Happy publication day to this funny, thought-provoking, non-fiction book!
I am a ‘Pride and Prejudice’ fan. Not a super-fan, or a Janeite or an Austen obsessive, but I can enjoy the novel. I’ll never love ‘Mansfield Park’ (hideous A Level flashbacks) and I was the wrong generation to appreciate Colin Firth in THAT shirt (yes, I totally get it now…) but I totally respect the way that Jane Austen quietly wrote novels that are still part of the collective consciousness over 200 years after her death.
So I came to this book with purely an interest in a feminist reading of Mr Darcy by someone who really knows ‘Pride and Prejudice’ inside out – and has had the headspace to ponder on it at length as part of her career in academia. Rachel Feder is an associate professor in English at the University of Denver and really knows her stuff.
The central argument of this book is that we’ve all been taken in by the Darcy Myth – the fact that romantic partners worth having might be rude or obnoxious at first, but we have to see through this and change them. They’ll have their reasons for their behaviour – not just that’s they’re horrible people – and women need to see beyond it because that’s romantic and ultimately rewarding. Kind, ‘safe’ men get pushed aside, because we want the mean, moody one with emotional depth – and this is what the patriarchy want us to want. Feder argues that this type of enemies-to-lovers plot actually fits better with Austen’s Gothic influences – a kind of horror story given what courtship and marriage can signify for women of the era (and beyond).
Along the way, Feder illustrates extensively why the Darcy Myth is problematic using a combination of Austen’s work (obviously ‘Pride and Prejudice’, but not exclusively) and other examples. These examples of other Darcys range from Byron (just ugh) to Beast (he might gift Belle a library but it’s still in his house – where he is literally keeping her prisoner!) to The Batchelor. In fact, there’s lots of references to literature, TV and modern culture -a bit too modern for me in places as Taylor Swift turns up more than once and it made me feel soooooo old. However, I think this means that the book has appeal beyond those with an Austen addiction, and Feder’s chatty and humorous writing style adds to the attraction.
Feder tackles some really big ideas here, some much more convincingly than others (but always entertainingly). I loved the analysis of the literature and how these themes continue to play out in today’s media and I enjoyed meeting the various iterations of Darcy from throughout the ages. I liked the look at Jane Austen in the context of Gothic literature – that’s an interesting take that I hadn’t fully considered before and I felt like I learnt a lot. I was less keen when it got a bit psychoanalytical with case studies towards the end and shifted the focus to abortion in literature – while this was engagingly done, it just wasn’t for me.
I think this book would appeal to anyone who likes reading about classic literature, social issues or feminism. There’s lots to enjoy, regardless of your prior knowledge of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ – those new to it have it all explained by Feder while those more au fait with the story will have new ideas thrown at them to consider. It certainly gave me a lot of food for thought, even if I didn’t fully buy all aspects of the argument. It’s funny, lively and clever – what’s not to like?!
Thanks to NetGalley for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Header photo by Elaine Howlin on Unsplash
