The Bright Book of Life by Harold Bloom

AT DIFFERENT TIMES in my life I have preferred Persuasion and Emma to Pride and Prejudice, but in my advanced old age the three seem equally grand. The same holds for Mansfield Park, but I will neglect it in this book.

Probably Pride and Prejudice is the most popular Austen. It is frequently hilarious, always amiable, and with a curious profundity that is difficult to assess. Why did Mr. Bennet marry the absurd Mrs. Bennet? The question is unanswerable since the mismatch is preposterous: Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three-and-twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character. Her mind was less difficult to develop. She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.