Ryanne Molinari

I am rereading Pride and Prejudice for probably the sixth time for an independent study project. At the risk of sounding like Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail, I really don’t think you can read this book too many times. Every time I revisit it, I enjoy it with greater relish: the wit strikes deeper, the commentary is more poignant, and the story is more delightful.

The last two times I’ve read it, though, I have paused on page forty-one and lingered on the following line:

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book—When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

A quick Google search of this quote yields countless sentimental text posts. Merchandise and artsy text posts with this quote blanket bookish Pinterest boards, and even “Janeites” re-pin and purchase them!

Even more hilarious is the fact that, about a decade ago, this quote was printed on a new ten-pound note in the UK.

Why is this hilarious?

Because while Jane Austen penned these words, they are spoken by her most unlikable (and unliterary) character: Miss Bingley. She utters these words in a vain effort to impress Mr. Darcy and to seem more literary than Elizabeth Bennet, who openly admits to liking but not loving books. By now, you probably know that I genuinely love books, but I appreciate honesty more than bookishness.

The popularity of this quote is ironic: it’s the mantra of self-professed bookish folk who, apparently, did not actually read the book—at least not recently or with great attention. In a funny sort of way, the prevalence of this quote proves Austen’s initial point: people who do not actually enjoy reading are often eager to seem as though they do.

All this to say: Check the context of your quotes. I’m sure I speak for authors everywhere when I say that I hope that nobody ever ascribes the words of my antagonists to me simply because I typed them out!

Now, I’m off to check over my Pride and Prejudice merchandise to make sure I’m not incriminating myself because, let’s face it, I probably pinned this quote once or twice, too.