Solitaire

by Alice Oseman

“I am sorry, Mr. Kent,” he reads, “but I have not read Pride and Prejudice. I disagreed with the very first sentence and that was enough for me.” Kent looks up at me briefly, before skipping to my second paragraph. “Alas, Elizabeth Bennet does not love Mr. Darcy while he is ‘imperfect.’ Only once his better character is revealed does she decide that she will accept Pemberley and the hundred billion a year. Fancy that. It seems that it is impossible, for almost everyone in this novel, to look past an exterior and try to dig out the greatness within others. Yes, all right, Elizabeth is prejudiced. I get it, Jane Austen. Well done.” “Yeah,” I say. “All right.” “I’m not done,” chuckles Kent. He skips to my conclusion. “This is why Mr. Darcy is, in my eyes, a true hero. He struggles on, despite being so harshly treated and judged. Pride and Prejudice is one man’s fight to be seen by others as he sees himself. Therefore, he is not typical. A typical hero is brave, confident, and dashing. Mr. Darcy is shy, haunted by himself, and unable to fight for his own character. But he loves, and I guess that is all that matters in the world of literature.”