Kathryn Schulz (Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error) devotes a chapter to the relationship between error and art. Her analysis is cogent and diverse. One exploration involves art as a sort of alert to our sense of right and wrong. There is ample art in imperfection partly because perfection is unachievable anyway. But our enjoyment of art is found in our emotional and intellectual reckoning of that imperfection. The works of art nearest to our estimation of perfect beauty catch our attention for lack of that perfection. It is the gap between perfect and imperfect that excites our artistic sensibilities.
This is evident in literature. All good stories must have conflict. Conflict arises out of some error, someone in the story being wrong, either with malice or by accident. Imagine how boring a story would be if everyone did the right thing all the time. Imagine how boring life would be if everyone acted without error all the time. Not to worry: it cannot happen that way, anyway.
On page 331 of Being Wrong, Schulz calls Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice “arguably the best example of pleasure from error in all of literary history” and “one of the world’s greatest meditations on certainty and wrongness.” Well, Austen’s book being available on the jail-dorm bookshelf, I simply had to see for myself. Indeed, this novel of English manners is about getting people wrong. It is an early nineteenth century example of a bad internet dating experience.
Elizabeth Bennet, the heroine, is certain of Mr. Darby’s overabundant pride. Over a yearlong acquaintance, she learns that her own prejudice about him and others may have been wrong. Pride & Prejudice is wrapped up in 19th century English manners and customs. The customs of gentry and one’s connections governed social life in general and courtship rituals specifically. A modern retelling of the story (no, not one involving zombies) might involve the strange rules governing internet romance, which also provides many opportunities for people to be wrong (see Catfish.)
Jane Austen’s book is deliciously interesting precisely because of the wrongness. We cheer the reconciliation of the errors. Being aware that a character is wrong and wanting her to resolve the error is one of the most reliable reader-hooks a writer can employ. The expert wrongologist is right: Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice is a spot-on example of this.
Note: I think everyone should read Pride & Prejudice simply because it represents classic literature. Also, Jane Austen’s writing style – her voice – is exceedingly beautiful once a reader gets accustomed to it.
Links
Link to Pride & Prejudice on Powells.com
Link to Which Great Classics to Read and Why on this site
Link to review of Being Wrong on this site
Posted by Drevil, 1/12/2013
LOL. Speaking of something that went terribly wrong, have you seen pride and prejudice and zombies?