By Priyadarshini Maji
Dear Jane, (no-one)
Today I was introduced to the greatest of great novels, Pride and Prejudice. I thought I knew what love was from a little experience and from all the books I have read about it. Which was the reason I avoided reading further love/romantic stories? Me being a movieholic, I even opposed to the idea of cliché love/romantic movies. But suddenly today, I bumped into this great love story of Jane Austen. It’s a love story but that genre is the last on the list that describes this story. It is a ‘story of manner’; of a girl, how she struggles and still against all odds keeps hope and believes what she believes in. she believed in true love. True love which, as said by ancestors and of age people, about its existence and non-existence by their judgment and experience, is still a matter of debate.
Yes, I think it exists or precisely existed somewhere in time. But I’m quite sure, there is no place for it to exist in this 21st century. Even I used to believe it happens to every person. Good or bad, at least once in their lifetime they experience it, but I stopped believing it. Or maybe even I still do believe it, though I know it’s just an illusion. But then I got introduced to Mr. Darcy. An unbelievable character portrayed by Jane Austen. Since the time I saw him I wanted to read about him in more details. The relationship between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet: so pure, true and uncanny. It made me think: does people/character like Mr. Darcy actually exists? He is rich but not proud (as we come to know later) he is true, loyal. And mostly the trail that got me mesmerized was his innocence towards human emotions. His declaration about his feelings to Elizabeth with so vulnerability. His clean, sinless smile seeing his loved one. Him being in torture due to suppressing his strong feelings for his love. The strong and capable Mr. Darcy becomes in-experienced and shows young innocence in matter of affectionate feelings. Such great trails to admire and long for.
But in the century that we live, there is no Mr. Darcy neither Miss. Bennet. Yes, we have strong capable Misters, who are experienced in all fields. They are also experienced in love as well as betrayals. There is so much betrayal in this time. There is no combination of strong character and innocent feelings in a person from our world, which creates Mr. Darcy.
So keeping aside my hopes and believes, I know that I won’t be getting my own personal Mr. Darcy, or the warmth and love from the cold exterior of a person; but I think I could live my life with the pure utterly-classic innocent love, held within the pages of Pride and Prejudice.
By Priyadarshini Maji
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