Pride and Prejudice: A book that stands the test of time

It is a truth universally acknowledged that some books can stand the test of time.

Pride and Prejudice is perhaps Jane Austen’s most successful work. It is a timeless classic that is known throughout Western culture as a romantic novel. But is this renowned tale still relevant today?

I believe that it is.

Pride and Prejudice tells the story of the Bennett family in mid-century England. With five daughters under her care, Mrs Bennett spends her days concerned about who her daughters will marry and how much money their future husband will possess. The book describes the tale of a family that struggles in maintaining the ‘proper’ image in society, and sometimes causes embarrassingly relatable scenes.

The main story plot revolves around Mr and Mrs Bennett’s second daughter Elizabeth. She is smart, headstrong and would rather marry for love than money, a rare thought in society at the time. Although she is not as pretty as her elder sister Jane, what Elizabeth lacks in obvious beauty she makes up for with wit. One night at a country ball Elizabeth meets Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy, a fabulously wealthy man whom she finds arrogant and snobbish. It is a tale of their changing relationship and how one’s first impressions of another can be totally wrong.

In today’s world we are constantly uploading selfies or ‘pics’ to our social media profiles. Think Facebook and Instagram. However, unlike Elizabeth Bennett, our search for companionship is not in a country ballroom, it still depends on how we look, dress and fashion our hair. Just like the women in the time of Jane Austen, we curate ourselves, only it’s in a series of pictures, sometimes edited, to make the best first impression possible.

Your mind doesn’t need to stray far to think of modern dating apps like Tinder. Tinder is based on first impressions, and unlike Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy who had numerous public interactions to change their impressions of each other, those who are swiping left rather than right may be missing out on their perfect match. What if we – like Elizabeth and Mr Darcy – are judging each other too harshly based on a single impression?

It is because of this matchmaker game in social media today that I believe this classic book is still very relevant in society today. Instead of donning our best corsets and gowns or having our sideburns trimmed before the big town ball, we simply wear our killer heels and most flattering outfit before hitting the club. It’s the epitome of first impressions only in a different era.

Sure, this book may have a more ‘polite and proper’ way of spelling out romance and relationships, it’s certainly no Fifty Shades of Grey, but it’s refreshing to read a book that doesn’t spell out each and every detail for us. Austen makes us think and make up our own minds about each of her entertaining characters and their agendas. Agendas, that are similar to the agendas of people I know today; money, love, connections and power.

So for those of you looking for a book that gives an indelible insight into the nature of us mere mortals then this is the book for you. It may have been written hundreds of years ago, but it’s insight into the delicate world of humans and the efforts we go to in order to maintain our public persona is still very much accurate today. Austen’s pages of impeccable descriptions of how we behave in public and private is so relatable and to this day still my favourite page turner… even if we are wearing Levi jean’s and converse sneakers instead of corsets and three piece suits with cravats.