Austen and Hemingway: In Retrospect

Although I appreciate Jane Austen for her writing style and accurate cataloging of aristocratic life in England in the early 19th Century, I cannot say that Pride and Prejudice was more enjoyable than Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Many of the characters and plot sequences that Austen features seem unrealistic (whether overly foolish, like Mrs. Bennett, or too coincidental, like Elizabeth’s stumbling into Darcy). Also, although I certainly appreciate a happy ending, Austen seems to shove the ending at us. In an act of “deus ex machina,” Austen has both Bennett sisters suddenly married and happy at the very end of the work. Where did that come from?To me, Ernest Hemingway’s characters were much more realistic and accessible. I feel that this is partially due to his straightforward style of writing, but also in their mannerisms and behaviors. Could I be fulfilling the stereotype of the male reader by preferring Hemingway over Austen? Both The Sun Also Rises and Pride and Prejudice are about the pursuit of love. What is it that seems more feminine about the way that Jane Austen writes, and more masculine about the way that Hemingway writes?

I was glad that we were assigned Jane Austen’s letters to her sisters (& etc), as they give a pretty good context to the reading of Pride and Prejudice. The work was slightly tedious to me because the dialect of Jane Austen seemed to be a bit passive and overly descriptive, and, especially because it takes place in the early 19th Century, it seems less relatable. The letters give a real life context to the work. Her letters contain gossip and social priority, just like the storyline of Pride and Prejudice. I certainly appreciate the work more having read Austen’s letters.