Anyone who dares to talk politics ventures into some pretty dangerous territory. Even if I'm really only skirting the boundaries here, I'm a bit scared to say this. Nevertheless, I'm going to take a deep breath and say it:

I want Donald Trump to read a book. Not just any book, I'm sure he's done that. No, I want him to read Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice."

While it is perhaps Austen's best-known work, I didn't read it myself until my third year of undergraduate study. Most who haven't read it (or haven't read it well) think it primarily about women talking about marriage and a defiant young woman who eventually gives in to love and domesticity. I found a world of complex ideas, settings that explored the human mind, characters who represented social classes, and a new form of progressive conduct book in the form of an entertaining story.

Elizabeth Bennet, the main character of "Pride and Prejudice," proves herself to be a stubborn and outspoken young woman throughout the course of the novel: she rejects marriage proposals that would secure her family's financial future because she values her independence, walks for miles to care for her sister despite her mother's protests, and she has a habit of speaking her mind. Donald Trump, I think, has more in common with her than he would probably care to admit. His and his administration's dedication to the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. "Obamacare," certainly seems stubborn, in a sense, and one of the reasons he garnered so much support during his campaign was that "[h]e says what he thinks, right or wrong," and people felt as though he was being very honest with them -- something they were not accustomed to from traditional politicians.

In the novel, however, it is not only Elizabeth's words, but her mother's as well, that jeopardize the family's future, and their happiness overall. One of the main confrontations between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, her future husband, is when Elizabeth finds out that Darcy dissuaded his friend Bingley from proposing to her sister Jane, even though the two were clearly infatuated with one another. Darcy reveals that the reason for this was because he overheard Elizabeth's mother rejoicing over Bingley's wealth at a party and thought that the only reason for Jane's interest in his friend. Darcy also states that the Bennet women -- namely Elizabeth's mother and three youngest sisters -- display a "want of propriety" that he believed spread across all five Bennet daughters, and a large part of this is their inability to censor themselves.

This is part of a larger take-away in the novel, but we do find a change in Elizabeth after this encounter: although she is still feisty, she thinks through what she says more often, refining it for the situation. This, I think, is meant to be part of the conduct book aspect of "Pride and Prejudice," and while it was written at the beginning of the nineteenth century and was aimed at young women, I do not believe this lesson is confined to that time or that demographic. For example, even today, I don't think anyone would speak the same way at a job interview or while giving a formal presentation as they would around a close friend, or while playing a video game.

I want Donald Trump to read "Pride and Prejudice" because I sincerely hope he learns what Elizabeth learned. His language during his campaign was less than professional, and while it might have earned him popularity with the American public because they identified with his expletives, other world leaders will likely be offended if he speaks to them that way. Additionally, Trump's lack of restraint and instinct to respond via Twitter to any criticism made of him, have suggested that he often allows his emotions to guide his speech, rather than logic. While many people do this, he has the future of a country hanging on his words and actions: we need him to act and react logically. With Sweden -- a famously neutral country that has not fought a war since 1814 -- reinstating their draft due to fears of a "more assertive Russia" in surrounding areas and tensions in the United States mounting for similar reasons, there is speculation of a World War III in the near future.

There have been such rumors for several years, but given the personalities of some of the world leaders and recent events, alliances could be in jeopardy, and so could our future. While actions speak loudly, words have incredible power, especially words exchanged across borders. A good deal of the story in "Pride and Prejudice" takes place in letters written between the characters -- letters that change minds and make lasting impacts on the lives of the characters. Because I want Donald Trump's presidency to go well, I want him to learn the power of his words, and how to best use them in the situation.

I want Donald Trump to read "Pride and Prejudice." I want him to learn from it. It has so much to teach him.