Pride and Prejudice, Part 1: Crash Course Literature 411

In which a series about literature, which is wanting of an episode on Jane Austen, gets the first of two episodes. It's Pride and Prejudice, everybody! John Green talks about Pride and Prejudice as a product of Regency England, gives you a short biographical look at author Jane Austen, and familiarizes you with the web of human connections this book spins.

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[IleanaSolivo]

Jane Austen is the friend you don't realize is low-key sarcastic and witty until it is too late.

[samnygard]

Yes John, it was a tolerable episode, but not enough to tempt.

[zappawench]

Elizabeth softened towards Darcy after speaking to a servant who had known Darcy all his life and praised him greatly. The video suggested the change of heart came from viewing his estate.

[Btwinklestars]

Oh my god you're addressing Austen's satirical style thank you so much!! More people need to know how subversive she was.

[sixpomegranateseeds]

I feel like this is the right place to comment on everything that is perfect about Pride and Prejudice. And so I shall.
- Elizabeth Bennet can snark like it's nobody's business, and it's hilarious.
- Jane. Just, Jane. Everything about her screams sweetness. Lizzie's comment about her seeing the world through rose-colored glasses stuck with me, and now when I draw her, she's always wearing something light pink.
- Both of Mr. Darcy's marriage proposals, the first because it emphasizes his pride, and the second because it's both of them letting go of their prejudices. See what I did there?
- The title. It leaves you wondering: who's who? And it turns out, they're both both!
- Darcy and Georgiana's relationship. It's so sweet, and he's an awesome older brother.
- Lizzie's roast of Lady Catherine towards the end of the book. There's nothing more satisfying, seriously.
- How Mr. And Mrs. Bennet's marriage is both comical and foreboding at the same time.
- The character development. There's so much of it, and it happens to even the most minor of characters, like Kitty.
- The witty narration overall.
- Lizzie being introspective.
- Darcy being introspective.
- Both of them fixing their mistakes.
- Jane and Bingley, and Lizzie and Darcy. When both of them finally do get together for real, I wanted to ring out the bells and fling out my arms and to sing out the news (catch that reference)! Jane and Bingley, you can tell they have that fairytale romance nailed down, and Lizzie and Darcy, we get put through so much heartbreak and tension, that when they finally tie the knot, nobody in their right mind is not screaming with delight! They are some of the cutest couples in history.
- Charlotte Lucas and how she was able to rig the system to see her less-than-stellar husband as little as possible.
- Catherine Bingley's terrible attempts to get Darcy to give her the time of day.
- The magic of the English countryside. Really, the magic of Jane Austen's English countryside. You get this feeling that it's just so above everywhere else, and so peaceful, despite all the running off with dishonorable blokes going on within.
- The fact that Jane Austen wrote it.
- The 2005 film. Really, it's a work of art.
- This book smacks you with its themes in the literal title, but you have to actually read it to understand. Not to mention you pick up on the follies of eighteenth century society and the importance of class and reputation, and also a woman's position at that time, it's wonderful.
- The ending, which addresses everyone's ever after, basically saying that everyone learned to be a better person. The Bennet parents hearted how to parent, Kitty and Mary learned to be more acceptable members of society, Jane and Lizize got to live in big fancy houses with loves of their lives, the Gardiners are basically the parents they both wanted but never got, Georgiana now has an older sister, and even Lady Catherine swallows her pride and makes peace. Actually, the only people who don't get a happy ending are Lydia and Wickham, who are stuck freeloading and in a loveless marriage, and the Bingley sisters, who everyone forgets about by the end of the book anyways.

Wow. This got really long. In my defense, it is my favorite book of all time, and like, the only classic I've read where nobody is actively dying. It's got vibes of silly aristocratic squabbles, while also discussing a serious issue plaguing women for centuries, both warns of how a bad marriage situation is bad for everyone, but also showcases some of the sweetest love in history, and okay, I'm starting again. I should really stop, but I can't. There's just too much to love about this book. It's on the lighter and softer side of novels, and is essentially a love story, but the deep themes combos with the satire perfectly, making it the best thing since sighing deeply.

[jenniisthewriter]

Mary isn't horrible! Sure, she's not as cool as Jane or Elizabeth, but she is hugely mistreated! Everyone else in their family "succeeds" through things they were born with (chiefly beauty) but Mary wasn't born with her sisters looks, so she made efforts to better herself (granted overdone efforts) through the only means she had available to her. Making a snap judgement that she as a character is horrible based on the little we see of her in the book in fact rings against one of the main themes of the book!

[Skyfate]

I absolutely adore Pride and Prejudice, I've read it more than ten times at the least. And altough Mary is indeed not very charming, I wouldn't call her horrible. She is boring and not as pretty as her sisters and just tries too hard to be interesting and accomplished, but doesn't really have any talents. But terrible is a bit harsh.

[alysaronda]

MY ALL TIME FAVORITE
I think it's sad that many who read it don't realize how hilarious it is!

[jcassidyh]

Why does thought bubble think Darcy is George Washington?

[uzmanaz]

The sass is classic novels is top notch. Austen's wittines is what makes her novels enjoyable. Thank you for crash course!

[narrator]

I picked up this book a year ago and have been having trouble getting through it, I read more science then fiction. This video has given me a new view of the book and now I look forward to unpacking it and finishing the novel. Thank you.

[missdace]

I first read Pride and Prejudice for an AP Literature class in high school and I thought, and still do, that the language Austen used was just so wordy to the extent of being almost superfluous. It wasn't until I saw the 2005 movie adaptation that I really started to appreciate the story and it's become one of my favorites.
This is the first time though that I've heard anyone describe Mary as "horrible." In what way exactly? I understand how Collins and Wickham are, but to use the word for Mary might be a bit harsh.

[roakes]

This is a book have read and re-read (16 times) over forty years. I am looking forward to dementia, so I can have the experience reading it again for the first time. The first reading was wasted on a 17 year old... John's analysis is excellent.

[DanishNerdess]

What I also love about PandP is that it is a story about two clearly flawed individuals who, through their relationship with each other, learn to acknowledge and work on those flaws and encourage them be better. They both genuinely learn to be less prideful and prejudiced! It is my favorite trope - as with Beatrice and Benedic from Much Ado About Nothing or Beauty and the Beast - often it is our own worst selves that are the enemies of our happiness. Circumstances decide the parameters, but you can decide how to navigate within that.

[nannaleifa]

I cannot begin to count how much days must we waited until we finally get to Jane Austen. 😆

[Shweta-hy]

i love it when an author teaches you about literature...

[blancrose]

I love reading, and anyone who knows me can testify for me. However, I spent many hours reading Pride and Prejudice, mostly rereading the same paragraph repeatedly. I learned more about the book from the first 2 minutes of this video than from reading the book. Thanks John Green, maybe I’ll revisit Jane Austen later in life when my attention span has grown from 8 seconds to 10.

[readilykatie]

“Reading should be be fun sometimes, we already read to the lighthouse!” Game set match.

[Moonmerism]

my new favorite thing is john green defending romance novels

[tessat]

Mary Bennet isn't so horrible, it is just that she is not suited for the role that she has chosen for herself. Jane is the pretty one, Lizzie is the clever one, so Mary decides that she will be the talented one. She works hard at musical and intellectual pursuits, but she doesn't have the talent to perform her accomplishments credibly. Kitty is the follower and Lydia is the lively one. Lydia buys the ugly bonnet to give herself something to do while waiting with the Bennet carriage for the coach to come from London bringing home Lizzy, Jane and Maria Lucas. She cannot resist spending money, in spite of already ordering lunch for all of them at the inn, and needs to borrow money from Jane and Lizzie to pay the bill. This is going to be her pattern for the rest of her life. She spends on impulse buys then has to go to Jane and Lizzie for money for necessities like food and rent. Her plan for the ugly bonnet is to tear it apart and use the pieces and what she has at home to make it up into a much nicer one.