Reading Jane Austin

When I was still a freshman, one of my friends recommended a movie to me: Pride and Prejudice. It’s the first time I got to know Jane Austin. At that time, I was crazy about this movie. And later on, I started reading Jane Austin’s novels, including Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma…

Jane Austin enjoys high reputation in the west. Some people may wonder why. Since her novels are all about love affairs. As far as I am concerned, whether a novel explores its theme profoundly or not and whether it reveals extraordinary thoughts or not, actually do not consist in its subject matter. Take pride and Prejudice as an example, one of the themes of this novel is different kinds of marriage. Austin wrote four marriage types: ideal Elizabeth and Darcy, realizable Charlotte and Collins, felicitous Jane and Bingley, and unhappy Lydia and Wickham. According to Austin, marriage is not determined by property and family status, it’s unwise to marry without money, but it is wrong to marry for money; the marriage settled by love is happy and ideal.

What’s more, the language of Austin’s novels is interesting and wonderful, which makes creative contribution to the development of art in novels. Moreover, she uses lively and vivid accounts, which are by no means shallow or transparent. Some people compare her novels to Chinese olive, which tastes increasingly delicious as you chew it. Maybe that’s why Jane Austin is still so popular today.