Rereading Jane Austen

I haven't read a lot of Jane Austen, I would say just the average amount. I have read Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma. I was supposed to reread S&S this past semester, but skipped out on it since I remembered the basic story line and knew enough about Austen's writing techniques to get by in a survey course. But next semester, my senior seminar is on Jane Austen and George Eliot. And guess what?! I get to reread S&S and P&P!
Since I will also be reading like 8 other books, I decided to start now. (and I am actually reading them thoroughly, since it's for my senior thesis). So I started with P&P...
I forgot how much Austen makes me happy. She has great characters, and amazing character development. I also love her use of free indirect discourse. I always thought that if I wrote fiction, she would have to be my role model. I just like how she writes.
So, more on her characters...
The dad in the story, Mr. Bennet, is probably one of my favorite characters in the beginning of the book. He kind of reminds me of my dad. He is always joking and teasing his wife. I know that how he treats his wife and daughters is not always kindly looked upon by critics, but I think it is his in his own endearing way. He love all of his daughters, but just happens to acknowledge that some of them are not as smart as the others, and are in fact silly. That, to me, is not being mean, just realistic. Mostly I just love how much he teases his wife.
One thing that I found really interesting (because I also love the movie P&P with Kiera Knightly) is that in the most recent movie, Elizabeth Bennet is a much stronger and extroverted character than she is in the book. If you were to only look at her in the movie, you would not thing Austen to be the extremely politically conservative and Christian woman that she was. In the book, Elizabeth is smart and playful, and only slightly outspoken. In the movie, she is always right, extremely outspoken, and thinks very highly of herself. I think that I like the book and the movie equally, but I see them as almost totally different stories. Obviously the basic plot is the same, but the emphasis and main points are slightly different. I think that I respect the movie Elizabeth more as a person and character, but the book is just so pleasant to read...