Learning From The Classics Podcast: Pride And Prejudice

This track is a recording of my weekly LIVE PODCAST - Learning from the Classics, dated November 29th, 2024.

In my LIVE session, I will relate prompts from Classic Literature to the challenges we face every day. There is a certain sense of security in understanding some struggles are universal and not personal to ourselves. In such novels, there is also a reconciliation to be had with souls we cannot and will not ever meet, but who teach us so much. Today I will be looking at Pride and Prejudice.

Transcript

Yeah,

Back again.

I'm talking about Pride and Prejudice today.

I hope you've been listening to my tracks.

Pride and Prejudice is like a stalwart,

So it's that foundation from which everything else,

Classically speaking,

That I do is based upon.

It's,

I would say,

One of my favourite novels.

I'm going to explain to you why today.

It has an endearing quality,

Yes,

And it's many people's favourite,

But I'd like to pinpoint exactly what it is,

I think,

That makes it so good.

Okay,

So we're going to begin,

And I'm going to talk about Jane Austen a little bit to start with.

Then once I've done that,

I'm going to dive into what it is specifically about her style of writing and her novel.

Pride and Prejudice specifically,

Because there are other novels that I've read and shared with you that I haven't been so enamoured with,

And there's a reason for that,

And I think partly that's because of the level of investment that was made by Austen at the time of writing.

Austen was born in a family with seven children,

So a large family,

Much larger than we have today.

Obviously,

With that comes a lot of energy,

But also quite a lot of self-preservation and resilience,

I would imagine.

Having been a middle child myself,

I kind of can dip into the idea of being somewhat a little bit overlooked.

You know,

You're always kind of,

You're not quite one or the other,

And that might well have been the situation she was in.

It was a very creative family,

And it was,

So she was writing from the point of view of somebody who had a working knowledge of the landed gentry in the UK in the late 18th century,

So that would have been late 1700s and then the early 19th century,

Early 1800s.

And the family was close-knit,

Apparently,

According to records,

And her father,

Who was a rector,

Also took on some teaching work.

So there was quite a passion for education within her environment,

Which was kind of par for the course with the gentry in those days.

Being a young lady,

Of course,

She would have been dissuaded within society from publishing her own work,

And it was very difficult initially for her to get published.

But she did succeed,

And she succeeded with the help of her brother.

But yeah,

That was one of the many barriers she faced.

So she was born into the landed gentry,

But obviously the sort of,

The bottom rung of the landed gentry,

If you like.

And Pride and Prejudice is a societal account of that,

Really.

But she writes with wit and irony,

Which is the beauty of it.

So she's almost mocking it somehow.

So let's begin.

It's a weighty novel,

Right?

It's a much thicker,

Heavier volume than,

Say,

For example,

Sense and Sensibility or Persuasion.

And that gives us a chance to really enjoy the characters,

To learn about the characters,

To follow them through a long story.

And there's a lot to be said for that.

You know,

At first it can be quite daunting to look at a novel and think,

Wow,

You know,

How long is that going to take me to get through?

But when you actually step back and say,

You know what?

It's not a race,

And I'm not in this to get through it.

I'm in this to revel in the wit,

The irony,

The humour,

Which is very often between the lines.

So sometimes it takes a while to step back,

Go back and,

Oh,

Yeah,

That's quite funny.

Okay?

To really enjoy those moments.

And Pride and Prejudice is the one volume in all my work that I've actually read word for word.

So I have abridged everything else,

Almost of that era that I've read when I've recorded it.

And the reason for that is because in weaker novels,

There's almost a tendency to dwell on moments that are not driving the plot forward.

That's not to say we should always be rushing ahead,

But that's to say sometimes there's detail superfluous to the energy of the book,

If you like,

To the energy of the novel.

So to go back,

Yeah,

It's a weightier novel,

But that's a good thing,

Right?

And it means we can revel in the emotions that the characters go through.

And each character in Pride and Prejudice is a gem.

They're clearly definable.

They have a specific agenda.

Or in the case of the main characters,

They have a specific development to watch and to enjoy,

Right?

To invest in as a reader.

So yeah,

And we don't get this with Persuasion,

For example.

And I am now referring to the tracks available on my Insight Timer page.

So that's why I've specifically picked out these.

We don't really get this in,

For example,

Persuasion.

So in Persuasion,

We've got the character of Anne,

And then we've got Captain Wentworth,

Her love interest.

That didn't quite work out in the beginning,

But we're hoping as the chapters go on,

Oh yes,

It's going to get better.

Maybe they'll get there.

But some of the characters almost clumsily dropped in just to fill out,

If you like,

To pan out the story.

The accident that occurred with Louisa Musgrove,

Who is Anne,

The main character.

So just to sort of recap a bit,

Anne is a child who is essentially overlooked.

She's not the favourite.

She's not the oldest.

She's a bit lost in it all.

And she had a love match,

Which was Captain Wentworth,

But she was advised that that love match wasn't really suitable for her.

It wouldn't help her to progress in society.

So she moved away from that.

And then we see this love match,

This Captain Wentworth come back again.

So there's her,

And there's him,

And there's her sisters,

And there's a little bit else going on in the background.

This is persuasion.

But essentially characters get lost in it.

And then every now and then some drama is dropped in.

Like for example,

One of her sister's husband's sisters having an accident,

Which gives us a chance to see Anne at her best,

And Captain Wentworth to see Anne at her best.

But what I'm trying to say is it's a smaller novel with almost as many characters as Pride and Prejudice.

And yet they're kind of clumsily added,

And we don't invest in them as much as a reader.

Partly because we have less time with them.

Partly because the novel's smaller.

But partly because they're just not as well-rounded.

They're not as well-formed in our minds,

Which might be a reason why Pride and Prejudice is more popular.

We get a chance to grow with a character.

We get a chance to love or hate them,

To invest in them,

To laugh at their stupidity.

Why?

Because they occur more than once.

Because we get a sort of fly-on-the-wall account of what they're capable of a few times throughout the novel.

So we're revisiting someone we already know.

You can't get that with a smaller novel.

You don't get the same investment.

Same with Sense and Sensibility,

Which I actually found difficult to read.

And I found that difficult to read because it was a frustrating novel.

And again,

A much smaller novel.

And the characters,

The two sisters,

Eleanor and Marianne,

Very well dramatized.

So it's been very popular on film and dramatization.

But the book itself,

There was a lot of confusion.

There was a lot of mismatching.

There was a lot of misunderstanding.

And it's almost somehow stressful reading that and frustrating.

And I just didn't get that with Pride and Prejudice.

So I felt,

The first time I ever read Pride and Prejudice,

I felt that this was Austin's moment to actually enjoy what she was doing.

You could feel the love coming out in it.

And in some ways,

It's a frivolous account.

And it could be seen as throwaway romance.

Are they going to?

Aren't they going to?

Which is what much of romance is seen as.

But it's not just about that.

It's not just about the Elizabeth Darcy thing.

And that's the key,

I think,

That a woman in that situation,

Where she had societal expectations put upon her,

Austin,

And she understood how she had a working understanding of how difficult it was to be a woman who had wit,

Who had intelligence,

Who had something to say.

She managed to really inject that into Pride and Prejudice and enjoy it,

Which is her legacy,

Right?

The energy that she's passed on to us.

Okay.

So yeah,

Just looking through my notes here.

Sense and Sensibility,

It says,

Persist in flogging the unresolved,

Uncommunicated misunderstandings between characters.

And that's so true.

And we don't really get that in Pride and Prejudice.

Yes,

There are miscommunications and difficulties,

But there's so many other subplots,

Right?

There's so much going on that we're not hanging on to one as we are with Sense and Sensibility.

If it's not going to work out,

We have to spend the whole book just worrying about these two characters and where they're going.

And it's almost,

It's not enough,

Right?

We need more meat on the bone,

Which is what we get with Pride and Prejudice.

And I love that.

Again,

Just to reiterate,

That's why I read every single word.

And in fact,

I've had a couple of people say to me,

Guess what?

You read every single word.

Yes,

I did for that reason,

Because there was no word that could be missed,

Okay?

No moment that could afford to be lost.

Every moment needed to be celebrated,

Okay?

Which is the sign of a fantastic journey,

A fantastic novel.

Okay.

Yeah,

Just going through my notes here.

Pride and Prejudice holds our hand through the development of male and female characters.

So it's not just a woman's book,

Right?

It was written by a woman.

But we come to understand that,

You know,

It was very difficult for Darcy.

He was in a difficult situation,

Okay?

He had the societal expectations as well.

And it's that hope that we get from Pride and Prejudice,

That resounding,

You know,

Love will conquer all,

Despite expectations put upon us.

Despite what we should do,

We are going to do what is right for us.

And a good novel needs that.

It needs hope,

Right?

Last week,

I spoke about Jane Eyre.

And it's a completely different animal.

But in that way,

And a very weighty volume as well,

In that way,

We have the same hope.

But obviously,

It's a lot darker.

And it's written in the first person.

So it's much more of a poignant account of pain,

Misery,

And deprivation and struggle.

In Pride and Prejudice,

There's much struggle within Elizabeth.

But she manages to overcome that by focusing on other characters.

And we have enough distractions within that,

That it doesn't get us down too much.

So I don't know.

It was,

I don't know,

Maybe three o'clock in the morning.

And I woke up and I thought,

Yeah,

That's it.

That's what it is.

And it's with Jane,

You know,

We need things to get better,

Right?

With Jane Eyre.

We need things to get better.

Her pain is our pain.

Her suffering is our suffering.

And we can tell a lot about ourselves We can tell a lot about ourselves as a character by which books we choose,

Right?

And there are different books for different moods.

So for me,

Jane Eyre is self-indulgent.

It's when I need to be introspective.

It's when I want to think deeply about my experiences and listen to somebody else who may have gone through similar things,

Right?

Similar inner torment.

And that is self-indulgent.

When we have Pride and Prejudice,

That's more of a warm blanket,

Okay?

That's more of a,

Oh,

We know everything's going to be okay.

And let's just look at this from a third person's point of view.

So we don't have to be too close to it,

But it's highly entertaining,

Okay?

The plot's always moving forward.

There are lots of funny things going on that can amuse us,

Okay?

So for me,

Jane Eyre is kind of your French cuisine,

Right?

You have to take it in small doses,

But you can really enjoy the moment where you're not sure whether you're going to like it and you're not sure whether it's going to be delectable,

But it's certainly going to be a big experience that you'll remember.

With something like Pride and Prejudice,

It's more of a feast,

Okay?

And you have lots of choices.

You have lots of things to choose from.

And sometimes you can eat the sweet.

Sometimes you can eat the savory.

And you can compare the two because there are so many characters.

I can't say I have a preference for either,

But what they have in common is the sheer size of the work.

And I think we can take something from that today.

And we can say to ourselves,

You know what?

To do anything really that's going to justify my existence,

Right?

To do anything that's really going to represent me well,

I'm going to have to invest in that.

It's not going to be something I can replicate.

It's going to have to be authentic.

So I'm going to have to dig very deep.

And sometimes I am going to be tired and I'm not going to want to do it.

Sometimes I am going to say,

Look,

There are easier paths.

And this is not for me.

But that's the human spirit.

That's the human condition,

Right?

To have to say,

Look,

I've got this thing called a conscience.

I've got to keep coming back because I can't let myself down.

I have to be good at something.

And in order to do that,

I have to spend a lot of time on it.

It takes decades in the pursuit of any one skill to get really good at that,

Right?

And I suppose that's my message for today.

The larger volumes that I've read,

I've enjoyed more.

Jane Eyre,

Just to go back,

I have abridged a little bit because there are parts where it was just,

It really did dwell on the deep,

Dark misery.

And that's not really me.

But I was very careful to only choose sections or pages that I thought didn't really,

Were just repeating the same narrative and didn't really entertain.

Because obviously,

When you're producing audio tracks,

There has to be an element of that.

And that's another thing I would say,

For the moment,

For today,

For the 21st century,

There needs to be a balance,

Right?

So we've got to have this entertainment,

But we've also got to be true to the product,

Be true to the story,

Whatever that story is.

If it's your story,

If it's something you're educated in,

If it's something you're working towards,

There's a fine balance.

If you're going to talk about something,

Keep it entertaining.

And yet,

Dig deep.

And in order to dig deep,

You've really got to put the time in.

Yeah,

It's really got to be an investment.

In one of my tracks in the new year,

In one of my lives as well,

I'm going to talk about what it is that we want,

Because that's the hardest thing to discover,

Right?

What it is actually we're here for,

What is my purpose,

What is it that I want?

And that took me a very,

Very long time to work out.

When we decide that,

Then we can start working on the right investment of time,

Investment of energy.

And Austin wanted to write that book.

She liked the difference between Pride and Prejudice,

Persuasion,

Sense and Sensibility,

You know,

They're miles apart.

Pride and Prejudice,

She enjoyed writing.

You can hear that when you speak the words.

You can imagine herself making herself laugh as she's writing.

And I think that's what I'm trying to say today,

Is whatever it is we choose,

We have to know what we want first.

It's all very well saying,

Be really good at something,

Invest lots of time in something,

Do what they do.

You need to know what it is you want to invest in.

So this is our journey.

And I think the takeaway from today is,

Let's try and do ourselves justice,

Right?

We're not,

You know,

We can't all be Jane Austen,

Right?

But we can be the best of what we have for ourselves.

And when I write,

I write for myself.

And I think when you choose whatever it is you choose to do,

You do it essentially for yourself.

Yeah,

Be someone that you need to listen to,

Hear,

Be inspired by.

Whether it be the best cat mama in the world,

Right?

Whatever it might be,

Find that thing,

And then invest.

And you won't go wrong.

And it doesn't matter how slow the journey is,

But keep going.

It was lovely to see you today.

Thank you so much for turning up.

Next week,

I'm going to be talking about Anne of Green Gables,

Which is a Canadian novel.

My favourite Canadian author,

L.

M.

M.

Montgomery.

And Anne.

Anne,

Who is just such a remarkable spirit,

Right?

Yeah,

I hope you enjoyed this.

If you did,

Go back to my playlists.

I've got playlists for Pride and Prejudice and Sensibility,

Persuasion.

And just enjoy.

Yeah,

And just let it be the backdrop to what you're doing.

And happy listening.

I'll see you next time.

Bye.

You

Reviews

Really cool to see the reasoning for your choices, and I’m in agreement! I’ve loved everything you’ve chosen, but pride and prejudice really is the cream of the crop! Looking forward to Anne 🥰❤️🙏🏼

Oh joy. I loved hearing this again. Thank you! Really enjoyable, and more understanding picked up listening the second time around. A nice new Friday morning tradition for me. Looking forward to tomorrow, 6:30am Pacific time🤭🌺😘, #3!