Cumbersome Pride and Prejudice

[krishna_lit]

Recently i started reading the classics of literature very happily, started with 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austin. But, the thing is I was into some 50 pages and the characters to are way many, and most of them were with the same last names. Whenever i take a break from the book for a couple of days, i find it cumbersome to connect with the story again, i'm losing the track of which Miss Bingley is speaking to which Bingley brother about which of the Bennet sisters.

Can someone advice how to deal with this book? Are all the classic like this???

[Yami]

Haha well my experience of this novel too has been the same and what worse than the fact that it was a part of my course...If its part of your course then go along with the pace of your teacher otherwise you will regret.If not then God knows :P I am not the right person to give advice :P sorry. Yes but I advice you to read the novel after watching the movie that is made on this novel,will be of great help :)

[Gladys]

But, the thing is I was into some 50 pages and the characters to are way many, and most of them were with the same last names.

Don't worry. By page 100, as you appreciate the plot better, you'll start to get the hang of who's who.

[kiki1982]

It helps if you know the rules a little. Go to the Republic of Pemberley website and inform yourself.

As to all the Misses, the rules are: the eldest daughter in a family is always addressed as Miss + family name, her sisters are Miss + first name. If the eldest sister wasn't there, I think a Miss Elizabeth (she is younger than Jane Bennet) could become a Miss Bennet. Otherwise not. Naturally, if the eldest sister had married, the next eldest one would become the Miss + family name.
I believe things were the same for men until they wre married as well, although I may be mistaken.
Men with titles are mostly addressed with Sir + first name (they still are). Men without titles were addressed as Mr + family name. Men with military jobs with their rank and family name. Otherwise Mr + family name. So Mr Wickham, but Colonel Fitzwilliam (?).
Sisters of one family could also be referred to as a collection, e.g. 'the Miss Bennets'. Austen doesn't do this so often for men, although the Knightleys seem to be pretty close.

Hence Sir Thomas (Lucas). Miss (Charlotte) Lucas. Miss (Jane) Bennet, but Miss Elizabeth (Bennet). Miss (Georgiana) Darcy. Miss (Caroline) Bingley (there is only one because her sister is Mrs Hurst née Bingley), although in the past they were the Miss Bingleys.

Does that make it slightly clearer?

[krishna_lit]

Does that make it slightly clearer?

Slightly, yes. Thank you :)

[Charles Darnay]

Thanks for that Kiki!

[kelby_lake]

Watch the BBC version :D

[kiki1982]

I forgot to add (I have been working for the last 2 days, so excuse the delay ;)) that girls with titles were referred to a Lady + first name and even if the married a man without a title, the kept their Lady. I believe Lady Catherine de Bourgh reproached her sister for marrying a titleless man (Mr Darcy senior)beneath her, but her sister still went through life as 'Lady Ann'. Lady Catherine, I think, married a man with a title.
Girls without titles who married men with titles, became Ladies. As in [I][Mansfield Park/I].

[Buh4Bee]

Not to sound like a moron, but I was having the same problem with The Idiot. I ended up reading like three pages a night, because by the time I remembered what I just read ans who was who, I had to go to sleep. I made a character list, which helped. I like the book a lot, but I can relate to the cumbersome feeling. I'm goinf to try to finish it over my break. Haven't read Austin, but I'm sure it is worth the struggle. Good luck!

[YesNo]

When my eldest was a sophomore in high school, Pride and Prejudice was a required text. I thought I must have read it in the past, but realized I hadn't. She told me it was written in such "old English" that it was unintelligible for a modern person to read. I offered to read it out loud to her, worried a little about the "old English" part. My worries about the book were soon over. It was very readable and very funny. Before page 100 she figured she could read it on her own.

I saw a movie recently situated in Amritsar, India, that used the Pride and Prejudice theme called "Bride & Prejudice" which I found entertaining. This movie doesn't replace the enjoyment of reading Austen but the plot should be clear after seeing it.

[MorpheusSandman]

One key I found to better enjoying novels with a lot of characters is to familiarize myself with those characters beforehand (I learned this the hard way when reading War & Peace). Go to Wikipedia and try to memorize the characters and relationships.

[Seasider]

I gave up on "Gone With the Wind" because of the number of characters but the film sorted it out for me.