In class today we talked about whether or not we thought the ending to Pride and Prejudice was a "happy ending." I was surprised to find that a few people weren't satisfied. Yes, I agree that the ending was a bit rushed, but I still found it satisfying.
I actually found the sort of rushed ending that Pride and Prejudice had to be similar to a lot of more contemporary books. Most of the books I read go into great length while building up to the climax, and then. . . . It's over. There's a resolution lasting maybe one or two chapters at most, and it's the end of the book. So maybe I found it to be satisfying because I'm used to that kind of ending from what I read.
But I think that those sorts of rushed endings are quite common today. Movies, as well as books, have endings like that. Most movies reach the climax point, resolve, and have maybe one scene after the climax to resolve anything further. They don't go into detail on what happens after, because that's not as important as what happens to get them there. Like someone said in class today, "It's the journey that matters, not the destination."
I also found the ending pretty much satisfying. And I think that the Pride and Prejudice ending is definitely a lot like todays endings in books and also movies. I mean you can't keep going until the endings "perfect" because there will almost always be something or someone unsatisfied. Or it will just make everything too long. It's good to let things be implied or let us use our imaginations otherwise we won't be active readers!
ReplyDelete