“I deserve neither such praise nor such censure”
The Guardian publishes two reactions to Pride and Prejudice being chosen by listeners of BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour as the book that most changed their lives.
Monica Ali, as previously quoted, concurs heartily:
Other heroines may stand up to and even conquer domineering men of so-called higher standing, others yet may represent our fears or wish-fulfilment fantasies, but Elizabeth takes us on her most important journey - and it’s not the one to Pemberley, but the path to self-knowledge. Lizzy did it first and she still does it the best.
Jenny Colgan, however, is horrified. She despairs over such a choice, apparently in possession of an omniscient ability to divine the actual unflattering motivations of Pride and Prejudice voters:
Elizabeth Bennet’s central message - about staying true to your inner self and conquering the worst elements of it - is most certainly an excellent one, but is this truly the reason it gained so many votes … or is that blasted man in his white shirt diving into a lake really continuing to hypnotise an entire generation? In that case, I wish people had been more honest, and voted for Bridget Jones’s Diary, which really is simply about the wish for a Darcy to materialise and sweep you off your feet, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Her preferred choice?
Looking at the other shortlisted titles - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Women’s Room by Marilyn French and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood - one thinks of the outrage caused when The Women’s Room was published. That book, as women saw their own unhappy, conformist lives reflected in print, made wives throw down their dishcloths and actually walk out on their marriages - their entire lives - often into severe hardship.
Because, of course, domestic life is a stultifying, conformist existence, as opposed to spending one’s days in a veal fattening pen.
December 9th, 2004 at 12:55 pm
The Women’s Room is the only one of the books on the shortlist that I haven’t read! I would actually have picked Mockingbird over P&P as I read it at a time in my life where I was more affected by the message. The Handmaid’s Tale is a fascinating and thought-provoking book as well, and has really stayed with me over the years in lots of ways.
That being said, I still want to be Lizzy Bennet when I grow up!
December 12th, 2004 at 10:36 pm
No doubt lust for Colin Firth did influence some of the votes, but as someone who read P & P at least a dozen times before Mr Firth was out of short pants, I am offended by Ms. Colgan’s assumptions.