Classic Monday: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

1813
334 pages

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."
So begins "Pride and Prejudice," Jane Austen's witty comedy of manners--one of the most popular novels of all time--that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues. Renowned literary critic and historian George Saintsbury in 1894 declared it the "most perfect, the most characteristic, the most eminently quintessential of its author's works," and Eudora Welty in the twentieth century described it as "irresistible and as nearly flawless as any fiction could be."

Pride and Prejudice is an example of a wonderful classic novel. This being one of the first classic novels I read, it holds an especially special place in my heart. Elizabeth Bennet's courtship with Mr. Darcy is comedic yet intriguing and you can't help to be drawn in to that and the relationships of those around her. This novel is both romantic and entertaining and promises to be a great read to lovers of the romantic classics.

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Classic Monday: Emma by Jane Austen

1815
396 pages

Beautiful, clever, rich - and single - Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. With its imperfect but charming heroine and its witty and subtle exploration of relationships, Emma is often seen as Jane Austen's most flawless work.

This is a humorous and fun victorian novel. Emma is a meddler in relationships and is usually successful at matchmaking but she finds out she may have bit off more than she can handle in her latest attempt. This is a great classic novel which has an amusing look at relationships and matchmaking.

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