Things to Know Before Reading Pride and Prejudice | How to Read Jane Austen for Beginners

Reading Jane Austen can be super frustrating for beginners. But help is available! This video breaks down the most important things you need to know before reading Pride and Prejudice. We look at how the fact that Pride and Prejudice was published in the Regency Era, 200 years ago, changes the way we need to look at the story. And we discuss essential aspects of manners, etiquette, money, and more that you need to know to understand classic books better.

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🕰 WATCHING GUIDE
00:00 What You Need to Know Before Reading Pride and Prejudice [Intro]
00:55 Reasons Reading Jane Austen Can Be Frustrating
02:22 They Speak Differently
05:55 They Think Differently
08:45 They Act Differently
12:18 They Married Differently
15:55 They Made Money Differently
19:28 They Wrote Differently
25:53 They Were Different Back Then

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#prideandprejudice #janeausten #regencyera

[glorianaberry]

That difference between historical fiction and classic literature is so important! As hard as modern authors might try to imitate the past, it's impossible to get the exact same perspective and view of someone who actually lived during that time.

[PokhrajRoy.]

Idk if it’s because I’m weird, but when I read passages from Jane Austen, I totally get what she’s saying with the exception of a few words. Maybe it’s a “Either you get the vibe or you don’t get the vibe” thing.

[kerriemckinstry-jett]

Actually, reading Jane Austen's novels underscores the extent to which people really don't change. Her novels & the novels of authors who accurately portrayed the human beings in their society (yes, Agatha Christie, of course!) have not fallen by the wayside because so much of human nature has not changed. We still have Mr. Wickhams, etc. & they're just as annoying now as they were then. The accents & clothes are different, sure, but really people themselves haven't changed. We still have Mr. Collinses who happen to know person X & won't shut up about how important person X is or how important they are because they know person X. We still have people with "affected manners" pretending to be better than they really are in order to deceive those around them. We also still have Mr. Darcys, the awkward guys who don't like dealing with large social situations.

[runew]

The thing that had me fall in love with her books was reading Pride and Prejudice and realizing how completely foreign the etiquette and ways of living were to me. I loved piecing most of it together in rereading for context clues bc it was like a puzzle of a past time and place. I also love Fanny Burney for this

[catherinebatty]

Most of the UK can probably relate to Darcy's default small talk about family - even now, in awkward moments we rely on 2 things - speaking about the weather and "How is your family?" to get us through. Darcy shows awkwardness is timeless 😊

[OnBleeckerStreet]

What is interesting about the change in vocabulary since the Regency period is that, as a French-speaker, several of these words are actually a lot easier to understand than their modern English counterparts. Having 'affected manners' is still something said in everyday French (maybe a bit formal). You could still hear the Norman influence on the English language a lot more than today.

[skeller]

Hi, I’m a 62 year old guy who has mostly read nonfiction for many years (much of it on a Kindle app on my iPad). However, a couple of months ago, I started reading fiction again and I’m excited to read the ‘classics’ in nice hardcover editions that I can replace my rather disheveled, old paperback laden bookshelves with.

Anyway, you hear about Jane Austin whenever classic literature is discussed, so I decided I’d better include at least one of her novels in my tbr. I’ve watched a couple of your videos and I can understand the sensibilities (sorry) of other times. My grandparents’ generation (born in early 1900’s) was much more formal (echoing the even older mores you discuss here) and each passing generation has become less restricted by societal norms.

I guess I will have to suspend my preconceptions regarding ‘girl fiction’, in which I placed Jane Austin, the Bronte sisters, and Alcott. I think I can approach it from the standpoint of a woman of those times playing with the social norms and using her novels to comment on norms that cause ‘affected manners’ to exist. It’s especially cool that it is a woman of that era commentating, given the place women held in that society. I like women being empowered and view Austen’s role as social commentator from a female perspective to take a large step in that direction.

At the same time, she had to work with the societal palette that was given her, much like painters in the Renaissance had to do their mastery around the religious subjects they were often forced to use.

I’m debating on starting with P&P or Persuasion. I’m leaning toward P&P, as it seems to be the one the most people talk about.

Sorry for this novella of a comment! I appreciate you putting this content out, to make old guys like me think!

[kellimbt]

To anyone looking to read P&P for the first time, I recommend the Cambridge edition published in 2006. It has fantastic introductory material that sets the historical context, and endnotes that explain concepts (like the picturesque) and word usage that readers might find difficult.

[LenaLovesgoodStories]

I think my biggest eye-opener to understand the book was how different dancing was from today. One dance took more than half an hour and included a lot of standing around in a row while the people in front did the dancing, paraded to the back of the line, allowing the next couple to continue and so on. This is what makes it so awkward for darcy not to talk. It's not like they actually "dance" to a modern song (2-5 minutes) and sit down. They stand around opposite each other for ages 😅 this "dancing" (or rather waiting around) was the major way of getting to know people of the other sex. When everything was codified and you were never alone with a potential partner, these half hour standing parties were your chance to get to know someone. That's why it's so strange and remarkable for darcy not to dance when he is first introduced to a new group. It also explains why everyone exclaims over Bingley asking two dances from Jane.
Also, do look up what an entail is, took me ages to understand how important that concept is...
Edit: one of the things that still puzzle me most is what Austen means with "shrubbery". Everyone is incessantly walking in the "shrubbery" or even the "wilderness". I'm always picturing all these fine ladies in their gowns stumbling through the bushes and emerging with torn clothes and tangled hair 😅

[Mai]

I'm glad you mentioned the social commentary because I think a lot of people think of Austen as a writer of romantic novels and all of the comedy and subtle satire of her books go over the readers' heads.

[oxoelfoxo]

Reading children's classics with old-fashioned language (Kidnapped, Alcott books, Swiss Family Robinson, Jungle Book, Treasure Island, Heidi, Andrew Lang and Andersen fairy tales, George Macdonald, Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels, Ivanhoe, Black Beauty, Robin Hood, Alice in Wonderland, etc) made it easy for me to read and understand Austen's books.

[dobrilajovovic-schultz]

I guess I am very ancient, never had problems reading Austen's books and thoroughly enjoying them

[tonyhoffman]

I fell in love with Austin because of her beautifully constructed sentences. She really understands language and the way to use it to express her thoughts. To me, she is the gold standard 🤩

[janleonard]

I recommend "What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew" by Daniel Pool. It's a great reference book with helpful info on the details of life to help understand the time period(s).

[PokhrajRoy.]

Ellie Dashwood doing God’s work by making a ‘Jane Austen for Beginners’ video. We Stan it in this house 🔥

[charlenemoore]

Just saw video. When I was growing up, it was common in my older family members to say that someone was acting "affected, " meaning they were faking a behavior, or being overly dramatic. Now I can see where that phrase came from.

[annemarie]

I understand now, but when I first read P&P, I remember being incredibly confused about and frustrated by the family’s efforts to get Lydia to marry Mr. Wickham after they all learned how deceptive he was. I also didn’t understand why the choices Lydia made would have tainted the whole family. I now realize what a big deal personal and family reputation was at that time.

[mmcbrayer]

Ellie, This was such a wonderful explanation! I may use it, as I have used another, to help my British Lit students understand Austen before we read "Emma". Thanks for all your hard work. I love your videos!

[aparnaanniegomes]

I am from Bangladesh. For the upcoming academic year I have been given to teach Pride and Prejudice to the middle school students. I was feeling a bit lost as I couldn't understand what criteria should I follow to teach such an old literature to our young generation.
Your discussion helped me tremendously. You have explained with necessary points and presentations.
Thank you so much.

[AdrianColley]

I remember being confused that Mr. Bennett was being so stingy about the horses. Surely, I thought, everyone got around on horses at the time. Luckily, I had a copy of The Annotated Pride & Prejudice (which I recommend). It explained that horses had a stunningly high cost of ownership. When Mr. Collins yabbers on about Lady Catherine's multiple carriages, he is merely flaunting her vast wealth, and not just obsessed with household minutiae.