How to Read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (Introductory Lecture)

'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.'

It’s time to enter the world of Jane Austen with Pride and Prejudice.

Our reading of this masterpiece will teach us about courtship, love, marriage, irony, satire, society, class, men and women, moral judgement, the rise of the novel, and much more. We will meet some incredible characters and, in doing so, ultimately meet ourselves.

Today we’re discussing how best to break into this sparkling Regency romance and bring ourselves fully to one of the greatest works of literature ever written.

Video Timestamps:

0:00 appreciating the novels of Jane Austen

1:00 how to read Pride and Prejudice

2:00 the rereadability of Austen’s novels

2:30 the story of Pride and Prejudice

3:00 a single man of large fortune

3:30 meeting the Bennet family

4:00 Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy

4:30 meeting Elizabeth Bennett

5:00 my appreciation for Mrs Bennet

5:20 Bennett estate entailed to Mr Collins

6:20 why the stakes are high in this story

7:20 the Georgian and Regency era

8:00 social pyramid of Jane Austen’s day

8:30 why readers dislike Lady Catherine

9:20 understanding the Georgian gentry

10:00 what was Jane Austen’s social class?

11:15 social tension in Georgian England

12:20 awareness of social rank in Austen

13:00 understanding the character Mr Collins

13:30 on the idea of knowing your place

14:00 why is Mr Darcy so rude?

14:50 Jane Austen’s heroines marry for love

15:30 the humour of the marriage market

16:00 why we love Elizabeth Bennet

17:00 a lady walking through miles of mud

17:30 the psychology of regency courtship

18:30 on the idea of marrying for love

19:00 what it meant to refuse a proposal

20:30 what happened to unmarried women?

22:00 how to attract a decent regency man

22:40 what makes an accomplished woman?

23:00 what makes a good woman to Darcy?

24:00 how to meet your regency love

24:30 the etiquette of the Georgian ballroom

25:40 the conduct of courting couples

26:00 the good and bad of regency dances

26:30 how a gentleman behaves at the ball

27:30 what did ‘coming out’ mean?

28:50 on the youngest Bennett Lydia

29:30 when was Pride and Prejudice written?

30:30 when was Pride and Prejudice published?

30:40 the tragedy of Jane Austen’s early death

31:30 how each Austen novels is unique

32:00 the voice of a young Jane Austen

32:20 on the love life of Jane Austen

32:50 Jane Austen’s letters to sister Cassandra

33:10 Tom Lefroy, the one who got away

34:00 Austen’s novels were her children

34:30 Jane Austen and the rise of the novel

35:00 what was the reputation of the novel?

35:40 defence of the novel in Northanger Abbey

36:40 not ashamed of being a novel reader

38:20 the rise of the subscription library

39:50 the history of women writers and readers

40:30 Shakespeare’s influence on Jane Austen

40:50 what writers did Jane Austen read?

41:30 Fanny Burney’s influence on Jane Austen

42:00 epistolary novels in the great age of letters

43:00 communal reading and reading aloud

43:50 on the juvenilia of Jane Austen

44:10 Austen’s revolutionary social realism

44:40 Austen’s psychologically complex characters

45:00 seeing our family in the Bennet family

45:30 Sir Walter Scott’s review of Emma

46:00 realism vs exciting melodrama

46:20 first person vs omniscient narration

47:30 when authors behave like characters

48:00 what Tolstoy learnt from Jane Austen

48:30 Austen pioneers free indirect discourse

49:30 appreciating Jane Austen’s ingenuity

50:30 nineteen different centres of consciousness

51:20 ‘it is a truth universally acknowledged…’

52:20 recommended adaptation of Pride and Prejudice

53:00 relishing the irony and subtext of Jane Austen

54:20 reading exercise for Jane Austen appreciation

55:00 male vs female point of view in Austen

55:40 how the characters are the story

56:30 how do we define what a character is?

57:40 the complexity of Austen’s protagonists

59:00 seeing a reflection of ourselves in literature

1:00:30 appreciating otherness in Austen’s novels

1:01:00 Austen and Molière lectures pacing

1:02:00 Pride and Prejudice with the book club

1:04:00 back catalogue and upcoming read-throughs

1:05:00 what is your experience with Jane Austen?

Resources to Explore:

Television Adaptation: There are so many wonderful film and television adaptations of this classic novel. Every reader will have their personal favourite. I love the 1995 adaptation with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, which is available on BBC iPlayer here. Each volume of the novel is given two episodes, with six in total. You might want to save your viewing as a treat for when you finish the work, or you might find it a joy to read and watch concurrently.

Short Story Pairing: Readers who adore the works of Jane Austen lovingly consider themselves 'Janeites'. My hope is that, over the course of this journey, many newcomers to Austen will consider consider themselves 'Janeites' too. But where did this term come from? You might find it interesting to read the Rudyard Kipling short story that introduced the term. The story is about a group of WWI soldiers who are secret fans of Austen's novels. We get this great quote in the story: ‘There’s no one to match Jane when you’re in a tight place.’

Biography & Letters: Claire Tomalin, who has written superb biographies for writers like Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and Samuel Pepys has an excellent work covering the great writer's life. If you would like to get to know Jane intimately, you might also be interested in reading some of her Selected Letters.

Bibliotherapy: The Medical Corps would recommend traumatised soldiers read the novels of Jane Austen and, once we have enjoyed an escape into her world, it won't be hard to see why. Neuroscientific studies show that Austen is good for the head and the heart. MRI scans of Austen readers show a significant increase in blood-flow to the parts of the brain responsible for complex cognitive functions. And books like Jane on the Brain show the positive effect her novels have on our empathy and social intelligence.

Edition: I'm personally working from the Penguin paperback edition, but feel free to use the edition most attractive to you. If you fall in love with Austen's writing, you might want to collect each of her novels in the same editions. If you want a beautiful hardback, I'm a big fan of the Everyman's Library editions. The Penguin clothbound series are also a wonderful choice. For audiobook fans, the Rosamund Pike narration is excellent.

Favoured line of journals: Having a dedicated journal for your reading of great literature makes a fantastic keepsake for your journey, a memento of a moment in time. I like the Leuchturrm1917 range of bullet journals with dotted paper, but lovers of Austen might be interested to see that there is a handsome 5-year Jane-a-Day journal available.

Reading Assignment:

Our next discussion will cover the first volume of the novel, from chapters 1-23, which takes us through the first 128 pages in the Penguin paperback edition. 

So start making your way into the work, meeting those characters, and noting down any themes, ideas, or passages that personally resonate with you.

Questions for You:

1) What is your current relationship with Jane Austen? Is this your first reading or a rereading of this masterpiece?

2) What are you hoping to get out of your deep reading of Pride and Prejudice?

3) What themes from your wider reading would you like to pull into Jane Austen?

Happy reading, everybody!