Pride and Prejudice - in the view of 2026 society is Mr. Wickham simply a predator?

My eyes, noo

We underlined and shared our favourite lines and the original was one of them.

Having read it recently in keeping with Ds doing so it’s brilliantly written.

Some lines are superb.

I've been thinking.

Mr Bennet doesn't have any siblings? which suggests his mother may have died when he was young

and crucially his father didn't get him to break the entail, which suggests that his father died before he was 21

so I'm imagining this slightly lost young man returning for a funeral from Oxbridge to Meryton with his situationship-friend Gardiner, rattling round a slightly cheerless Longbourn while envying Gardiner's family life (even though the considerably more personable and sociable G is about to go off to some kind of venture in London) and then dutifully turning up to see his attorney only to encounter a vision of feminine charm

Their first daughter is named after her mother, the second after his mother, the third after her sister and the fourth after herself (which is why she's always known by the diminutive) and then with the fifth her romantic imagination is given full rein

The Bennet marriage really is the union of a committed introvert with an out and out extrovert, isn't it?

It does make you appreciate Austen’s style all the more, though!

And being accosted by ladies of negotiable virtue as he bumbles around seedy lodging houses looking for the pair.

Ohh, it shall not be!

I always feel there’s an unwritten comic scene with Mr Bennet bumbling hopelessly around London inns before Mr Gardiner gets there, thinking ‘Where do I start?’, longing for his library and hoping no duels are in his near future.

That modern language translation is excruciating. Please don’t let this lovely thread be thus polluted with any more of it!

@MrsDanversGlidesAgain “Mr B did go about finding them in a slightly half-arsed fashion, but then I wonder how much he actually stirred from his study into the wider world.”

Mr. Bennet is described in the novel as a homebody who prefers the comfort of his library. I think he is the least travelled character in P&P.

Wickham was utterly reckless, completely indifferent to who he hurt, and willing to sacrifice a young girl's reputation and her family's social standing for his own immediate escape.

What did he think would happen when he did a bunk with a gently brought up girl from a respectable family? WAS he thinking?

If this was a Georgette Heyer book the family would have got the Bow Street Runners onto them. Mr B did go about finding them in a slightly half-arsed fashion, but then I wonder how much he actually stirred from his study into the wider world.

”He probably knew that without help Mr Bennet and Mr Gardinar would be pretty clueless when it came to tracking him down.”

I don’t think Wickham was thinking about being tracked down by Lydia’s family. He fled Brighton to escape his massive gambling debts and creditors, and simply took Lydia along as a willing companion.

Actually the more comments I read the more convinced I am that Wickham wasn't exacting revenge on Darcy. I think he would have given Lydia the brush off if he knew that Darcy was in love with Elizabeth, the last thing he needed was someone rich and powerful pursuing him. He probably knew that without help Mr Bennet and Mr Gardinar would be pretty clueless when it came to tracking him down.

@SeedsOfReason How about this one!

Original: "An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do." Mr Bennet

Modern: “You're in a tough spot Elizabeth, because from now on you will be cut off from one of your parents: your mother will disown you if you refuse to marry Mr. Collins, but I will disown you if you do marry him."

Original: "She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me." Mr Darcy

Modern: She's alright-looking, but not hot enough to get my attention.

It is amusing!

Original: "In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." — Mr. Darcy

Modern: I tried to fight my feelings, but it didn't work. I am crazy about you, and you have to let me tell you I love you

Oh, this is fun, I'm chuckling here.

We get this!!

Original: "She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me." — Mr. Darcy

Modern: “She is okay-looking, but not pretty enough for me to care.”

Original: "In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." — Mr. Darcy

Modern: I tried to fight my feelings, but I failed. I love you like crazy, and you have to let me say it.

We cross-posted. The author hasn't touched the famous opening line, it seems!

“I wonder what on earth that is like!”

Original: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

Modern English : Everyone knows that a single man with a good fortune must be looking for a wife.

Found the Kindle sample of the 'Modern English' version - here is the first page.

Seems to be neither one thing nor t'other to me 😆

Talking of translations,I was just googling idly to see what Pride and Prejudice was called in French, German etc. (as you do fall down these mini rabbit holes) and apparently there is a version of the novel translated into 'modern English'!

I wonder what on earth that is like!

Just curious really - is there a translation available in your mother tongue? It would be really interesting to compare a translation with the original version in English - unfortunately I don't speak any other languages well enough to do this personally.

I saw Longbourne recommended here few years ago, read it and absolutely adored it. One of my favourite books ever. Don’t know what it says about me since PP rubbished it!

I have tried to read the original P&P but english not being my mother tongue, I found it to be too laboursome . But I love reading your analysises and theories!