Jane Austen is a big old meanie
Harry Reid of The Herald can’t figure out why people like Pride and Prejudice so much.
I find this extraordinary, for it seems to me that it is a novel crammed with malice and spite. I am told that it is satirical but I can find precious little genuine satire in it. . . .Austen has a serious capacity for dislike. She seems to dislike most of her characters and the dislike is not lighthearted. It is intense and cruel. Over the past few days I have been re-reading the novel carefully. My view is confirmed, and I simply cannot understand why so many people seem to find it a happy and comforting book. . . .In its presentation of women it is a sustained exercise in misogyny.
The poor man. It must be so difficult to go through life without a sense of humor. Shall we take up a collection and purchase one for him?
June 14th, 2005 at 5:11 pm
I don’t think enough money exists to do the deed. He sounds hopeless!
June 14th, 2005 at 9:00 pm
He freely admitted being unable to dislike Mr Collins. In fact, Mr Collins appears to be the only character in the novel that he doesn’t dislike. I fear he is beyond help.
Interesting that he feels his own opinion was proven correct after finding one literary critic who agreed with him!