Podcasts about Elizabeth Bennet

It is a truth universally acknowledged that there's never a bad time to revisit Jane Austen's most beloved novel. In this first of our new Friday Favorites series, we make our way back to the very beginning of Pride and Prejudice, and meet the Bennets as they learn that Netherfield Park is let at last, and by a man of a good fortune. Elizabeth Bennet may not be handsome enough to tempt Mr. Darcy, but the first three chapters of Pride and Prejudice are more than tolerable as a companion to comfort you as you transition from your day into an evening of rest and relaxation.-----Welcome to the Jane Austen Bedtime Stories podcast! Each episode is a section of a classic Jane Austen novel, read in soothing tones and set to calming music to help you fall asleep.With everything that is going on in the world, we find comfort in the familiar. For so many of us, Jane Austen's works are like a warm hug. So snuggle up under the covers and let the comforting words of Jane Austen lull you into sleep.-----Show your appreciation for the pod! Support the podcast: ⁠⁠http://bedtimestoriespodcast.net/support⁠⁠ -----Follow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/janeaustenbedtimepod/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠-----Music ["Reverie"] by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. – www.scottbuckley.com.au

PopaHALLics #141 "Sing Me a Song"A folk duo's pricey gig for one rich prerson. A utopian paradise hiding a dark secret. A serial killer tale: Is it real true-crime or made-up horror? And who IS Kate's favorite Mr. Darcy in "Pride & Prejudice"?Theaters:"The Ballad of Walllis Island," written by Tim Key and Tom Basden and directed by James Griffiths. An eccentric lottery winner (Key) recruits his favorite musical duo (Basden and Carey Mulligan) to play a private concert on his remote island home in this British comedy/drama. But old feelings and tensions threaten his dream gig.Streaming:"Paradise," Hulu. In this political thriller set in an underground bunker after a doomsday event, a Secret Service agent (Sterling K. Brown) comes under suspicion of killing the President of the United States (James Marsden) "Slow Horses," Apple TV.+  In the riveting third season of this spy thriller, the MI5 rejects at Slough House must find the abducted Catherine Standish (Saskia Reeves) and a sensitive file. All six episodes of the fourth season about the search for a London bomber are available."Pride and Prejudice" (2005), available on Netflix, Prime, Apple TV+, etc. Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyn star in Jane Austen's classic tale of the turbulent relationship between Elizabeth Bennet, the daughter of a country gentleman, and Fitzwilliam Darcy, a rich aristocratic landowner. Books:"Chasing the Boogeyman," by Richard Chizmar. The author narrates, first-person, how a serial killer terrorized his small Maryland hometown. But is this gripping story true crime or horror fiction? Compelling, creative, and scary."Lady MacBeth," by Ava Reid. In this reimagining of Shakespeare's most famous villainess, the Lady has a voice, a past, and witchy powers she needs to survive her husband, a Scottish brute, and his hostile court.The John Milton thriller series, by Mark Dawson. One of the world's deadliest assassins tries to give it up and help people as a way of making amends to those he killed. The British government who "created" him wants him dead. Jack Reacher fans will find a lot to like in this series (24-some books)."Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead," by Olga Tokarczuk. An eccentric recluse on the Czech/Polish border becomes convinced she knows why dead bodies keep turning up around her. Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.Music:PopaHALLics #141 Playlist (Wallis Island)  features the folky music of the film "The Ballad of Wallis Island."Click through the links above to wat

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has supported Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock’s view that Australia is in a strong position to handle the impact of Donald Trump’s US tariffs; A helicopter crashed into the Hudson River, killing all six people on board after it broke apart midair; Australia’s youngest convicted murderer is back in custody just weeks after being released under strict supervision; Great news for Pride and Prejudice fans: Netflix has just announced its new Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. The Quicky is the easiest and most enjoyable way to get across the news every day. And it’s delivered straight to your ears in a daily podcast so you can listen whenever you want, wherever you want...at the gym, on the train, in the playground or at night while you're making dinner. Support independent women's media CREDITS Host/Producer: Tahli Blackman Audio Producer: Lu Hill Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy and Helen Baxendale celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth with Dr. Paula Byrne, Lady Bate, a distinguished biographer and literary critic. Dr. Byrne explores the key influences that shaped Austen's life, the major themes of her novels, and the enduring relevance of heroines like Elizabeth Bennet and […]

Welcome back to Morgan Hasn't Seen with Jeannine Brice & Morgan Robinson!!Step into springtime and revel in the Regency era this March on Morgan Hasn't Seen as Jeannine is introducing Morgan to the world of Jane Austen adaptations!The series finale couldn't have been anything else; the most famous literary work in the western world, a truly timeless romance, and a very cinematic adaptation of the story of Elizabeth Bennet & Mr Darcy as Jeannine and Morgan talk PRIDE & PREJUDICE (2005) starring Keira Knightley & Matthew Macfadyen!Our YouTube Channel for all our regular videos:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvACMX8jX1qQ5ClrGW53vow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Donate:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ItsAWonderful1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join our Patreon:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ItsAWonderful1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IT'S A WONDERFUL PODCAST STORE:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.teepublic.com/user/g9design⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sub to the feed and download now on all major podcast platforms and be sure to rate, review and SHARE AROUND!!Keep up with us on (X) Twitter:Podcast:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/ItsAWonderful1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Morgan:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Th3PurpleDon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jeannine:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/JeannineDaBean_⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Keep being wonderful!!

In this episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy and Helen Baxendale celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth with Dr. Paula Byrne, Lady Bate, a distinguished biographer and literary critic. Dr. Byrne explores the key influences that shaped Austen's life, the major themes of her novels, and the enduring relevance of heroines like Elizabeth Bennet and Elinor Dashwood. She also shares insights from her books The Real Jane Austen and The Genius of Jane Austen, shedding light on Austen's love of theater and the lasting appeal of her works in Hollywood. She offers a deeper appreciation of Austen's literary brilliance and her impact on literature and culture as we celebrate Women's History Month. In closing, Dr. Byrne reads a passage from her book, The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things.

Kto się lubi, ten się czubi. To przysłowie właściwie wystarczyłoby do streszczenia fabuły „Dumy i uprzedzenia”. Ale i w klasycznej powieści Jane Austen, i w ekranizacji Joe Wrighta z 2005 roku liczy się także tło społeczne. Elizabeth Bennet przyszło się zakochać w panu Darcym w niesprawiedliwym świecie. Film można teraz oglądać na Netflixie. Autorka: Anna Konieczyńska Artykuł przeczytasz pod linkiem: https://www.vogue.pl/a/romantyczny-film-duma-i-uprzedzenie-z-keira-knightley-to-jedna-z-najlepszych-ekranizacji-powiesci-jane-austen

Culture Crawl 1031 “Nice to Wear a Dress Again” As the midwest hunkers down for these late winter cold spells, Crooked Path Theatre invites everyone to a summer getaway of sorts in an immersive Jane Austen experience. Patrick Du Laney and Katy Hahn (playing Elizabeth Bennet)are in the studio to give us the details on … Continue reading

Pour la Saint-Valentin, Virginie Girod raconte le destin de Jane Austen, écrivaine de l'amour et du mariage, dont les livres figurent toujours, deux siècles après sa mort, en bonne place dans nos bibliothèques. Issue de gentry, la petite noblesse anglaise, Jane Austen (1775-1817) se distingue des femmes de son milieu et de son temps par son refus de contracter un mariage sans amour. L'écrivaine retranscrit sa vision du mariage dans les nombreux romans qu'elle rédige. Elizabeth Bennet, l'héroïne d'Orgueil et préjugés, ne privilégie-t-elle pas, tout comme sa créatrice, les sentiments à la raison ? Mais dans la réalité, Jane Austen ne rencontre pas l'équivalent du fameux Darcy, l'époux fictif d'Elizabeth Bennet, et fera le choix du célibat.

For everyone who's ever looked at their parenting journey and thought "This is... not what I expected" - this one's for you. Bonus points if you're currently listening to this while hiding in the bathroom for five minutes of peace! Quick question - ever had one of those moments where you're just living your life, and suddenly you find yourself crying over a scrapbook in a random Airbnb while having an existential parenting epiphany? No? Just me? Cool cool cool...

Atlas Shrugged seems to be everywhere today. Randian villains are in the news. Rand remains influential on the right, from the Reagan era to the modern libertarian movement. Perhaps most significantly, entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen who are moving into government with DOGE, have been influenced by Rand, and, fascinatingly, Andreessen only read the novel four years ago. Hollis Robbins (@Anecdotal) and I talked about how Atlas Shrugged is in conversation with the great novels of the past, Rand's greats skills of plotting, drama, and character, and what makes Atlas Shrugged a serious novel, not just a vehicle for ideology. Love it or loathe it, Atlas Shrugged is having a moment. Everyone brings a preconception of Ayn Rand, but she has been opposed by the right and the left ever since she first published. Other than Jennifer Burns' biography, academic study has largely declined to notice Rand. But Rand deserves our serious attention, both as a novelist, and as an influence on the modern world. Here are a couple of excerpts.We talk a lot these days about, “how can I be my best self?” That's what Rand is saying. She's saying, actually, it's not about earning money, it's not about being rich. It is about the perfection of the moral life. It's about the pursuit of excellence. It's about the cultivation of virtue. These are the important things. This is what Dagny is doing. When all the entrepreneurs at the end, they're in the happy valley, actually, between them, they have not that much money, right?Also this.What would Ayn Rand think about the influencer economy? Oh, she'd despise it. She would despise it… all these little girls wanting to grow up to be influencers, they're caught in some algorithm, which is awful. Why would you want to spend your life influencing others? Go create something. It's a hard medicine.And.Her aesthetic is very classical, draped. She doesn't wear flowery patterns. She wears draped, clearly close-fitting gowns and gray tailored suits and a minimum of jewelry, though she does have this bracelet chain made of Rearden metal. You don't know when she possibly has time to go shopping, but she's perfectly dressed all the time in the fashion that we would understand as feminist. She wears trousers, she wears suits, but when she goes out, this black velvet cape. I think it's important to see her as that, even though nobody talks about that in terms of this novel, what a heroine she is. I know that when I was reading her as a teenage girl, that's it.TranscriptHenry: Today, I am talking with Hollis Robbins, former dean of the humanities at Utah University and special advisor on the humanities and AI. We are talking about Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Hollis, hello.Hollis Robbins: Hello. I'm really glad to have this conversation with you. We've known each other for some years and follow each other's work. I was trained as a scholar of 19th-century American, Victorian, and African-American literature, mostly novels, and love having conversations with you about big, deep novels. When I suggested that we read this book, I was hoping you would be enthusiastic about it, so I'm really happy to be having this conversation. It's hard to know who's interviewing you or what conversation this is, but for you coming at this middle-aged. Not quite middle-aged, what are you?Henry: I'm middle enough. No. This is not going to be an interview as such. We are going to have a conversation about Atlas Shrugged, and we're going to, as you say, talk about it as a novel. It always gets talked about as an ideology. We are very interested in it as a novel and as two people who love the great novels of the 19th century. I've been excited to do this as well. I think that's why it's going to be good. Why don't we start with, why are we doing this?Hollis: I wanted to gesture to that. You are one of the leading public voices on the importance of reading literature and the importance of reading novels particularly, though I saw today, Matt Yglesias had a blog post about Middlemarch, which I think he just recently read. I can credit you with that, or us, or those of us who are telling people read the big novels.My life trajectory was that I read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead before I read Dickens, before I read Jane Austen, before I read Harriet Beecher Stowe or Melville or the Brontës. For me, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead were foundational novels as novels. I wondered what it would be like to talk to somebody whose experience was flipped.Henry: Right, I'm 38 and I'd never read this book. I was coming at it partly having read all those other books, but partly for my whole life, people have said, "Oh, that's really a bad book. That's so badly written. That book is no good." The number one thing I can say to people is this book is fun.Hollis: It's really fun. I was going to say usually what I forget to do in talking about books is give the summary. I'm going to hold up my copy, which is my dog-eared copy from high school, which is hilarious. It's got the tiniest print, which I couldn't possibly read now. No underlining, which is interesting. I read this book before I understood that you were supposed to underline when you liked passages in the book.It was interesting to me. I'd probably read it five or six times in my youth and didn't underline anything. The story is--- You can help me fill in the blanks. For readers who haven't read it, there's this young woman, Dagny Taggart, who's the heiress of the Taggart Transcontinental Railroad fortune. She's a woman. This takes place in about, I think, the '40s, '50s. Her older brother, Jim Taggart, is CEO. She's COO, so she's the operations person. It is in some ways the story of her-- It's not quite a bildungsroman. This is the way I tell the story. It's the story of her coming to the realization of how the world works. There's many ways to come at this story. She has multiple boyfriends, which is excellent. Her first boyfriend, his name is Francisco d'Anconia. He's the head of d'Anconia Copper. He too is an heir of this longstanding copper fortune. Her second is a metals magnate, Hank Rearden, who invents this great metal, Rearden metal.Really, it's also the story of the decline of America, and the ways that, in this Randian universe, these villainous group of people who run the country are always taking and extracting from producers. As she's creating and building this great railroad and doing wonderful things and using Rearden metal to do it, something is pulling all the producers out of society, and she's like, "What is going on?"It turns out there's this person, John Galt, who is saying, "I don't like the way the country is run. I don't like this extractive philosophy. I am going to take all the producers and lure them voluntarily to a--" It's a hero's lair. It's not like a James Bond villain lair. It's a hero lair in Colorado called Galt's Gulch. He is John Galt. It ends up being a battle between who is right in a wrong world. Is it the ethical person, Dagny Taggart, who continues to strive and try to be a producer and hold on to her ethics in this corrupt world, or is it somebody saying, "To hell with this. I am going on strike. You guys come with me and let the world collapse." How's that for summary?Henry: No, I think that's great. I couldn't have done a better job. One thing that we can say is that the role of reason, of being a rational person, of making reason the sole arbiter of how you make choices, be they practical, ethical, financial, whatever, that's at the heart of the book, right?Hollis: That's the philosophy. We could go there in a second. I think the plot of the book is that she demonstrates this.Henry: What she has to learn, like what is the big lesson for Dagny, is at the beginning, she hasn't fully understood that the good guys use reason and the bad guys do not, as it were.Hollis: Right. I think that's right. I like thinking about this as a bildungsroman. You said that the book is fun. Her part of the book is fun, but not really fun. The fun part of the book, and you can tell me because every time you kept texting me, "Oh my God, Jim Taggart. Oh my God, Jim Taggart. Oh my God, Jim Taggart."--Henry: These guys are so awful. [laughs]Hollis: They're so awful. The fun parts of the book, the Rand villains are the government entities and the cabals of business leaders who she calls looters and second-handers who run the country and all they do is extract value. Marc Andreessen was on a podcast recently and was all about these Rand villains and these looters. I think, again, to get back to why are we doing this and why are we doing this now, Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged is in the air with the second Trump administration.Henry: Yes. In a way, we're doing this because the question is, is this the novel of the future? Right? What we're seeing is it's very influential on the right. Rand's ideas have long been a libertarian inspiration. Elon Musk's read her. You mentioned Andreessen, Peter Thiel, all these people. It goes back to the Reagan days. People in the Republican Party have been quoting Ayn Rand. Then more broadly, we see all these worries about social collapse today. What happens in the plot of Atlas Shrugged is that society does slowly collapse.Dagny has to realize it's because of these people who are not using their reason and they're nationalizing things and taking resource away from proficient entrepreneurs and stuff. It's all about infrastructure, energy, people doing exploitation in the name of the common good, ineffective political leaders, people covering up lies and misdemeanors, people being accepting of what is obviously criminal behavior because it's in the cause of the greater good. We have free speech, all these topics, energy production. We're seeing this in the headlines. When I was reading this book, I was like, "Oh my God, how did she know?"Hollis: How did she know?Henry: How did she know.Hollis: I think the bildungsroman aspect of this as a novel. It's hard to read it as a novel. I think it's hard. By the way, I have to really I applaud you for not, until you got almost to the end of the book, texting me about this person or that person, or how it's political. I admire you for looking at the book and coming to the book as an expert in novels.What she comes to terms with, and it's a real slowly-- It's not even scales falling from her eyes. She doesn't sit and say, "Oh my God, the world is corrupt." She just is like, "That person's corrupt. I'm not going to deal with them. That person's corrupt. I'm not going to deal with them." She just keeps going, but she doesn't ever accept with a fatalism that she's living in this world where every single person who's in charge is going to let her down.Henry: It's also interesting to me that she doesn't complain.Hollis: No.Henry: Now, that reminded me of I wrote about Margaret Thatcher in my book. She was another big one for however hard it was, however difficult it was, why would you complain? Let's just go to work. A lot of people found her difficult for that reason. When I was reading this, I was like, "Ayn Rand clearly has the same idea. You can nationalize every last inch of the economy. I'm going to get up and go to work and try and beat you. I'm not going to sit around and complain." It's a very stern attitude in a way. She's very strict with herself. I found the book to be-- I know Rand is very atheist, but a very Protestant book.Hollis: Yes, it really is.Henry: Intensely Protestant, yes.Hollis: That's a nice way to think about it. A certain kind of Protestant, a Weberian Protestant.Henry: Sure.Hollis: Not a Southern Baptist Protestant who believes in the absence of reason. I was thinking I was teaching in Mississippi years ago. I was teaching a course on Wordsworth and had to do a unit on Voltaire because you can't really understand Wordsworth unless you understand Voltaire. There was a woman in my class. She was a version of Presbyterian who doesn't believe in reason, believes that in the fall, man lost their reason.Therefore, she asked if she could be excused from class because I was talking about Voltaire and the importance of reason. She said, "This is against my religion. If you believe that man has reason, you are actually going about it wrong, so may I be excused?" Which in all the years I've had people ask for excuses to miss class, that was a memorable one.Henry: That's unique. [laughs]Hollis: It's interesting because, again, I should get back to the novel, the opposition from Rand is as strong on the religious right as it is on the left. In fact, very strong. When Atlas Shrugged came out, William F. Buckley famously had Whittaker Chambers write the review. He hated her. He despised her. He despised the fact that she put reason first.Henry: Yes. I think that's worth emphasizing that some people listening will think, "I'm Rand. These nasty ideas, she's on the right." She's been ideologically described in that way so many times. Deirdre McCloskey in the Literary Review has just in the most recent edition written an absolutely scathing article about Rand. That's libertarian opposition to Rand.McCloskey is saying Hayek is the real thing here and Rand would have hated everything that Hayek did. She got everything wrong. I think the opposition to her, as you say, it's on both sides. One thing that's interesting about this novel is that because she created her own philosophy, which people will have different views on how well that went, but there isn't anyone else like this. All the other people like this are her followers.Hollis: Exactly.Henry: She's outside of the other systems of thought in a way.Hollis: We should talk about Rand. I'm going to quote a little bit from this book on feminist interpretation of Ayn Rand. Let's talk a little bit, if we can, about Dagny as the heroine of a novel, or a hero, because one of the really interesting things about reading Rand at this moment is that she's got one pronoun, he, him, man. She is in this era where man means man and women. That there isn't men and women, he and she, and now it's he, she, and them. She is like, "There's one pronoun." Even she talks about the rights of man or man believes. She means everybody, but she only means man too. It's interesting.I was very much part of the first pronoun wars in the 1980s when women scholars were like, "He and she." Now we're thrown out the window with that binary. Again, we don't need to talk about pronouns, but it's really important to understanding Rand and reading this novel, how much she embraces men and the male pronoun, even while she is using it both ways, and even while her story is led by this woman. She's beautiful. She's beautiful in a very specific way. She's tall, she's slender, she's got great cheekbones, she's got great shoulders, she's got long legs.Her aesthetic is very classical, draped. She doesn't wear flowery patterns. She wears draped, clearly close-fitting gowns and gray tailored suits and a minimum of jewelry, though she does have this bracelet chain made of Rearden metal. You don't know when she possibly has time to go shopping, but she's perfectly dressed all the time in the fashion that we would understand as feminist. She wears trousers, she wears suits, but when she goes out, this black velvet cape. I think it's important to see her as that, even though nobody talks about that in terms of this novel, what a heroine she is. I know that when I was reading her as a teenage girl, that's it.Henry: I want to be Dagny.Hollis: I want to be Dagny. I want to have capes, right?Henry: There's a very important scene, it's not too much of a plot spoiler, where Hank Rearden has invented this new metal. It's very exciting because it's much more efficient and it's much stronger and you can build new bridges for the trains and everything. He makes a bracelet of his new metal. It's a new steel alloy, I think, and gives it to his wife. His wife basically doesn't care.She's not really interested in what it takes to earn the money, she just wants to have the money. You get the strong impression throughout the book that some of the people that Rand is most scathingly disapproving of are wives who don't work. None of those people come out well. When Dagny goes to a party at the Rearden house and she is romantically involved with Hank Rearden, she sees the bracelet.Hollis: She isn't then, right? Isn't she not then?Henry: No, but they have feelings for each otherHollis: Right. Reasonable feelings for each other.Henry: That's right, reasonable feelings, but they're not currently acting on those feelings. She sees the bracelet and she exchanges her, I think, diamonds-Hollis: Diamond bracelet.Henry: -for the Rearden metal bracelet with the wife. It's this wonderful moment where these two opposite ideals of womanhood that Rand is presenting. It's a great moment of heroism for Dagny because she is saying, "Who cares about glittering diamonds when you have a new steel alloy that can make this incredible bridge?" It sounds crazy, but this is 1957. Dagny is very much what you might call one of the new women.Hollis: Right.Henry: I think in some ways, Rand-- I don't like the phrase she's ahead of her time. I've read a lot of 1950s fiction. This is not the typical woman.Hollis: No, this is not Cheever. This is not a bored suburban housewife at a time when the way the '50s are taught, certainly in America, it's like women could work during the war, then they were suburban housewives, there was bored, there were key parties and all sorts of Cheever sorts of things. This is not that. I read this first. I was only 15 years after it was published, I think, in the '60s, early '70s reading it.This, to me, seemed perfectly normal and everything else seemed regressive and strange and whiny. There's a lot to be said for reading this novel first. I think if we can talk a little bit about these set pieces because I think for me reading it as a novel and hearing you talk about it as a novel, that novels, whether we're thinking about-- I want to see if you want to compare her to Dorothea or just to any other Victorian women novel that you can think of. That's the closest, right? Is there anybody that's closest to Dorothea from Middlemarch? Is that there are these set pieces. People think that Rand-- the idea is that she's not a great writer. She is a great writer. She started in Hollywood. Her first book, The Fountainhead, was made into a movie. She understands plotting and keeping the reader's attention. We go forward, we go backwards. There's her relationship with Francisco d'Anconia that we see her now, years after, then we have flashbacks to growing up and how they became lovers.There are big meeting set pieces where everybody's in the room, and we have all the backstories of the people in the room, what is going to happen. There are these big party scenes, as you say. For example, this big, glorious, glamorous party at the Rearden house, Francisco is there. Francisco and Hank Rearden get in a conversation, and she's like, "I want to go see what my old boyfriend is talking to the guy I like about."There are these moments where you're not supposed to come at the book that way in this serious philosophical way. Then later on when there's this wonderful scene where Francisco comes to see Dagny. This is much later. Hank and Dagny are lovers, so he has a key to her apartment. He walks in and everybody sees immediately what's going on. It's as good as any other farce moment of somebody hiding behind a curtain, right?Henry: Yes.Hollis: Everything is revealed all at once. She's very good at scenes like that.Henry: Yes, very good. She's very good at high drama. One of the phrases that kept coming back to me was that this book is a melodrama of ideas.Hollis: Yes.Henry: Right? It's not a novel of ideas as such, it's a melodrama of ideas. I think one thing that people who think she's a bad writer will say is it's melodrama, the characters are flat, the prose is not lyrical, all these different things. Whereas when I read it, I was like, "She's so good at melodrama." I feel like, in some ways, it does not feel like a 1950s novel because there's so much excitement about technology, so much feminism, just so many things that I do not associate--Maybe I'm being too English, but I don't read John Cheever, for example, and think, "Oh, he loves the train." Whereas this book is very, very exciting as a story about inventing a new kind of train that goes really fast," which sounds silly, but that's a really Dickensian theme, that's in Middlemarch. Actually, that's what Matt Yglesias was talking about in his excellent piece today. What does feel very 1950s is you've got the Hollywood influence. The dialogue, I think, is not always great, but it is often great.I often would read pages and think, "This would actually be really good in, not an A++ movie, but in a decent crime movie or something. This would be quite good dialogue." There's a comic book aesthetic to it in the way that the scenes play out. Just a lot of these '50s aesthetics actually are present in the book. I'm going to read one paragraph. It's from part one. I think we should read out loud a few bits to give people a sense.Hollis: Yes.Henry: This is when Dagny has built a new train line using grid and metal to make the bridge so that it can go over a valley. I think that's right. The train can do 100 miles an hour. It's this very, very exciting new development. It means that energy can be supplied to factories, and so it's a huge, big deal. This is when she's on the train going at 100 miles an hour and she just can't believe it's happening."Things streaked past a water tank, a tree, a shanty, a grain silo. They had a windshield wiper motion. They were rising, describing a curve, and dropping back. The telegraph wires ran a race with the train, rising and falling from pole to pole, in an even rhythm like the cardiograph record of a steady heartbeat written across the sky. She looked ahead at the haze that melted rail and distance, a haze that could rip apart at any moment to some shape of disaster.""She wondered why she felt safer than she had ever felt in a car behind the engine. Safer here where it seemed as if should an obstacle rise, her breast and the glass shield would be the first to smash against it. She smiled, grasping the answer. It was the security of being first with full sight and full knowledge of one's own course, not the blind sense of being pulled into the unknown by some unknown power ahead."That's not MFA prose or whatever, but it turns the pages. I think she's very good at relating we're on the train and it's going very fast to how Dagny is thinking through the philosophical conundrum that is basically going to drive the whole plot forwards. I was reminded again and again of what Virginia Woolf said about Walter Scott, where she compared Scott to Robert Louis Stevenson. She said that Stevenson had beautiful sentences and dapper little adjectives. It was all jeweled and carefully done. You could marvel over each sentence.She said, "Whereas Scott, it's just page after page and no sentence is beautiful," but she says, "He writes at the level of the page. He's not like Stevenson. He's not writing at the level of the sentence. You have to step into the world." You can say, 'Oh, that wasn't a very good sentence,' but my goodness, the pages keep turning and you're there in the world, right?Hollis: Exactly.Henry: I think she made a really important point there and we just undervalue that so much when we say, oh, so-and-so is not a good writer. What we mean is they're not a Robert Louis Stevenson, they're a Walter Scott. It's like, sure, but Walter Scott was great at what he did. Ayn Rand is in the Walter Scott inheritance in the sense that it's a romance, it's not strictly realistic novel. You have to step into the world. You can't spend your whole time going, "Was that a great sentence? Do I really agree with what she just--" It's like, no, you have to go into this utopian sci-fi universe and you have to keep turning the pages. You get caught up and you go, "Wow, this is this is working for me."Hollis: Let me push back on that-Henry: Yes, good.Hollis: -because I think that was a beautiful passage, one of my favorite passages in this book, which is hard to say because it's a really, really big book. It's a memorable passage because here she is in a place at this moment. She is questioning herself. Isn't she questioning why? Why do I feel safe? Then it strikes her. In this moment, all interior while all this stuff is happening. This whole Rearden metal train bridge set piece is one of the highlights of at least the first half of the book. You come away, even if we've had our entire life up to her, understanding her as a philosophical this woman. How is that different from Dorothea or from Elizabeth Bennet? Yes, Elizabeth Bennet, right?Henry: Oh, no, I agree. My point was purely about prose style, which was to say if you say, "Oh, she writes like a Walter Scott, not like a Robert Louis Stevenson," you're going to deny yourself seeing what you've just said, which is that actually, yes, she has the ability to write philosophical characters.Hollis: When I first read Pride and Prejudice, I read it through the lens of Rand. Now, clearly, these heroines had fewer choices. Dorothea marries Casaubon, I don't know how you pronounce it, because she thinks he's a Randian expert, somebody who's got this grand idea. She's like, "Whoa, I want to be part of this endeavor, the key to all mythologies." Then she's so let down. In the Randian sense, you can see why she would have wanted him.Henry: That's right. I think George Eliot would have strongly disagreed with Rand philosophically. The heroines, as you say, what they're doing in the novel is having to realize that there are social conventions I have to understand and there are things I have to learn how to do, but actually, the key to working all that out is more at the moral philosophical level. This is what happens to Dagny. I think it's on the next page from what I just read. There's another passage where it says that she's in the train and she's enjoying. It's working and she's thrilled that her train is working. She was trying not to think, but she couldn't help herself.She said, "Who made the train. Is it the brute force of muscle? Who can make all the dials and the levers? How is it possible that this thing has even been put together?" Then she starts thinking to herself, "We've got a government who's saying it's wrong to do this, you're taking resources, you're not doing it for the common good." She says, "How can they regard this as evil? How can they believe that this is ignoble to have created this incredible thing?"She says she wants to be able to toss the subject out of the window and let it get shattered somewhere along the track. She wants the thoughts to go past like the telegraph poles, but obviously, she can't. She has this moment of realization that this can't be wrong. This type of human accomplishment can't be against the common good. It can't be considered to be ignoble. I think that is like the Victorian heroines.To me, it was more like Fanny Price, which is that someone turns up into a relatively closed system of ideas and keeps their own counsel for a long time, and has to admit sometimes when they haven't got it right or whatever. Basically, in the end, they are vindicated on fairly straightforward grounds. Dagny comes to realize that, "I was right. I was using my reason. I was working hard. I was being productive. Yes, I was right about that." Fanny, it's more like a Christian insight into good behavior, but I felt the pattern was the same.Hollis: Sure. I'll also bring up Jane Eyre here, right?Henry: Yes.Hollis: Jane Eyre, her relationship, there's a lot to be said of both Mr. Darcy and Mr. Rochester with Hank Rearden because Hank Rearden has to come to his sense. He's married. He doesn't like his wife. He doesn't like this whole system that he's in. He wants to be with a woman that's a meeting of the mind, but he's got all this social convention he has to deal with. Rochester has to struggle, and of course, Bertha Mason has to die in that book. He ends up leaving his wife, but too late. If we're going to look at this novel as a novel, we can see that there are these moments that I think have some resonance. I know you don't seem to want to go to the Mr. Darcy part of it.Henry: No. I had also thought about Jane Eyre. My thought was that, obviously, other than being secular because Jane Eyre is very Christian, the difference is that Hank Rearden and Dagny basically agree that we can't conduct our relationship in a way that would be morally compromising to her. They go through this very difficult process of reasoning like, "How can we do this in a good way?"They're a little bit self-sacrificing about it because they don't want to upset the moral balance. Whereas Mr. Rochester, at least for the first part of the book, has an attitude that's more like, "Yes, but she's in the attic. Why does it matter if we get married?" He doesn't really see the problem of morally compromising Jane, and so Jane has to run away.Hollis: Right.Henry: One of the interesting things about Rand, what is different from like Austen and the Brontës and whatever, is that Dagny and Hank are not in opposition before they get together. They have actually this unusual thing in romance and literature, which is that they have a meeting of minds. What gets in the way is that the way their minds agree is contra mundum and the world has made this problem for them.Hollis: I think in a way, that's the central relationship in--Henry: Yes. That was how I read it, yes.Hollis: Yes. The fact as we think about what the complications are in reading this novel as a novel is that here is this great central romance and they've got obstacles. She's got an old boyfriend, he's married. They've got all these things that are classic obstacles to a love story. Rand understands that enough to build it, that that will keep a lot of readers' interest, but then it's like, "That's actually not the point of my book," which is how the second half or the last third of the novel just gets really wiggy." Again, spoiler alert, but Hank is blackmailed to be, as the society is collapsing, as things are collapsing--Henry: We should say that the government has taken over in a nationalizing program by this point.Hollis: Right, because as John Galt is pulling all the thought leaders and the industrialists and all the movers of the world into his lair, things are getting harder and harder and harder, things are getting nationalized. Some of these big meetings in Washington where these horrible people are deciding how to redistribute wealth, again, which is part of the reason somebody like Congressman Paul Ryan would give out copies of Atlas Shrugged to all of his staffers. He's like, "You've got to read this book because we can't go to Washington and be like this. The Trumpian idea is we've got to get rid of people who are covering up and not doing the right thing."They've blackmailed Hank Rearden into giving up Rearden Metal by saying, "We know you've been sleeping with Dagny Taggart." It's a very dramatic point. How is this going to go down?Henry: Right. I think that's interesting. What I loved about the way she handled that romance was that romance is clearly part of what she sees as important to a flourishing life. She has to constantly yoke it to this idea that reason is everything, so human passion has to be conducted on the basis that it's logically reasonable, but that it therefore becomes self-sacrificing. There is something really sad and a little bit tragic about Hank being blackmailed like that, right?Hollis: Yes. I have to say their first road trip together, it's like, "Let's just get out of here and go have a road trip and stay in hotels and have sex and it'll be awesome." That their road trip is like, "Let's go also see some abandoned factories and see what treasures we might find there." To turn this love road trip into also the plot twist that gets them closer to John Galt is a magnificent piece of plot.Henry: Yes. I loved that. I know you want to talk about the big John Galt speech later, but I'm going to quote one line because this all relates to what I think is one of the most central lines of the book. "The damned and the guiltiest among you are the men who had the capacity to know yet chose to blank out reality." A lot of the time, like in Brontë or whatever, there are characters like Rochester's like that. The center of their romance is that they will never do that to each other because that's what they believe philosophically, ethically. It's how they conduct themselves at business. It's how they expect other people to conduct themselves. They will never sacrifice that for each other.That for them is a really high form of love and it's what enables huge mutual respect. Again, it's one of those things I'm amazed-- I used to work in Westminster. I knew I was a bit of a libertarian. I knew lots of Rand adjacent or just very, very Randian people. I thought they were all insane, but that's because no one would ever say this. No one would ever say she took an idea like that and turned it into a huge romance across hundreds of pages. Who else has done that in the novel? I think that's great.Hollis: It really is hard. It really is a hard book. The thing that people say about the book, as you say, and the reason you hadn't read it up until now, is it's like, "Oh, yes, I toyed with Rand as a teenager and then I put that aside." I put away my childish things, right? That's what everybody says on the left, on the right. You have to think about it's actually really hard. My theory would be that people put it away because it's really, really hard, what she tried is hard. Whether she succeeded or not is also hard. As we were just, before we jumped on, talking about Rand's appearance on Johnny Carson, a full half hour segment of him taking her very seriously, this is a woman who clearly succeeded. I recently read Jennifer Burn's biography of her, which is great. Shout out to Jennifer.What I came away with is this is a woman who made her living as a writer, which is hard to do. That is a hard thing to do, is to make your living as a writer, as a woman in the time difference between 1942, The Fountainhead, which was huge, and 57, Atlas Shrugged. She was blogging, she had newsletters, she had a media operation that's really, really impressive. This whole package doesn't really get looked at, she as a novelist. Again, let me also say it was later on when I came to Harriet Beecher Stowe, who is another extraordinary woman novelist in America who wrote this groundbreaking book, which is filled--I particularly want to shout out to George Harris, the slave inventor who carried himself like a Rand hero as a minor character and escapes. His wife is Eliza, who famously runs across the ice flows in a brave Randian heroine escape to freedom where nobody's going to tell them what to do. These women who changed literature in many ways who have a really vexed relationship or a vexed place in academia. Certainly Stowe is studied.Some 20 years ago, I was at an event with the great Elaine Showalter, who was coming out with an anthology of American women writers. I was in the audience and I raised my hand, I said, "Where's Ayn Rand?" She was like, "Ha, ha, ha." Of course, what a question is that? There is no good reason that Ayn Rand should not be studied in academia. There is no good reason. These are influential novels that actually, as we've talked about here, can be talked about in the context of other novels.Henry: I think one relevant comparison is let's say you study English 19th-century literature on a course, a state-of-the-nation novel or the novel of ideas would be included as routine, I think very few people would say, "Oh, those novels are aesthetically excellent. We read them because they're beautifully written, and they're as fun as Dickens." No one's saying that. Some of them are good, some of them are not good. They're important because of what they are and the barrier to saying why Rand is important for what she is because, I think, people believe her ideas are evil, basically.One central idea is she thinks selfishness is good, but I think we've slightly dealt with the fact that Dagny and Hank actually aren't selfish some of the time, and that they are forced by their ethical system into not being selfish. The other thing that people say is that it's all free-market billionaire stuff, basically. I'm going to read out a passage from-- It's a speech by Francisco in the second part. It's a long speech, so I'm not going to read all eight pages. I'm going to read this speech because I think this theme that I'm about to read out, it's a motif, it's again and again and again.Hollis: Is this where he's speaking to Hank or to Dagny?Henry: I think when he's speaking to Dagny and he says this."Money will not purchase happiness for the man who has no concept of what he want. Money will not give him a code of values if he has evaded the knowledge of what to value, and it will not provide him with a purpose if he has evaded the choice of what to seek. Money will not buy intelligence for the fool, or admiration for the coward, or respect for the incompetent."The man who attempts to purchase the brains of his superiors to serve him with his money replacing his judgment ends up by becoming the victim of his inferiors. The men of intelligence desert him, but the cheats and the frauds come flocking to him, drawn by a law which he has not discovered, that no man may be smaller than his money."Hollis: That's a good--Henry: Right? It's a great paragraph. I feel like she says that in dozens of ways throughout the book, and she wants you to be very clear when you leave that this book is not a creed in the name of just make money and have free market capitalism so you can be rich. That paragraph and so many others, it's almost biblical in the way she writes it. She's really hammering the rhythms, and the tones, and the parallels. She's also, I think, trying to appropriate some of the way the Bible talks about money and turn it into her own secular pseudo-Aristotelian idea, right?Hollis: Yes.Henry: We talk a lot these days about, how can I be my best self? That's what Rand is saying. She's saying, actually, it's not about earning money, it's not about being rich. It is about the perfection of the moral life. It's about the pursuit of excellence. It's about the cultivation of virtue. These are the important things. This is what Dagny is doing. When all the entrepreneurs at the end, they're in the happy valley, actually, between them, they have not that much money, right?Hollis: Right.Henry: The book does not end in a rich utopia, it's important to say.Hollis: It's interesting. A couple of things. I want to get this back since we're still in the novel. Let me say when we get to Galt's great speech, which is bizarre. He says a similar thing that I'll bring in now. He says, "The mother who buys milk for her baby instead of a hat is not sacrificing because her values are feeding the baby. The woman who sacrifices the hat to feed her baby, but really wants the hat and is only feeding the baby out of duty is sacrificing." That's bad. She's saying get your values in order. Understand what it is you want and do that thing, but don't do it because somebody says you have to. She says this over and over in many ways, or the book says this.Henry: We should say, that example of the mother is incidental. The point she's always making is you must think this through for yourself, you must not do it because you've been told to do it.Hollis: Right, exactly. To get back to the love story aspects of the book because they don't sit and say they love each other, even all the great romances. It's not like, "I love you. I love you." It's straight to sex or looks and meetings of the minds. It's interesting. We should deal with the fact that from The Fountainhead and a little bit in this book, the sex is a little rapey. It's a difficult thing to talk about. It's certainly one of the reasons that feminists, women writers don't approve of her. In the book, it's consensual. Whatever one wants to think about the ways that people have sex, it is consensual in the book. Also in The Fountainhead.I'm sure I'll get hate mail for even saying that, but in her universe, that's where it is. What's interesting, Francisco as a character is so interesting. He's conflicted, he's charming, he's her first lover. He's utterly good in every way. He ends up without her. Hank is good. Hank goes through his struggles and learning curve about women prioritizing. If you don't like your wife, don't be married to your wife. It's like he goes through his own what are my values and how do I live them.I know you think that this is bizarre, but there's a lot of writing about the relationship of Hank and Francisco because they find themselves in the same room a lot. They happen to have both been Dagny's lovers or ex-lovers, and they really, really like each other. There's a way that that bonding-- Homosexuality does not exist in her novels, whatever, but that's a relationship of two people that really are hot for one another. There is a lot of writing. There are queer readings of Rand that make a lot of that relationship.Again, this isn't my particular lens of criticism, but I do see that the energy, which is why I asked you which speech you were reading because some of Francisco's best speeches are for Hank because he's trying to woo Hank to happy valley. Toward the end when they're all hanging out together in Galt's Gulch, there's clearly a relationship there.Henry: Oh, yes. No, once you pointed out to me, I was like, "That makes sense of so many passages." That's clearly there. What I don't understand is why she did that. I feel like, and this is quite an accomplishment because it's a big novel with a lot of moving parts, everything else is resolved both in terms of the plot, but also in terms of how it fits her philosophical idea. That, I think, is pretty much the only thing where you're left wondering, "Why was that in there? She hasn't made a point about it. They haven't done anything about it." This I don't understand. That's my query.Hollis: Getting ready to have this conversation, I spent a lot of time on some Reddit threads. I ran Atlas Shrugged Reddit threads where there's some fantastic conversations.Henry: Yes, there is.Hollis: One of them is about, how come Francisco didn't end up with anybody? That's just too bad. He's such a great character and he ends up alone. I would say he doesn't end up alone, he ends up with his boyfriend Hank, whatever that looks like. Two guys that believe in the same things, they can have whatever life they want. Go on.Henry: Are you saying that now that they're in the valley, they will be more free to pursue that relationship?Hollis: There's a lot of things that she has said about men's and women's bodies. She said in other places, "I don't think there'll ever be a woman president because why would a woman want to be president? What a woman really wants is a great man, and we can't have a president who's looking for a great man. She has to be a president." She's got a lot of lunacy about women. Whatever. I don't understand. Someplace I've read that she understands male homosexuality, but not female homosexuality. Again, I am not a Rand scholar. Having read and seen some of that in the ether, I see it in the book, and I can see how her novel would invite that analysis.I do want to say, let's spend a few seconds on some of the minor characters. There are some really wonderful minor characters. One of them is Cherryl Taggart, this shop girl that evil Jim Taggart meets one night in a rainstorm, and she's like, "Oh, you're so awesome," and they get married. It's like he's got all this praise for marrying the shop girl. It's a funny Eliza Doolittle situation because she is brought into this very wealthy society, which we have been told and we have been shown is corrupt, is evil, everybody's lying all the time, it's pretentious, Dagny hates it.Here's the Cherryl Taggart who's brought into this. In the beginning, she hates Dagny because she's told by everybody, "Hate Dagny, she's horrible." Then she comes to her own mini understanding of the corruption that we understand because Dagny's shown it in the novel, has shown it to us this entire time. She comes to it and she's like, "Oh my God," and she goes to Dagny. Dagny's so wonderful to her like, "Yes. You had to come to this on your own, I wasn't going to tell you, but you were 100% right." That's the end of her.Henry: Right. When she meets Taggart, there's this really interesting speech she has where she says, "I want to make something of myself and get somewhere." He's like, "What? What do you want to do?" Red flag. "What? Where?" She says, "I don't know, but people do things in this world. I've seen pictures of New York," and she's pointing at like the skyscrapers, right? Whatever. "I know that someone's built that. They didn't sit around and whine, but like the kitchen was filthy and the roof was leaking." She gets very emotional at this point. She says to him, "We were stinking poor and we didn't give a damn. I've dragged myself here, and I'm going to do something."Her story is very sad because she then gets mired in the corruption of Taggart's. He's basically bit lazy and a bit of a thief, and he will throw anyone under the bus for his own self-advancement. He is revealed to be a really sinister guy. I was absolutely hissing about him most of the time. Then, let's just do the plot spoiler and say what happens to Cherryl, right? Because it's important. When she has this realization and Taggart turns on her and reveals himself as this snake, and he's like, "Well, what did you expect, you idiot? This is the way the world is."Hollis: Oh, it's a horrible fight. It's the worst fight.Henry: Right? This is where the melodrama is so good. She goes running out into the streets, and it's the night and there are shadows. She's in the alleyway. Rand, I don't have the page marked, but it's like a noir film. She's so good at that atmosphere. Then it gets a little bit gothic as well. She's running through the street, and she's like, "I've got to go somewhere, anywhere. I'll work. I'll pick up trash. I'll work in a shop. I'll do anything. I've just got to get out of this."Hollis: Go work at the Panda Express. Henry: Yes. She's like, "I've got to get out of this system," because she's realized how morally corrupting it is. By this time, this is very late. Society is in a-- it's like Great Depression style economic collapse by this point. There really isn't a lot that she could do. She literally runs into a social worker and the social-- Rand makes this leering dramatic moment where the social worker reaches out to grab her and Cherryl thinks, "Oh, my God, I'm going to be taken prisoner in. I'm going back into the system," so she jumps off the bridge.This was the moment when I was like, I've had this lurking feeling about how Russian this novel is. At this point, I was like, "That could be a short story by Gogol," right? The way she set that up. That is very often the trap that a Gogol character or maybe a Dostoevsky character finds themselves in, right? That you suddenly see that the world is against you. Maybe you're crazy and paranoid. Maybe you're not. Depends which story we're reading. You run around trying to get out and you realize, "Oh, my God, I'm more trapped than I thought. Actually, maybe there is no way out." Cherryl does not get a lot of pages. She is, as you say, quite a minor character, but she illustrates the whole story so, so well, so dramatically.Hollis: Oh, wow.Henry: When it happens, you just, "Oh, Cherryl, oh, my goodness."Hollis: Thank you for reading that. Yes, you could tell from the very beginning that the seeds of what could have been a really good person were there. Thank you for reading that.Henry: When she died, I went back and I was like, "Oh, my God, I knew it."Hollis: How can you say Rand is a bad writer, right? That is careful, careful plotting, because she's just a shop girl in the rain. You've got this, the gun on the wall in that act. You know she's going to end up being good. Is she going to be rewarded for it? Let me just say, as an aside, I know we don't have time to talk about it here. My field, as I said, is 19th century African American novels, primarily now.This, usually, a woman, enslaved woman, the character who's like, "I can't deal with this," and jumps off a bridge and drowns herself is a fairly common and character. That is the only thing to do. One also sees Rand heroes. Stowe's Dred, for example, is very much, "I would rather live in the woods with a knife and then, be on the plantation and be a slave." When you think about, even the sort of into the 20th century, the Malcolm X figure, that, "I'm going to throw out all of this and be on my own," is very Randian, which I will also say very Byronic, too, Rand didn't invent this figure, but she put it front and center in these novels, and so when you think about how Atlas Shrugged could be brought into a curriculum in a network of other novels, how many of we've discussed so far, she's there, she's influenced by and continues to influence. Let's talk about your favorite minor character, the Wet Nurse.Henry: This is another great death scene.Hollis: Let's say who he is, so the government sends this young man to work at the Rearden Mills to keep an eye on Hank Rearden.Henry: Once they nationalize him, he's the bureaucrat reporting back, and Rearden calls him the Wet Nurse as an insult.Hollis: Right, and his job, he's the Communist Party person that's in every factory to make sure that everything is--Henry: That's right, he's the petty bureaucrat reporting back and making sure everyone's complying.Hollis: He's a young recent college graduate that, Hank, I think, early on, if it's possible even to find the Wet Nurse early scene, you could tell in the beginning, too, he's bright and sparkly right out of college, and this is, it seems like a good job for him. He's like, "Woohoo, I get to be here, and I get to be--" Yes, go ahead.Henry: What happens to him is, similarly to Cherryl, he has a conversion, but his conversion is not away from the corruption of the system he's been in, he is converted by what he sees in the Rearden plant, the hard work, the dedication, the idealism, the deep focus on making the metal, and he starts to see that if we don't make stuff, then all the other arguments downstream of that about how to appropriate, how to redistribute, whatever, are secondary, and so he becomes, he goes native, as it were. He becomes a Reardenite, and then at the end, when there's a crowd storming the place, and this crowd has been sent by the government, it's a fake thing to sort of--Hollis: Also, a very good scene, very dramatic.Henry: She's very good at mobs, very good at mobs, and they kill, they kill the Wet Nurse, they throw him over. He has a couple of speeches in dialogue with Rearden while he's dying, and he says--Hollis: You have to say, they throw him, they leave him on this pile of slag. He crawls up to the street where Rearden happens to be driving by, and car stops, and so that finding the Wet Nurse there and carrying him in his arms, yes.Henry: That's right, it's very dramatic, and then they have this dialogue, and he says, "I'd like to live, Mr. Rearden, God, how I'd like to, not because I'm dying, but because I've just discovered tonight what it means to be alive, and it's funny, do when I discovered it? In the office, when I stuck my neck out, when I told the bastards to go to hell, there's so many things I wish I'd known sooner, but it's no use crying over spilt milk," and then Rearden, he goes, "Listen, kid, said Rearden sternly, I want you to do me a favor." "Now, Mr. Rearden?" "Yes, now." "Of course, Mr. Rearden, if I can," and Rearden says, "You were willing to die to save my mills, will you try and live for me?"I think this is one of those great moments where, okay, maybe this isn't like George Eliot style dialogue, but you could put that straight in a movie, that would work really well, that would be great, right? I can hear Humphrey Bogart saying these things. It would work, wouldn't it?She knows that, and that's why she's doing that, she's got that technique. He's another minor character, and Rand is saying, the system is eating people up. We are setting people up for a spiritual destruction that then leads to physical destruction. This point, again, about it's not just about the material world. It's about your inner life and your own mind.I find it very moving.Hollis: These minor characters are fantastic. Then let's talk a little bit about Eddie Willers, because I think a lot about Eddie Willers. Eddie Willers, the childhood three, there were three young people, we keep going back to this childhood. We have Dagny, Francisco, because their parents were friends, and then Eddie Willers, who's like a neighborhood kid, right?Henry: He's down the street.Hollis: He lives down the street. He's like the neighborhood kid. I don't know about you. We had a neighborhood kid. There's always neighborhood kids, right? You end up spending time with this-- Eddie's just sort of always there. Then when they turn 15, 16, 17, and when there's clearly something going on between Dagny and Francisco, Eddie does take a step back, and he doesn't want to see.There's the class issues, the status issues aren't really-- they're present but not discussed by Rand. Here we have these two children heirs, and they don't say like, "You're not one of us, Eddie, because you're not an heir or an heiress." He's there, and he's got a pretty good position as Dagny's right-hand man in Taggart Transcontinental. We don't know where he went to college. We don't know what he does, but we know that he's super loyal, right?Then when she goes and takes a break for a bit, he steps in to be COO. James is like, "Eddie Willers, how can Eddie Willers be a COO?" She's like, "It's really going to be me, but he's going to be fine." We're not really supposed to identify with Eddie, but Eddie's there. Eddie has, all through the novel, all through the big old novel, Eddie eats lunch in the cafeteria. There's always this one guy he's having lunch with. This is, I don't know, like a Greek chorus thing, I don't quite know, but there's Eddie's conversations with this unknown person in the cafeteria give us a sense, maybe it's a narrator voice, like, "Meanwhile, this is going on in the world." We have these conversations. This guy he's having lunch with asks a lot of questions and starts asking a lot of personal questions about Dagny. Then we have to talk to-- I know we've gone for over an hour and 15 minutes, we've got to talk about Galt's Speech, right? When John Galt, toward the end, takes over the airwaves and gives this big three-hour speech, the big three-hour podcast as I tweeted the other day, Eddie is with Dagny.Henry: He's in the radio studio.Hollis: He's in the studio along with one of John Galt's former professors. We hear this voice. Rand says, or the narrator says, three people in the room recognize that voice. I don't know about you, did you guess that it was Galt before that moment that Eddie was having lunch with in the cafeteria?Henry: No, no, no, I didn't.Hollis: Okay, so you knew at that moment.Henry: That was when I was like, "Oh, Eddie was talking, right?" It took me a minute.Hollis: Okay, were you excited? Was that like a moment? Was that a big reveal?Henry: It was a reveal, but it made me-- Eddie's whole character puzzles me because, to me, he feels like a Watson.Hollis: Yes, that's nice, that's good.Henry: He's met Galt, who's been under their noses the whole time. He's been going through an almost Socratic method with Galt, right? If only he could have paid a little bit more attention, he would have realized what was going on. He doesn't, why is this guy so interested in Dagny, like all these things. Even after Galt's big speech, I don't think Eddie quite takes the lesson. He also comes to a more ambiguous but a bad end.Hollis: Eddie's been right there, the most loyal person. The Reddit threads on Eddie Willers, if anybody's interested, are really interesting.Henry: Yes, they are, they're so good.Hollis: Clearly, Eddie recognizes greatness, and he recognizes production, and he recognizes that Dagny is better than Jim. He recognizes Galt. They've been having these conversations for 12 years in the cafeteria. Every time he goes to the cafeteria, he's like, "Where's my friend, where's my friend?" When his friend disappears, but he also tells Galt a few things about Dagny that are personal and private. When everybody in the world, all the great people in the world, this is a big spoiler, go to Galt's Gulch at the end.Henry: He's not there.Hollis: He doesn't get to go. Is it because of the compromises he made along the way? Rand had the power to reward everybody. Hank's secretary gets to go, right?Henry: Yes.Hollis: She's gone throughout the whole thing.Henry: Eddie never thinks for himself. I think that's the-- He's a very, I think, maybe one of the more tragic victims of the whole thing because-- sorry. In a way, because, Cherryl and the Wet Nurse, they try and do the right thing and they end up dying. That's like a more normal tragedy in the sense that they made a mistake. At the moment of realization, they got toppled.Eddie, in a way, is more upsetting because he never makes a mistake and he never has a moment of realization. Rand is, I think this is maybe one of the cruelest parts of the book where she's almost saying, "This guy's never going to think for himself, and he hasn't got a hope." In a novel, if this was like a realistic novel, and she was saying, "Such is the cruelty of the world, what can we do for this person?" That would be one thing. In a novel that's like ending in a utopia or in a sort of utopia, it's one of the points where she's really harsh.Hollis: She's really harsh. I'd love to go and look at her notes at some point in time when I have an idle hour, which I won't, to say like, did she sit around? It's like, "What should I do with Eddie?" To have him die, probably, in the desert with a broken down Taggart transcontinental engine, screaming in terror and crying.Henry: Even at that stage, he can't think for himself and see that the system isn't worth supporting.Hollis: Right. He's just going to be a company man to the end.Henry: It's as cruel as those fables we tell children, like the grasshopper and the ants. He will freeze to death in the winter. There's nothing you can do about it. There are times when she gets really, really tough. I think is why people hate her.Hollis: We were talking about this, about Dickens and minor characters and coming to redemption and Dickens, except Jo. Jo and Jo All Alones, there are people who have redemption and die. Again, I don't know.Henry: There's Cherryl and the Wet Nurse are like Jo. They're tragic victims of the system. She's doing it to say, "Look how bad this is. Look how bad things are." To me, Eddie is more like Mr. Micawber. He's hopeless. It's a little bit comic. It's not a bad thing. Whereas Dickens, at the end, will just say, "Oh, screw the integrity of the plot and the morals. Let's just let Mr. Micawber-- let's find a way out for him." Everyone wants this guy to do well. Rand is like, "No, I'm sticking to my principles. He's dead in the desert, man. He's going to he's going to burn to death." He's like, "Wow, that's okay."Hollis: The funny thing is poor John Galt doesn't even care about him. John Galt has been a bad guy. John Galt is a complicated figure. Let's spend a bit on him.Henry: Before we do that, I actually want to do a very short segment contextualizing her in the 50s because then what you say about Galt will be against this background of what are some of the other ideas in the 50s, right?Hollis: Got it.Henry: I think sometimes the Galt stuff is held up as what's wrong with this novel. When you abstract it and just say it, maybe that's an easier case to make. I think once you understand that this is 1957, she's been writing the book for what, 12 years, I think, or 15 years, the Galt speech takes her 3 years to write, I think. This is, I think the most important label we can give the novel is it's a Cold War novel. She's Russian. What she's doing, in some ways, is saying to America, "This is what will happen to us if we adopt the system of our Cold War enemies." It's like, "This is animal farm, but in America with real people with trains and energy plants and industry, no pigs. This is real life." We've had books like that in our own time. The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver said, that book said, "If the 2008 crash had actually gone really badly wrong and society collapsed, how would it go?" I think that's what she's reacting to. The year before it was published, there was a sociology book called The Organization Man.Hollis: Oh, yes. William Whyte.Henry: A great book. Everyone should read that book. He is worrying, the whole book is basically him saying, "I've surveyed all these people in corporate America. They're losing the Protestant work ethic. They're losing the entrepreneurial spirit. They're losing their individual drive. Instead of wanting to make a name for themselves and invent something and do great things," he says, "they've all got this managerial spirit. All the young men coming from college, they're like, 'Everything's been done. We just need to manage it now.'" He's like, "America is collapsing." Yes, he thinks it's this awful. Obviously, that problem got solved.That, I think, that gives some sense of why, at that moment, is Ayn Rand writing the Galt speech? Because this is the background. We're in the Cold War, and there's this looming sense of the cold, dead hand of bureaucracy and managerialism is. Other people are saying, "Actually, this might be a serious problem."Hollis: I think that's right. Thank you for bringing up Whyte. I think there's so much in the background. There's so much that she's in conversation with. There's so much about this speech, so that when you ask somebody on the street-- Again, let me say this, make the comparison again to Uncle Tom's Cabin, people go through life feeling like they know Uncle Tom's Cabin, Simon Legree, Eliza Crossing the Ice, without having ever read it.Not to name drop a bit, but when I did my annotated Uncle Tom's Cabin, this big, huge book, and it got reviewed by John Updike in The New Yorker, and I was like, "This is freaking John Updike." He's like, "I never read it. I never read it." Henry Louis Gates and then whoever this young grad student was, Hollis Robbins, are writing this book, I guess I'll read it. It was interesting to me, when I talk about Uncle Tom's Cabin, "I've never read it," because it's a book you know about without reading. A lot of people know about Atlas Shrugged without having read it. I think Marc Andreessen said-- didn't he say on this podcast that he only recently read it?Henry: I was fascinated by this. He read it four years ago.Hollis: Right, during COVID.Henry: In the bibliography for the Techno-Optimist Manifesto, and I assumed he was one of those people, he was like you, he'd read it as a teenager, it had been informative. No, he came to it very recently. Something's happening with this book, right?Hollis: Huge things are happening, but the people who know about it, there's certain things that you know, you know it's long, you know that the sex is perhaps not what you would have wanted. You know that there's this big, really long thing called John Galt's Speech, and that it's like the whaling chapters in Moby-Dick. People read Moby-Dick, you're like, "Oh, yes, but I skipped all the chapters on cetology." That's the thing that you say, right? The thing that you say is like, "Yes, but I skipped all the John Galt's Speech." I was very interested when we were texting over the last month or so, what you would say when you got to John Galt's Speech. As on cue, one day, I get this text and it's like, "Oh, my God, this speech is really long." I'm like, "Yes, you are the perfect reader."Henry: I was like, "Hollis, this might be where I drop out of the book."Hollis: I'm like, "Yes, you and the world, okay?" This is why you're an excellent reader of this book, because it is a frigging slog. Just because I'm having eye issues these days, I had decided instead of rereading my copy, and I do have a newer copy than this tiny print thing, I decided to listen on audiobook. It was 62 hours or whatever, it was 45 hours, because I listen at 1.4. The speech is awesome listening to it. It, at 1.4, it's not quite 3 hours. It's really good. In the last few days, I was listening to it again, okay? I really wanted to understand somebody who's such a good plotter, and somebody who really understands how to keep people's interest, why are you doing this, Rand? Why are you doing this, Ms. Rand? I love the fact that she's always called Miss. Rand, because Miss., that is a term that we

Preparing For Tuesday's Cunnilingus Class.By Quinn_McMullen. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.Story RecapI'm Dan, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering. I needed two general education requirements to complete my degree, at a university in the Chicago area. It's a cold January, on campus. I was able to enroll in an English literature class and Dr. Martin's Sociology 369 Human Sexuality course, for the second semester.On the first day of class, we learned about male and female orgasms. Dr. Martin allowed students to submit a standard analysis and reading notes or to provide an alternative assignment. The first alternative assignment was to masturbate either alone or with an observer and report on our experience.Hannah, a coed was sitting in class next to me. I asked to be her partner. While we were trying to get comfortable with one another, we ended up having sex.DinnerAs I sat with Hannah at dinner, I had so many questions I wanted to ask her, but she started off.She looked me in the eye, "So you're what? Twenty two? Twenty three?"Twenty two.""I'm twenty one. So, I have to say that I am not normally that aggressive. I don't know what came over me.""I thought it was wonderful."Hannah nodded, "I'm sure you did, but I'm not sure what happened. I had every intention in the world of sitting there with you, reading until dinner. And then." She averted her gaze, then looked back into my eyes, "Then I just wanted you. I can't explain it. I've never started anything with a guy before. It has always been the guy coming on to me.""I really didn't mind. It was definitely a gift. Guys often leave a gal frustrated because they can't work up the nerve to initiate things. Especially when the gal is as gorgeous as you.”Hannah reached out and touched my hand, "Ah, thanks! Dan, it's okay. I guess I'm just trying to understand my actions. It was so out of character for me.""Maybe you're comfortable with me. I hope, anyway?"She laughed, "Undoubtedly. You're a really nice guy." She released my hand, "No, more than that. I know we just met, but I feel like you care about me as a person. I just hope that by being the initiator, I haven't made you not like me.""Hannah, I would never think that. You are self-confident, that's all. You're very respectful and sensitive. You weren't pushy at all.""See, that's the thing. I've never really been all that self-confident. Certainly not when it comes to sex.""How much sex have you,” I stopped myself. “I'm sorry. That's not polite for me to ask.”"No, I'm okay with talking to you about it. There was my date for the senior prom. Spring semester freshman year I had a boyfriend for a couple of weeks. Probably had sex two or three times with him. Sophomore year I had sex a couple of more times. Once over the summer. Once with Jeff last semester. Altogether, I've probably had sex less than ten times in my entire life. Not counting Sterling.”“Sterling?” I was puzzled.“Sterling is my chrome vibrator.” Hannah explained. “Until today, only Sterling could reliably bring me to orgasms. Today was the first time someone not named Sterling, gave me an orgasm. How about you?""I wouldn't say that I'm promiscuous, but I've had sex a lot more than that. It was always in a relationship. Let's see, I've been intimate with five girlfriends. This was the first time I had sex with someone on the first day I met them.""Same here. I hope you didn't mind.""Do I in any way look like I didn't have the time of my life? Not at all. It was amazing. Maybe it was a desire to try out some of the things we learned in class."Hannah smiled, "Well you tried out something you learned. Did you rub my g spot?""Yeah. It was all wrinkly." I added. “Nothing like a good hands-on lab project.”"I was already cumming and then that sent me into orbit. Holy shit." Hannah exclaimed."As an observer, that was pretty cool. I obviously ‘pressed your button', right?” I gloated."Observer? Dan, you did that to me. You were my lover. Come to think of it, you propped me up so you could screw me like that dildo in the film.""I did." I proudly admitted."That was quite creative." She marveled."Thanks." I grinned.We ate in silence for several minutes. It wasn't the least bit awkward though.Hannah stopped eating, "Normally I would try to fill silence. I don't feel like I have to. It's like we're two old married people that are completely comfortable with each other."I stopped eating, "You're right. I don't know very much about you, but it's like I've known you a long time."She nodded and continued eating. Another minute of silence passed.I reached out and touched her hand, "Do you believe in fate?""I haven't given it much thought." She wondered where this was going."I mean, what are the odds that I would have to sit next to you, you would ask me to be your partner, and we would hit it off so well?""Look it, Dan. I'm not a religious person. I'm sure there is a perfectly good probability that that would happen."I nodded, "Okay, but the odds are not that high.""That two random college students sitting next to one another would become friends, partners, and lovers? It think they are very high. That those two people would be you and me, that's just the universe rolling the dice." She squelched my sentimentality.She was right, but the thought was disappointing. I pulled my hand back.Hannah grabbed my hand, "Dan, I feel like I just burst a bubble on you.""Yeah. Maybe. A little. I had the thought that maybe someone was looking out for us and;""If it makes you feel any better, “ she interrupted; “I could very well be wrong. I agree that it is very cool that you sat down next to me. Whatever force in the universe made that happen, I'm very grateful. Done eating?""Yeah."The LibraryTo avoid temptation, we agreed to study together in the library. About nine we headed to Hannah's room. The cold and wind had eased a bit, making it easier to talk.Once outside, Hannah took my hand, "How should we decide who goes first?""I don't have a problem going first."Hannah laughed, "I'm kind of excited. I've never seen a guy get himself off.""I guess that's a reason Dr. Miller said we could have an observer."I held the door for her when we got to her dorm. Inside her room I took off my jacket.Hannah stopped to watch me, "This feels very clinical again. Could I undress you?""Sure."Hannah came over to me and put her hands behind my neck, "Maybe some mood-setting would help too." She went on tip-toe and kissed me, "Yes. That's what we need." She turned on her stereo. In a couple seconds, Simple Minds was playing ‘Don't you Forget About Me'.She pulled me to her bed, sat down, and pulled me down with her, "Much better."We lay side-by-side, exploring each other's mouth. I finally pulled her on top of me so I could hold her ass cheeks. She seems to love having her ass caressed.After several minutes of necking I spoke into her mouth, "I think I'm ready.""I feel something." She said with a horny wink. Her mix tape was now playing Rick Astley, singing ‘Never Gunna Give You Up'. I'm guessing this was Hannah's mood music for when she pleasured herself. But that was her business. I just decided to enjoy the moment.Hannah rolled off me and I stood up. I pulled my shirt off and dropped my jeans, standing there in my partially tented boxers."Ready?"She smiled and I let my boxers fall to my ankles, flipping them across the room with a flick of my foot. I slowly stroked my tumescent cock.Hannah stood up, "I think I promised to let you see me naked to help get you aroused.""You did." I recalled."Why don't you sit on the bed and let me give you something to get aroused about."I climbed up to the headboard and placed a pillow behind my back. Hannah began a little bump and grind strip tease. I pulled on my cock to firm it up. By now her mix tape was playing Tears for Fears, singing ‘Everybody Wants To Rule the World' with its sultry beat.She turned away from me and pulled her shirt off. She swiveled her jean-clad hips, then kicked off her shoes. Hannah loved to dance and it's clear she was very good at it. Somehow her socks went flying. She stepped up onto the bed and stood above me, one leg on either side.She placed her hands on the wall to balance herself and then placed her foot on my cock, "Let me rub that for you."I wouldn't call it rubbing, but she did move her foot up and down on my shaft. It wasn't exactly effective and soon she was back standing on the floor. She turned away and dropped her jeans to the floor. Hannah flipped them aside with her foot, then climbed back up on the bed. Standing above me in her bra and panties was more arousing. She stepped forward so that her crotch was inches from my face.I leaned forward, pressed my nose into her crotch, and took a deep breath, "God, you smell good." Her pheromones made a beeline to my cock.Hannah stepped back on the floor and removed her bra and panties, "Sorry, I'm not very creative with a strip tease.""I appreciate the creativity" I encouraged her."Thanks. How about if I just stand here in all my nakedness?""That works."I was rock hard now and it was easy to stroke myself. I was thinking I needed some lube when Hannah crawled up on the bed and got very close to my cock.She smiled, "I'm observing."I laughed.Hannah ran her hand down my thigh, "Perhaps you should position yourself so that I can see your asshole. I need to know if it contracts when you cum.""Oh. Okay."I slouched down at her headboard. I placed my feet so that my legs were spread  out and knees bent; and she had a good view of my anus. She was kneeling in front of me. I licked my stroke hand to provide some lubrication. Now her stereo was playing A-Ha. The cut was ‘Take On Me'.Hannah said, "I can provide some saliva." She leaned forward dribbled some spit on the head of my cock.I smiled, "That's helpful.""But probably not enough." She grabbed my stroke hand and placed her mouth on my cock, sucking away."I think that defeats the purpose of the assignment."She came off for a moment, "I don't care."Hannah soon had my entire shaft wet with saliva. She stroked me with her hands while sucking and churning the head in her mouth. The stereo filled the room with ‘Shout' from Tears For Fears. When I groaned my appreciation, I felt her finger at my ass. I think she had her juices on her finger because she slipped right in. She found my prostate."Oh god, Hannah. Hannah. Cumming. I'm cumming." The stereo rumbled; “Shout, shout, let it all out”.Everything sped up, her mouth, her fingers rubbing in my ass. I grabbed my knees and pulled my legs toward me. The point of no return approached and my world narrowed to my cock and ass. My body started quaking uncontrollably. Hannah's eyes were locked in on mine as she swallowed everything I shot. I threw my head back as my orgasm continued. All I could feel was her fingers rubbing my prostate and her mouth on my cock, churning, sucking, licking. I tried to say something, but a croaking sound came out.

In both the Torah portion Chayei Sarah and the novel Pride and Prejudice, themes of family, marriage, and the role of women in society are explored. In Chayei Sarah, the narrative focuses on the final years of Sarah's life and the subsequent efforts of Abraham to secure a suitable marriage for his son Isaac. This story highlights the importance of family legacy and the divine guidance in choosing a spouse, as evidenced by the servant's journey to find Rebecca. Similarly, in Pride and Prejudice, marriage is central to the plot, with Elizabeth Bennet's relationship with Mr. Darcy being shaped by social expectations, personal values, and family pressures. Both works also reflect societal norms that dictate the roles of women, where Sarah's legacy is carried through her son, and Elizabeth navigates societal expectations to make her own choices about love and marriage. In each story, the marriages that unfold are not just personal unions but are deeply connected to the wider social and familial structures of their time.

In both the Torah portion Chayei Sarah and the novel Pride and Prejudice, themes of family, marriage, and the role of women in society are explored. In Chayei Sarah, the narrative focuses on the final years of Sarah's life and the subsequent efforts of Abraham to secure a suitable marriage for his son Isaac. This story highlights the importance of family legacy and the divine guidance in choosing a spouse, as evidenced by the servant's journey to find Rebecca. Similarly, in Pride and Prejudice, marriage is central to the plot, with Elizabeth Bennet's relationship with Mr. Darcy being shaped by social expectations, personal values, and family pressures. Both works also reflect societal norms that dictate the roles of women, where Sarah's legacy is carried through her son, and Elizabeth navigates societal expectations to make her own choices about love and marriage. In each story, the marriages that unfold are not just personal unions but are deeply connected to the wider social and familial structures of their time.

"Elizabeth Bennet embarks on a dangerous journey in an effort to obsess over becoming a bird." Is this the same Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice? Why does she want to become a bird? And how on earth does Harlem factor in? Our guest MB Mooney is here to help us figure out! Find his work on his YA fantasy book "Shield of the King," or on his YouTube channel, "Great Stories Change the World." And our links: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/somebodywritethis Facebook: https://facebook.com/somebodywritethis Twitter: https://twitter.com/writethispod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writethispod/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SomebodyWriteThis

The ‘Austenmania' craze of the mid-90s kicked off with the BBC's production of ‘Pride and Prejudice', which first aired on 24th September, 1995. Now primarily remembered for Colin Firth's ‘wet shirt' scene, Andrew Davies's ‘sexed up' adaptation also starred Firth's real-life squeeze Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet, and was the first serialisation of the novel to be filmed on location, with picturesque country estates providing a ‘property porn' backdrop to the plot's central romance. In this episode, the Retrospectors reveal how Firth later tried to distance himself from the fetishisation of his role as Mr Darcy; explain the part rat urine played in filming the iconic bathing scene; and discover how this sensationally popular miniseries sparked interest in erotic adaptations of Austen's work… Further Reading: ‘Pride and Prejudice at 20: The scene that changed everything' (BBC Culture, 2015): https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20150922-pride-and-prejudice-at-20-the-scene-that-changed-everything ‘Books, Bras and Bridget Jones: reading adaptations of Pride and Prejudice - by Olivia Murphy' (University of Sydney): https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/229392346.pdf ‘The Lake Scene (Colin Firth Strips Off)' (BBC, 1995): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hasKmDr1yrA Love the show? Support us!  Join 

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 47, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Elizabeth, and her Uncle and Aunt discuss nothing but Lydia's running off with Wickham on the way back to Longborne. Her uncle and aunt believe that Wickham must indeed intend to marry Lydia, and any thoughts against that would only paint him to be the evilest person who exists. Once they get back to Longborne, the are greeted by the whole family besides Mr Bennet who has already headed to London to find his daughter. Jane and Elizabeth discuss the whole affair, and Elizabeth laments that they didn't tell the whole town about Wickham's past. Jane thinks it was for the best that they didn't, but does agree that Lydia probably wouldn't have run off if she knew his past. Mrs Bennet is distraught, and begs her brother to go to London to find Mr Bennet, and force him to have Wickham marry Lydia. He promises his sister as much, and says that he will set off the next morning for the city. Jane and Elizabeth retreat to their room, and Elizabeth asks her to relate everything that happened since Mr Forster came to Longborne, and what her father's plans were in London. Support the showThank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 46, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Elizabeth finally, after a wait of several days, receives not 1 but 2 letters from Jane; one had been mislabelled and lost in the post. The letters reveal that a disaster has struck, Lydia, her younger sister has run off from Brighton and her hosts, Mr and Mrs Forster, with Mr Wickham! The whole family is distraught, and Mr Forster came to Longborne after looking throughout London for the couple. Jane wants nothing more than for Elizabeth to come home and help support the family, while her father and Mr Forster go off again to look for the girl and officer. Elizabeth runs off to try and find her uncle and aunt but upon opening the door, finds Mr Darcy being let in by a servant. Darcy believes Elizabeth ill, and soon after explaining why she is running, Elizabeth collapses. Darcy sends the servant to look for Mr and Mrs Gardiner and takes care of Elizabeth while she explains the whole story through tears. Darcy is deeply concerned, and Elizabth feels a deep connection and affection for him while he paces the room thinking. Soon before the servant arrives with Elizabeth's family, Darcy relieves himself, and Elizabeth can't help but sadly feel that this may be the last time they could see each other. When her uncle and aunt arrive, they immediately set to packing their affairs, and leaving the county to head back down south.Support the showThank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 45, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Elizabeth and Mrs Gardiner head to Pemberly and they enter the saloon where they are met by Miss Darcy, the woman she lives with in London, Miss Bingley, and Mrs Hurst. Miss Darcy is still very embarrassed by the whole situation. Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst treat Elizabeth and Mrs Gardiner coldly. Mrs Gardiner and Mrs Ansley start the conversation after a long awkward pause. During their conversations Elizabeth realises that she cannot talk to Miss Darcy without being eyed by Miss Bingley. The servants bring some food into the room, and it eases the situation a little. Elizabeth feels that she would like Mr Darcy to be there, but on his entering the room, changes her mind. With Darcy now in the room, Miss Bingley watches every movement he makes. Elizabeth feels that Darcy wants his sister to get to know her as soon as possible. Miss Bingley notices this, and to silence Elizabeth she brings up the local militia, not knowing that Mr Wickham is so closely involved with Miss Darcy, thus silencing her. Elizabeth reacts well to the comment, and this causes Darcy to watch Elizabeth even more closely and favourably. Eventually Elizabeth and Mrs Gardiner leave, and after escorting them to their carriage, Darcy is hounded by Miss Bennet with snarky remarks about Elizabeth, hoping to find out how he truly feels about her.Support the showThank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 44, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Elizabeth is set to meet Darcy's sister, and as soon as she sees Darcy's carriage, she runs to tell her aunt and uncle that they are here. Elizabeth is afraid that Darcy has talked her up too much to his sister, but it seems that Miss Darcy is very shy and embarrassed to be there. Darcy informs Elizabeth that Mr Bingley will also be joining them and before she can react, the door opens. Bingley is as wonderful as ever, and he asks about her family in a very genuine way. She is uncertain if Bingley is still in love with her sister, but he is nonetheless kind. When Bingley and the Darcy's leave, they invite Elizabeth and her family to dine with them before they leave the county. Bingley is very please with the plan, and Elizabeth hopes that Bingley's happiness comes from his wanting to ask about Jane. Elizabeth spends the rest of the evening thinking about Mr Darcy, and wondering about how he feels. Does he still love her? Has he forgiven her for how she rejected him? She finished the evening believing that he must still love her, and she starts to feel tender towards him too. The following day, they head to Pemberly in the morning, and Mr GardinerSupport the showThank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 43, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Elizabeth and her aunt and uncle head to Pemberly. It is surrounded by woods and valleys, and the house itself is beautiful, but not obnoxious. When exit their carriage, Elizabeth starts to fear that Darcy would actually be there. The maid starts to give them a tour of the house, starting in the late Mr Darcy's room, which is adorned with portraits of people involved in his life, Wickham included. Elizabeth's aunt and uncle pile questions onto the maid and she is more than happy to answer to everything, and she talks gladly about the wonderful acts of service that Darcy does for his servants. Everything that they all believed Darcy to be fall away as the maid continues to praise Darcy through the rest of the tour. They go all throughout the house and Elizabeth spends much time staring at a large portrait of Darcy. They leave the house for a walk of the grounds with the gardener and just when they start off they see Mr Darcy, come home early. He comes over to them and seems to Elizabeth to be completely changed. How on earth the man before her could be the Mr Darcy she had known before his letter? She doubts that he could still be in love with her after her awful rejection of him, but why else would be he so kind to her. Darcy leaves them to their walk, and thoughts of Darcy's change. After they turn to head back to their carriage, Elizabeth sees Darcy advancing towards them. He immediately asks her to introduce him to her uncle and aunt and invites Elizabeth to meet his sister on the following day.The Loved One'How far would you go to find the person who means the most to you in all the...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the showThank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 42, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Time passes after Lydia's departure, and eventually Kitty gets better. Lydia sends letters to her mother, saying that she is visiting libraries and is spending time with Mr and Mrs Forster with the officers, and sends letters to her sister Kitty, saying far more interesting things with a lot of hidden details. Elizabeth isn't feeling amazing, and the thoughts of her northern tour with her aunt and uncle keep her morale above water. Her aunt however writes saying that her work is preventing them from coming at the expected time, and that their tour is also going to have to be cut short, meaning that they should only really be able to go as far north as Derbyshire… Eventually her family arrives, and they set off for the North with Elizabeth. When they get to Derbyshire, they explore the area where Mrs Gardiner used to live, Lambton, only 5 miles from Pemberly. Both of the Gardiners wish to visit the grounds and ask Elizabeth if she would go there. After asking the chambermaid if Darcy would be there and finding out he wouldn't, she agrees to go.Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Today, we will discuss the famous book "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen. This story takes us back to a time of good manners, love, and society in the 19th century. Get the transcript on my website: Speakenglishpodcast.com/podcast "Pride and Prejudice" is about the Bennet family, especially Elizabeth Bennet, the second-oldest daughter. This story happened when finding a good husband or wife was very important. Mrs. Bennet, Elizabeth's mother, really wants to find wealthy husbands for her five daughters.

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 41, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:The last week of the regiment's stay in Meryton has come, and everyone in the town is depressed with the exception of Lizzy and Jane. Kitty and Lydia are the most distraught of all. Mrs Bennet recommends that the family goes to Brighton to be by the sea, and close to the regiment's new post. Lydia soon receives an invitation to join Mr and Mrs Forster in Brighton with them and the regiment, which rejuvenates her and vexes Kitty. Elizabeth is mortified by this invitation and goes to her father to advise him to not allow her to go. Mr Bennet deems that Lydia should go, that she should make an embarrassment of herself so that she can be put properly in her place. The final evening comes before the regiment should depart and Mr Wickham and Lizzy talk for one final time before she hopes to be rid of him forever. He asks her about her time in Rosings and Lizzy immediately tells him that she spent plenty of time with Colonel Fitzwilliam and Mr Darcy, mentioning that Mr Darcy's demeanour improves over time; Wickham is shocked by everything Lizzy has to say.Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 40, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Jane and Elizabeth finally have time to talk, and Elizabeth tells Jane about Darcy's proposal, and the whole Wickham Drama. At first Jane is shocked, and then she feels slightly sorry for Darcy for how brutally her sister rejected him. The two sisters then talk of Wickham's behaviour, and Jane tries constantly to save both of the men, Elizabeth however tries to tell her that there is indeed one “Bad Guy”. Jane is really shocked by the whole situation and to save her from further shock, Elizabeth hides the parts about Mr Bennet from her.Mrs Bennet asks Elizabeth about the Collins' and asks how they keep their house and how often they talk about one day owning Longborne house…Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 39, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Elizabeth, and Jane finally make it back to Meryton, where they are joined by Mary and Lydia in the inn for luncheon. The Girls are just as superficial as ever, having spent all of their money on clothes and though “inviting” Elizabeth and Jane to lunch, asking them to pay because of their purchases. The girls also tell Elizabeth and Jane that the militia are leaving the area in two weeks to be stationed in Brighton. The girls wish to convince their parents to take them to Brighton for a holiday and their mother actually seems to like the idea. After lunch, they head back to Longborne where they are finally greeted by their parents for the first time in 6 weeks. They are glad to see their children, and Mrs Bennet is very pleased to see that Jane is still beautiful. Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 38, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Mr Collins and Elizabeth meet and breakfast together before saying the final farewells. Mr Collins, as usual, is over the top in his thanks, and Elizabeth is quite taken aback by his praise and doesn't quite know what to say apart from reciprocating his thanks. Charlotte soon comes too to say goodbye to Elizabeth, and soon enough the carriage is called to take Mary and Elizabeth back to Meryton. In the carriage, Mary remarks on the wonderful time they had in the area, and what wonderful things they will have to tell their family and friends; Elizabeth agrees, and also adds, in her head, that she too has many things to conceal. Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

The authors of Emma of 83rd Street are BACK with Elizabeth of East Hampton! In this summery modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet is an East Hampton townie whose life is thrown into disarray when Manhattanites Will and Charlie settle in for the season. Topics discussed include local vs. tourist vibes, surfing, characters and plot lines that were updated, MLMs, education in Austen, the women's agency, the cameo of all cameos, Jane's fandoms, and sister love stories.Elizabeth of East Hampton is on sale now, so go get your copy from your favorite local bookstore or any of the major ones! And follow Audrey and Emily on Instagram at @audrey.and.emily. Glossary of People, Places, and Things: Barbie, Marrying Mr. Darcy, Mrs. Wickham, Doctor WhoNext Episode: Persuasion Chapters 8-9Our show art was created by Torrence Browne, and our audio is produced by Graham Cook. For bios and transcripts, check out our website at podandprejudice.com. Pod and Prejudice is transcribed by speechdocs.com. To support the show, check out our Patreon!Instagram: @podandprejudiceTwitter: @podandprejudiceFacebook: Pod and PrejudiceYoutube: Pod and PrejudiceMerch store: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/pod-and-prejudice?ref_id=23216

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 36, narrated by Isaac BirchallSupport me as an independent creator:https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Elizabeth reflects on Darcy's letter. Her emotions while reading are all over the place. She reads the letter in parts, first reading of Jane and Bingley. She disregards what Darcy initially states about their relationship and takes no time to take in the meaning behind Darcy's words before starting on the next sentence. When she gets to the parts on Wickham she is at first shocked, exclaiming “This Can't Be.” She closes the letter and leaves it unfinished while trying to walk away. She can't resist however and rereads the part on Wickham. Her second read provides her with a lot more insight to Darcy's story, and greatly opens her mind on the terrible character of Mr Wickham, beginning to think again about how Wickham presented himself to the society of Hertfordshire. Coming to the realisation that what Darcy had to say about Wickham must be true, she rereads the part of the letter on Jane. Slowly taking in every line and trying to understand their meaning, she thinks back on Jane's actual behaviour towards Bingley, and remembering something that Charlotte said, comes to agree that Jane wasn't as outwardly in Love with Bingley as she believed. Darcy's comments about her family are like ice in her veins, and the thought that it was because of her family that Bingley could have been removed and not Jane hurts like nothing ever before. Elizabeth cries out that everything she has known about herself has been false, she has been blinded by her Pride and her Prejudice against him. After 2 hours Elizabeth thinks that she should head home and tries to set her face right so that none of the Collins' can guess that she might not be fine. On her arrival, she is informed that both of the Darcy's had been at the cottage to visit Elizabeth and give them their leave. Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 35, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:After a terrible evening, Elizabeth feels that she needs to go on a walk in the grounds to calm herself but still avoids her usual path, hoping not to meet Darcy. Darcy however has been looking for her, and hands her a letter before leaving immediately. Elizabeth's curiosity gets the better of her and she opens the letter. Darcy firstly states that he isn't going to propose again in this letter, and secondly states that he is going to answer the accusations that she lay at his feet the previous night. He explains that he did split up Bingley and Jane and lays out his reasons for doing so; primarily believing that Jane did not reciprocate the feelings in the same way to Bingley. On coming to understand that the Bingley girls felt the same as he did, they resolved to keep Bingley apart from Jane, removing him from Netherfield and convincing him that Jane did not care for him the way he cared for her.On the matter of Mr Wickham, Darcy tells his side of the story. Mr Wickham was indeed a favourite of the Late Mr Darcy and was sent to school by him. Wickham was supposed to attend a seminary, and join the church, but Darcy knew Wickham better and knew that he wasn't meant for the church. Wickham wants to study law, and after a while of silence, got back in touch with Darcy. Wickham was in dire straits and came to ask for Darcy to let him back into the church. On the refusal, Wickham left for several years. Darcy's sister then moved to London with her governess and was put in contact with Wickham who wooed her for her money and tried to elope with her. Darcy found out at the last moment and put an end to it and protected his sister from a charlatan, Mr Wickham. Darcy ends his letter by telling Elizabeth that she can ask Colonel Fitzwilliam to confirm Darcy's claims about Wickham. Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 34, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadsSUMMARY:The First Proposal. Elizabeth goes through all of the letters that Jane wrote to her, and she finds a want of cheerfulness that used to be ever-present in her. Her anger at Darcy ever increases and she delights in him soon leaving Rosings but is slightly saddened at his cousin leaving with him. The doorbell rings and she hurries to open it, hoping it to be colonel Fitzwilliam checking in on her. It is sadly Darcy, and he immediately asks about her health with genuine concern. He frets about the room a little and then finally starts. He claims that he has loved her for some time, and says that everything in his body tells him that Elizabeth is an undesirable match for him. That her family is not of the same rank, and that she has no prospects that should entice him and that in spite of this, he loves her and wishes to marry her. Elizabeth is taken aback and is at first flattered before remembering all that he did to Bingley and Jane and Mr Wickham. She refuses him and calls him out on all that he has done and she tells him what she truly thinks of him, that she hates him more than anyone in the entire world and that he would be the last person she could ever be prevailed upon to marry. Darcy tries and fails to remain calm and seems to realise that he has been awful to her and to her family, and leaves the house where Elizabeth starts to cry before Mr and Mrs Collins come home.Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 33 , narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadsSUMMARY:Elizabeth is on her daily walk through the countryside near Rosings, and though she has tried to avoid Mr Darcy and even told him that she is fine just walking by herself, he insists on walking with her, and is actually asking her questions about herself. On a subsequent day, while again on her daily walk, she instead runs into colonel Fitzwilliam. They walk together back to the Parsonage and talk about he and Darcy's departure on the coming Saturday. Colonel Fitzwilliam lets slip that Darcy mentioned a relationship that he helped end. Elizabeth is sure that he must have meant Bingley and Jane, and she pressures Fitzwilliam to divulge more. He says a little of this and a little of that but says that he doesn't have all of the details. At the Parsonage, Elizabeth is in a quiet fury at Mr Darcy, and this erupts in giving her a headache so bad that she cannot go to Rosings for tea, not that she would have gone anyway as Darcy would have been there.Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 32, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Elizabeth is interrupted from writing to her sister by a ring at the door. When she opens it, she is shocked to see Mr Darcy waiting for her. He says that he expected everyone to be there and asks for forgiveness, but nonetheless comes in. Elizabeth takes it upon herself to ask Darcy about the departure of Mr Bingley and all from Netherfield, and the rumour that he shall never return. On this Darcy says little but that he hasn't heard of the rumour and adds that if someone were to offer to but it he probably would sell. After a long silence, Darcy remarks on the quality of the house, and that Mr Collins is lucky in his choice of a wife. Lizzy agrees but says that she isn't certain that it was the wisest of her friend's decisions. The two continue to talk a little, and Elizabeth can't help to notice the smile on Darcy's face. Charlotte and her sister come home and are shocked to see Darcy. After a few minutes he leaves, and Charlotte is still shocked at his being at her home. She is certain that Darcy must be in love with her and sets herself to finding out if it is true. Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 31, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:The Collins' and Elizabeth scarcely see Lady Catherine and Mr Darcy while he is in town, but Colonel Fitzwilliam Darcy visits them often. On Easter day, the family and Elizabeth are invited to dine with the family at Rosings, but when they arrive, they find that she is fully engrossed in her nephews instead of her guests. Fitzwilliam Darcy seems to have taken an eye to Elizabeth and he converses with her throughout the whole evening which catches the attention of Mr Darcy and Lady Catherine. They talk for a little about music with Lady Catherine and she boasts that had her daughter's health been better, she would have played beautifully. After a while, Elizabeth moves over to the Piano with the colonel, and Mr Darcy soon follows to be near her. Elizabeth then goes on to tell Fitzwilliam how rude Darcy was when they first met, and she recounts the horror story of the first ball. Darcy defends himself, claiming that he is ill at ease with people he doesn't know. Elizabeth pokes at him a little, but they are soon again interrupted by Lady Catherine talking praise of her daughter. Elizabeth gets the feeling that Darcy doesn't love his cousin at all…Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 30, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Sir William soon departs leaving Elizabeth with Charlotte and Mr Collins. She feared at first that this would leave her to pass more time with her cousin, but thankfully learns that he goes back to his own business without Sir William to entertain. Lady Catherine visits every now and again and corrects Charlotte on her housekeeping and says that the maid needs to work harder. While Charlotte and Mr Collins work and briefly visit Rosings in the days, Elizabeth goes to walk in the gardens around the Parsonage. As Easter approaches, word that Mr Darcy is to come to visit his aunt and soon arrives with Mr Collins running to Rosings to pay his respects. On his way back, he is joined by both Mr Darcy, and a new person, Colonel Fitzwilliam Darcy.Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 29, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:The Group goes to meet and Dine with Lady Catherine de Bourgh and her daughter. Before the visit, Mr Collins goes fussing over his Guests' dress. When the arrive, the majority of the group is stressing over the grandeur of Rosings and its owner, Elizabeth however is the opposite of the group, and feels equal to the scene of the house and people in it. Lady Catherine is exactly what she expected, a large, pompous woman, who loves nothing more that people praising her and her home. The young Miss de Bourgh is very small and very sickly looking, and she talks to no one over the dinner while Mrs Jenkinson, her mistress, fusses over her. Lady Catherine talks throughout the supper and leaves scarcely an opening for Elizabeth to talk. In the drawing room, Lady Catherine talks more and more about anything and everything, and gives familial advice to Mrs Collins.She eventually asks Elizabeth about her family, education, and state. She is upset that the family home of Longborne is to be taken away form her sisters, but that she is glad it will go to Mr Collins. She then asks of Elizabeth's skills, piano, drawing, etc. and is upset that she has few of these, and astounded that she didn't have a governess with 4 sisters, saying that she must have been neglected. When she enquires as to her sisters' outings, she is shocked that her sisters go out before the elders are married, and Elizabeth states openly her opinion that they should be permitted to do as they please…Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 28, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Elizabeth finally arrives at Charlotte and Mr Collins' home in Huntsford. When she arrives, both Charlotte and her cousin are waiting for her carriage and are greeted politely by Charlotte, and all too much by Mr Collins. Mr Collins then gives his new guests a tour of the house and the garden, in which he gives them a first glimpse of Rosings, the huge estate that the Collins' live next to. The following day, a commotion downstairs causes Charlotte's sister to call for Elizabeth to descend the stairs where she very unimpressedly claims that it is only the De Bourgh Family and isn't anything to make a fuss about. Elizabeth notes that Miss de Bourgh looks sickly and smiles at what Mr Darcy shall be married to. Charlotte and Mr Collins soon enter and inform the group that they have all been invited to supper at Rosings.Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 27, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:January and February pass away slowly with the wet weather, and Elizabeth starts to look more and more forward to seeing Charlotte and cannot wait to see Jane. She heads to London with Sir William Lucas and Charlotte's sister Maria where she will stay with her aunt and Jane before heading to Huntsford. In London, Elizabeth and her family spend the day in town shopping and at the theatre, where she discusses Jane's health with her aunt, and the topic of Mr Wickham. Her aunt says that it is very good that he has moved on, but it is a shame how he did it, leaving Elizabeth for a new girl because she has access to 10 thousand pound of inheritance. Before the play finishes, Elizabeth is invited by her aunt and uncle to join them on their summer tour of the north, near the lakes. Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 26, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Elizabeth's aunt warns her against Mr Wickham and says that if fortune is what she wants then she should reconsider his affection. Elizabeth says that he is very agreeable but if she really warns her against him, then she will do her best to push Wickham away. Her aunt and uncle soon leave and their departure is taken over by the arrival of Mr Collins for his wedding to Charlotte. After the wedding, Charlotte, before she leaves, invites Elizabeth to join her in Mr Collins' home with her for a few weeks in March. When Charlotte leaves, she and Elizabeth write letters again to each other, but Elizabeth feels that it is because she promised to as opposed to wanting to. Elizabeth then receives a letter from Jane, and it seems that the Bingley girls are really not wishing to keep a correspondence with her sister and after a few weeks this is confirmed. Jane writes again and tells of her visit from Caroline Bingley. She says that it really seems that Caroline has fully changed into a nasty creature who seems not to care for her at all. Jane has been truly and deeply hurt. Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 25, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Mrs Bennet's sister's family has come to visit. Mrs Bennet's sister, Mrs Gardiner gets bored to by her sister's complaining about the sorry states of her daughters love lives. When she gets a moment alone with Elizabeth, she and her niece discuss Jane and her relationship to Mr Bingley. Elizabeth mentions how she believes that Miss Bingley and Mr Darcy are whole heartedly to blame for the removal of Bingley from Netherfield Hall, and that there is a greater scheme at play to intermarry the two families. Mrs Gardiner isn't too certain of this but listens to Elizabeth with attention. She then invites Jane to go to town with her and her husband. As their stay goes on, Mrs Bennet has left no time for boredom to her family and constantly has dinners at Longborne with the girls and the soldiers. At these events Mr Wickham is present and Mrs Gardiner seems to know of him and the Darcy affair…Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 24, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Miss Bingley sends another letter to Jane, this one talking about the beauty, grace, and charm of Ms Darcy. The letter also claims that Bingley and his sisters will remain in London throughout the winter, killing all hope that he would return to Netherfield any time soon. Elizabeth is very upset by this news and she complains to Jane that people lack “merit or sense,” Bingley abandoned Jane, and Charlotte is to marry Mr Collins. Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 23, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Sir William Lucas comes to visit the Bennet family and inform them of the happiness that has been bestowed on his family by the proposal between his daughter and Mr Collins. Mrs Bennet is livid! At first, she decides to disbelieve it, and hopes that the match will be broken off. Lady Lucas calls at Longborne more often than usual to proclaim her happiness and the relationship between Charlotte and Lizzy becomes strained. A letter from Mr Collins comes to thank the family for their hospitality and says that he will be down the following Monday to settle a date for the marriage with Charlotte. Lizzy and Jane start to fear a bit more as they are yet to receive news from the Bingley girls about London, or about Mr Bingley. Lizzy is furious at Darcy and the Bingley girls. She believes it entirely their fault that Jane has been made so upset. Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Chapter 1:Summary of Book Pride and prejudice"Pride and Prejudice," a novel by Jane Austen first published in 1813, is a romantic story set in the early 19th century in rural England. It centers on the Bennett family, particularly the second eldest daughter, Elizabeth. The main plot revolves around the complex relationship between Elizabeth and the wealthy, aloof Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy.The story begins with the arrival of a wealthy and eligible bachelor, Mr. Charles Bingley, in the neighborhood, exciting the local families, including the Bennetts, who have five unmarried daughters. Mr. Bingley soon takes a liking to the eldest Bennett daughter, Jane. Meanwhile, Mr. Darcy initially appears proud and dismissive, particularly towards Elizabeth, whose lively spirit and sharp wit contrast with his more reserved nature.Central to the novel is the theme of misjudgments and the difficulties of understanding someone's true character. Both Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy make poor judgments about each other and those around them. Elizabeth's prejudice against Darcy stems from her initial perceptions and is fueled by misleading information, while Darcy's pride in his social status leads him initially to scorn the environment of the Bennett family.As the story unfolds, various family and social dramas emerge, including scandalous elopements, failed proposals, and misinterpreted intentions. Both Elizabeth and Darcy undergo personal growth. Elizabeth recognizes her predisposition to hastily judge others, while Darcy becomes more self-aware and learns humility, ultimately shedding his veneer of pride.Their mutual evolution paves the way for romance between Elizabeth and Darcy, challenging societal norms and personal pride. Throughout the novel, Jane Austen explores themes of love, reputation, and class, and provides social commentary on the status of women and the dependence on marriage for social standing."Pride and Prejudice" ends with various resolutions of family and romantic entanglements, including the marriages of Elizabeth to Mr. Darcy and Jane to Mr. Bingley, suggesting themes of reconciliation and social harmony.Chapter 2:The Theme of Book Pride and prejudice"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen is a novel rich in themes, character development, and essential plot points. Set in rural England in the early 19th century, the story explores the nature of love, marriage, society, and morality through the lens of the Bennet family, particularly through the protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet. Key Plot Points1. Introduction of the Bennet Family: The novel introduces Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their five unmarried daughters. The arrival of a wealthy bachelor, Mr. Bingley, sets the story in motion.2. Ball at Meryton: Here, Elizabeth Bennet first encounters Mr. Darcy, who snubs her, beginning their tense interactions.3. Jane's Illness and Stay at Netherfield: Jane Bennet falls ill while visiting Mr. Bingley's sister at Netherfield Park, leading Elizabeth to care for her. During this stay, Elizabeth observes the behavior of Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley, developing her impressions.4. Mr. Collins' Proposal: The ludicrous Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth, who refuses him. This act demonstrates her desire for a marriage based on love rather than convenience or economic security.5. Elizabeth's Visit to Hunsford: During this visit to Charlotte Lucas, now Mrs. Collins, Elizabeth encounters Darcy again. Darcy proposes, showing evident class consciousness and pride, which Elizabeth rebukes.6. Revelations About Darcy: Elizabeth receives a letter from Darcy explaining his actions concerning Jane and Bingley, and the truth about Mr. Wickham, a charming officer who deceived Elizabeth.7. Lydia's Elopement with Wickham: This crisis reveals the imprudence of Lydia and the risks associated with reckless behavior. Darcy...

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 22, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:The Bennets go to find with the Lucas family. Throughout the whole evening, Mr Collins is enraptured by miss Lucas and as soon as the evening is over Mr Collins has decided that he should also propose to Charlotte. The next morning, before anyone wakes up, Mr Collins sneaks out of the house and declares his love for Charlotte. She readily accepts his proposal, and asks him only to not tell the Bennets, and to allow her the pleasure of telling her friends. When Mr Collins returns, all of the Bennet family ask where he was during the day but he guards his word and tells them nothing. He then says goodbye to the family, and Mrs Bennet invites him back soon.Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 21, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Mr Collins has taken the decision to ignore Elizabeth since his failed proposal, and as Miss Lucas has come to visit, he is giving all of his attention to her. As the next day comes, no tempers at the Bennet house have cooled off, so the girls head to town. The meet Mr Wickham and he joins them at their aunts, and he tells Elizabeth that he didn't come to the ball at Netherfield because he didn't want a cause a scene between he and Darcy. Jane receives a letter from Netherfield from the Bingley Girls. It seems that the whole family is quitting the area and shall not be back for a very long time, if not at all. The letter also contains the information that the young miss Darcy is supposed to be the girl to marry Bingley. Jane is distraught by this information, but Lizzy totes it down to scheming between Darcy and the Bingley girls. Saying that if Caroline got half of the attention from Darcy that Jane got from Bingley, should have bought her wedding dress…Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 20, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:Mrs Bennet sees Elizabeth leave the dining room and saunters happily in to congratulate Mr Collins. Mr Collins relates the events of the proposal and Mrs Bennet is shocked at the manner in which her daughter refused him. Mrs Bennet goes ahead to tell Mr Collins that she will force her daughter to accept, and heads right away to Mr Bennet is his library to force him to tell Lizzy to marry Mr Collins. Mr Bennet calls Lizzy down the stairs and asks her about the situation. After Lizzy tells him about it, he then goes ahead to say that Lizzy has a difficult choice ahead; that she needs to become a stranger to one of her parents. Mrs Bennet will not see her again if she refuses, and Mr Bennet will not see her again if she does… As the days go on, Mrs Bennet doesn't let up on her daughter, and constantly makes little comments about how Lizzy has disrespected her, but Elizabeth just tries to ignore her.Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 19, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:The day after the ball at Netherfield Mr Collins finds Mrs. Bennet at the breakfast table with Kitty and Elizabeth. He Immediately asks Mrs bennet for an audience with Elizabeth, and before Elizabeth can object, she ushers kitty out of the room and leave Collins and Lizzy alone. Mr Collins proceeds to explain all of the reasons that he and Elizabeth would be a good match and then asks for her hand in marriage. Elizabeth, so shocked cannot speak before Mr Collins goes on to explain all of the reasons that it would be advantageous for her to accept. Elizabeth finally has a chance to refuse his proposal, but Mr Collins only takes it as flattery as “Women always refuse a first proposal hoping to increase the infatuation of the person asking.” (He Is SOO Disgusting) Elizabeth goes on to call him out on his misogyny but as he isn't listening, she gets up and leaves the room to head to her father, hoping that he may settle the matter for her.Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

We're finally getting around to tackling Jane's only nonfiction novel, "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," which covers the zombie apocalypse of 1813, as well as the marriage — officiated by Doctor Who himself — of Elizabeth Bennet to handsome actor Sam Riley, who everyone agrees is the best Mr. Darcy. Also, it's a movie, not a book, so I guess it's a documentary. Happy Pride Month! Special thanks to Baby Bee Carys for the theme music! Subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BSCCPodcast and support the show at Bit.ly/RattlesnakeJake! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send me a message. What do you think about the book/podPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen chapter 18, narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://www.patreon.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSUMMARY:The day has finally come for the ball at Netherfield and all of the Bennet girls are very excited. Elizabeth has been hoping to dance the night away with Mr Wickham, but on her arrival she is informed that he is not there. Disappointed, she tries to not let it ruin her evening. She sadly has her first dance with Mr Collins and as soon as it it over she rushes back to her friend Charlotte. While talking to her, she is invited to dance by a tall gentleman, and before she realises who it is, she has said yes to dancing with Darcy. While they dance, she tries to spark some conversation and though he is reluctant to talk, the topic of Mr Wickham comes up. Darcy denies having done him any wrong, and advises Jane to stay away from him, as he knows Wickham a lot better than she does. They have 2 dances together and afterwards Elizabeth is certain that Darcy is just as pompous as she thought. As the dancing finishes and Dinner is served, Mrs Bennet is talking loudly and Drunkenly to Lady Lucas about the expected wedding between Mr Bingley and her daughter Jane, and despite all of Elizabeth's will to have her be quiet, she just talks on and on, much to the shock of both Elizabeth and Darcy, who is sitting across from them. As the night goes on, the younger Bennet girls and Mrs Bennet continue to embarrass the family, and Mr Collins though long speeches tries to make an acquaintance of Darcy. As the night comes to an end, Elizabeth is very vexed, and her family has done a very good job of embarrassing her and the Bennet household.Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening, if you want to support the me go to any of these links :)*Social*SHOPIFY: https://the-essential-reads.myshopify.com/INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/theessentialreadsTWITTER: http://twitter.com/IsaacBirchallvoKo-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/theessentialreads

Sparks fly when spirited Elizabeth Bennet meets single, rich, and proud Mr. Darcy. But Mr. Darcy reluctantly finds himself falling in love with a woman beneath his class. Can each overcome their own pride and prejudice?Watch on Philo! - Philo.tv/DTH