Why, oh why, is it always Pride and Prej, rather than any other Austen?

[Greythorne]

i am coaching a teenager who has just announced that their set text is P and P.
I am sooooooo bored with P and P.

Am I the only one who finds Pride and Prej very predictable with characters who are wooden and a plot that's a bit non-existent? Why can't they set Emma or S and S?

Tell me I am wrong and give me reasons to love P and P.

I did Persuasion as set text for A-Level 20 years ago as well (probably the same board!). My group and I hated it as Anne seemed such a doormat. I did P&P for GCSE and much preferred that text.

I think the characters of Elizabeth and Jane are more appealing for teens as Elizabeth is feisty and they go for their men - so I THINK teens can relate to them. I really couldn't relate to Anne or the whole concept of Persuasion. It didn't excite or enthuse me at all.

Now, having read the books I think I'd have preferred to do Sense and Sensibility.

P&P is maybe the 'easiest' read of all of them? I find Emma unbelievably annoying, & I think its a fairly common reaction so maybe that's why that doesn't get chosen (not good to irritate half your class, even if the other half love it?)

My favourite is absolutely Mansfield Park . . . but sadly I seem to be in a minority there.

My favourite is absolutely Mansfield Park . . . but sadly I seem to be in a minority there.

Thats mine as well, but yes we are totally in the minority

I did Mansfield Park, and hated Fanny and Edmund. I think I also wrote essays on every possible aspect of the bloody book. I do recall saying to my teacher 'don't tell me. This week's essay is the significance of Lady Bertrums pug'. To which she siad, good idea My fav is Persuasion followed by P&P.....

Hassled - I have the PD James book on my kindle waiting for me- glad you are enjoying it.

Have you read Pride & Prejudice & Zombies? Best read in conjunction with the real one, some paragraphs are almost lifted straight out. It's very silly but very cleverly done.

I love P&P, but my favourite Austen is Mansfield Park (weird, I know) It covers a much wider social range than P&P, including obliquely-referenced slavery, and the most interesting characters are the Crawfords, not the main couple.

Funny that though I loved Persuasion in my 30s and still love it as a book, i have come to dislike Anne Elliott rather a lot, though with her absolutely enormous judgy bloomers and dislike of her family she would probably fit in quite well round here. I also feel a bit sorry for Mary Musgrove, who clearly should be running a nightclub and sleeping with toyboys rather than condemned to 15 kids, permanent PND and being buried alive in the country.

Then I would rather have Emma now, even though I truly couldn't bear her in my 20s, because she is genuinely devoted to her father and yet is full of life. Or Mrs Dashwood with her endless DIY plans which never happen - I can so relate . TBH I also think Mrs Dashwood must have been rather pleased when her daughters moved out, especially Elinor tutting at the beef ration and being repressed on the sopha. My view is that Mrs Dashwood probably ended up marrying her cousin John for the money and giving generous regular handouts to Elinor, while keeping both daughters at arm's length re visits as she always had the furniture in holland covers ready to repaint.

But yes, my favourite is Fanny, who despite being so 'weak' actually ends up with a sitting room which is hers alone to use - more than I have, or that Jane Austen had; she marries the man of her choice, and sticks to her principles throughout, without being told off by Mr Knightley or patronised by Henry Tilsley (much as I love him). What a woman.

OK, so P&P. I think that school age children should be able to relate to the desperate need for neighbours, given that they are with the same friends every day for years on end. If they can imagine the only available entertainment being conversation, and can then imagine that they can only meet up with people within a 3 mile walk/7 mile drive, they might begin to imagine how it feels when a whole new household opens up in the neighbourhood, revolutionising the prospects of everyone in the area and bringing new ideas, new jokes, new stories and memories, new books, new music, everything! Then Mrs Bennett may start to make sense to them. Desperation and money.