It is impossible to know me for more than two days without knowing my love for the book, Pride and Prejudice. In fact, if you never speak to me, but scroll through any of my social media platforms, you will see it. I own seven copies (and counting) of the book and both versions of the movie adaptations (1995 and 2005). I hum the songs, know the trivia, and quote it daily. If I break out in a British Accent, I am either quoting Harry Potter or Pride and Prejudice (and it's usually easy to decipher which one is which). There is so much love in my heart for this one story, I just had to write about it. I felt I had no choice. Especially seeing how I am writing this on the 204th anniversary of my most treasured collection of words.
On Christmas day, when I was thirteen years old, my grandma gifted me with my first copy. I started reading it that minute, on the floor, surrounded by various colored wrapping and tissue paper. From the first sentence, I was struck. I felt my mouth smile and had no idea how, but I knew the book I was holding was special. And it was. I read it again and again and again. Each time, learning something new about the story, and myself. When I was fourteen, I realized how much I related to Lizzy. I was stubbornly sarcastic with my nose in a book, always wanting to rant about something or someone. When I was fifteen, I realized I had met my own Wickham; however, I had yet to see the truth behind his act. When I was sixteen, I realized my yearning to create a story as beautiful and captivating as the one I kept reading. And when I seventeen, it was that passion that I grasped onto when life got messy. Now I am eighteen and as much in love as ever. I am also writing my very own book.
Perhaps the most important thing that I took away from the book wasn't that I wanted to live at Pemberley or that crazy aunts are a pain or even that literature is my favorite thing. Perhaps the most important lesson I learned was the relevance and similarities of the people from the eighteenth century to the people today. I bet if you've never read the book and decide to, that you'll find traces of yourself in the pages. I think that's the coolest thing about classic literature, you see yourself in people and places long gone. At the heart, through the societies, laws, and rules that change, what makes humans human, stays the same.
The Bennet sisters (Lydia and Kitty, specifically) go to town in--what they say--search of bonnets, but truthfully, they go to eye the regiment officers. Young girls still do that. It's called going to the mall in middle school. People still deal with matchmaker moms and messes still arise from their meddling. First impressions are still important and are still sometimes wrong. There are people who see the worst of things and people who see the best. And a lot of the time, those two kinds of people end up as friends. Even I have my own Jane Bennet. There is still a Mary who walks around awkwardly, never seeming to say the right thing. A Mr. Collins may pop up in your life (unfortunately) as that random person who you swear just showed up to make things complicated and cringe worthy. You might bump into a Lydia who obsesses unhealthy over a boy's approval and ends up in trouble. Or a Kitty who was just a follower, but gets mixed up in it all. Some people are jealous and stuck up like Caroline. And some go a while without a backbone like Mr. Bingley. Some follow the rules like Charlotte and some are ruined by money like Wickham. What makes Pride and Prejudice so real is its characters. And what makes its characters so real is the traits they encompass. The traits in humans never seem to change, no matter how the world does.
Pride in Prejudice taught me that love is messy, that people need room to grow, and that second chances can change everything. I learned sticking to your beliefs can put you in some awkward situations, but it's always rewarding. I found out some people will disappoint you, even your best friend, even your sister. I realized differences can bring people together in the best way. I learned to expect one day to say the wrong thing at the worst time. And I found out the people that make the most impact in your life tend to be the ones least expected. Luckily, I saw that the people who deserve the best sometimes get it and that we go farther when we are humbled. I also learned, from a book that was published January 28th in 1813, that sometimes, just sometimes, it all ends up okay.
To the book that changed my life, I thank you, most ardently.
