or listen to the audiobooks. Or (in a pinch) at least watch the movies. Get familiar with the stories so you can better enjoy, agree with, or be offended by my upcoming posts. Here’s what you can look forward to:

• Endearing and Exasperating: The Heroines
• A Cavalcade of Personality: The Characters
• Two Comedies of Errors: The Stories
• Just Flawed Enough: The Takeaway 

Until next time, enjoy some Austen! I’ll be plugging along in Sense and Sensibility while carefully avoiding any movies along the lines of The Herman Melville Book Club. Ain’t nobody got time for that.