It has come to my attention, with full gusto, that the phrase “better late than never” resonates deeply when it comes to the reading of an Austen classic, and I will share with you the reason why. Having been a student of English, and briefly touching upon Austen’s Mansfield Park, and Northanger Abbey for a gothic course, I was drawn into Austen’s alluring use of satire. She mocked the laughable elements of society which made people act in foolish ways; she also mocked the institute of marriage, and the way in which it was carried out, one was extremely lucky if love was involved at all, as pointed out in Pride and Prejudice “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other or ever so similar beforehand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always continue to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life.”

Austen’s ability to depict the society in which she was born into are as well developed as the fine detail in a Rembrandt painting, however, to my great shame, I hadn’t managed to read any of her romances, and when I did, it was quite evident that Austen had created the very skeleton of any successful, humorous romance that it around today. Austen’s ability to stay with us is clearly evident in the way that the her stories are retold repetitively, after all, was it not the BBC’s version of Pride and Prejudice that made many delve into the books of Austen, it would be a lie if the dark and brooding image of Mr Darcy, played by Colin Firth did not make you sit up in your seat and make you feel hope and despair at the strong headed Elizabeth Bennet who’s prejudice could not see through Mr Darcy’s pride until the very end. Off course you did, along with millions of other people.

And so it is, my fellow reader, my confession, that until the age of 23, I had not read an Austen romance, and I had not experienced the “Mr Darcy madness”, but long at last, I did, and I too wanted to be as strong willed as the great Elizabeth Bennet who just like people in real life, is heavily flawed, but discovering a lighter side to Austen was as though I had entered a personal enlightenment in my repertoire of literature. What one must do when reading much of Austen, is to merely hang in there, and I say this due to the fact that she tends to introduce something like ten characters within the first three short chapters, and one becomes immediately bombarded by a vastness of description and affliction for one to meditate upon, but this is achievable. Austen uses contrast in order to develop her characters, she makes Mrs Bennet an unstoppable, clucking, excitable, silly woman whilst Mr Bennet is calm, and seeks sanctuary in his library, after all, the poor man has been inflicted by an overwhelming number of women, Austen repetitively draws our attention to Mr Bennet’s ability to seek safety within a space of his own, something which was not available to women who only hoped to seek some sort of peace in marriage which was more like a business deal, Charlotte tries to explain this to Elizabeth when she accepts Mr Collin’s proposal, “I am not romantic you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home…I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair, as most people can boast on entering the marriage state.”

Austen proves in this book which she originally called First Impression, and had written before the age of twenty-one, that her exceptional ability to bring characters and situations to life is paramount, it is as though we can hear them breathing and watch them as they take a turn of the room. I am grateful that she was not discouraged from writing, as this novel like many after, was rejected and put to the side, but nothing would stop Austen from having her word which has lasted 192 years after her premature death at the age of 42, so I implore you, if you have not yet read the works of Austen, then it is not too late, after all, it is better late than never.
© Zehra Mustafa