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《傲慢与偏见》（英语：Pride and Prejudice）堪称世界名著，我们中的很多人上学时就已经阅读过，或者看过众多改编电视作品中的一部。《傲慢与偏见》被很多人认为是简·奥斯丁（Jane Austen) 最好的小说，也是她的作品中最知名、最受读者喜爱的一部。小说主要讲述了乡绅之女伊丽莎白·贝内特（Elizabeth Bennet） 和富有的达西先生（Darcy）的爱情故事，反映了19世纪英国乡绅阶层的礼节、成长、教育、道德、婚姻的情态。
我们知道小说的开篇是这么说的：
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
“有钱的单身汉总要娶位太太，这是一条举世公认的真理。”
但是实际上小说中还有比这句话更耐人寻味的内容。下面就是《傲慢与偏见》教会我们的六条关于婚姻的赤裸真相：
01
Mutual Respect Is Essential to a Happy Marriage
相互尊重是婚姻的根本
The first marriage we encounter in Pride and Prejudice is Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s. These two illustrate magnificently by negative example just how crucial respect for one another is to marital bliss. Mr. Bennet treats Mrs. Bennet like the fool she assuredly is, and Mrs. Bennet, in return, exerts the only authority she has: nagging. As readers, we may laugh with Mr. Bennet (and the narrator) at Mrs. Bennet, but we don’t side with him entirely. Even Elizabeth, as much as she loves her father and as much as he respects her, admits she “could not have formed a very pleasing opinion of conjugal felicity or domestic comfort” based on her parents’ marriage.
我们从《傲慢与偏见》中所了解的第一个婚姻便是老贝内特和夫人的婚姻。这两人的婚姻，作为一个负面例子，向我们完美诠释了相互尊重对婚姻幸福的重要性。老贝内特 把其夫人视为一个傻瓜，而贝内特夫人，也不示弱，常常利用她唯一的权威：唠叨。 作为读者，我们或许会和老贝内特一起嘲笑贝内特夫人，但是我们也并不完全赞成老贝内特的做法。即便伊丽莎白非常爱她的父亲，就像她的父亲非常尊重她一样，她也承认，倘若叫伊丽莎白根据她自己家庭的情形，「来说一说什么叫做婚姻的幸福，什么叫做家庭的乐趣，那她一定说不出好话来」。
02
First Impressions Can Be Misleading
第一印象是具有欺骗性的
As fans of Pride and Prejudice know, “First Impressions” was Austen’s original title for the work. The first half of the novel is an accumulation of false impressions, particularly Elizabeth’s misperceptions (leading to the titular prejudice) about the seemingly, titularly, proud Darcy. Ironically, Elizabeth’s confident assessment of Mr. Darcy as proud stems greatly from her own pride in her keen, but not infallible, perceptiveness. The rest of the story consists of the correction of those misreadings—and of the prejudice and pride that foster such misunderstandings.
如《傲慢与偏见》书迷所知，奥斯汀起初给她的小说取名为 《第一印象》。小说的前半部分是一些错误印象的堆积，尤其是伊丽莎白对达西的傲慢举止所表示出的偏见。讽刺的是，伊丽莎白对达西先生所形成的这种自信的评估是来源于她自身的傲慢，这种感知虽热切但并非无错。余下的小说部分是对这些误解以及对形成误解的偏见和傲慢的修正。
03
Romance Is Not Enough
婚姻中只有爱情是不够的
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet married, we learn later, out of youthful imprudence and passion. This same error is repeated by their daughter Lydia (who is all romance, no prudence) when she elopes with the conniving Wickham (who is all prudence with no romance). It doesn’t take long for the honeymoon luster to fade, and upon hearing of her sister Elizabeth’s impending marriage to Darcy, Lydia is reduced to begging the couple for a court appointment for her husband, confessing, “I do not think we shall have quite money enough to live upon without some help.”
我们都知道老本内特当年是因为年轻时的不谨慎以及欲望而娶了他太太。他的女儿Lydia 也犯了同样的错误：她与狡诈的Wickham私奔了，Wickham并不爱她 充满算计。当持续不久的蜜月的热情消逝，以及听到她姐姐伊丽莎白即将嫁给达西的时候，Lydia 落魄到去恳求这对夫妇给她老公一个法庭面试的机会， 她说：「我觉得我们现在不靠别人帮助的话，根本就不会有足够的钱来养活自己」
04
You Really Do Marry a Family,
Not Just a Person
你嫁给的确实是一个家庭，而不是一个人
This truth universally acknowledged forms one of the great obstacles between Elizabeth and Darcy, a point revealed in the explanatory letter Darcy writes to Elizabeth following her refusal of one of the most infamous marriage proposals in all of literature. Darcy’s objections to the marriage between his friend Bingley and Elizabeth’s sister Jane, he explains in the letter, owed “to that total want of propriety so frequently, so almost uniformly betrayed by [Mrs. Bennet], by your three younger sisters, and occasionally even by your father. Pardon me. It pains me to offend you.” It does offend Elizabeth—at first. But once her pride subsides, she recognizes the truth and the validity of Darcy’s concerns.
这条全世界都认可的真理也是伊丽莎白与达西之间的众多障碍的一个，在伊丽莎白拒绝了达西的求婚后，达西写了一封解释信，这封信里也包含了这一点。达西曾经反对他的朋友 Bingley和伊丽莎白妹妹 Jane的婚姻，他的理由是因为 她母亲 「Mrs. Bennet 没有体统， 你的三个妹妹都是始终一贯地做出许多没有体统的事情来，有时候甚至连你父亲也难免。请原谅我这样直言无讳，其实得罪了你，也使我自己感到难受」达西这样说一开始也确实得罪了伊丽莎白，但随着偏见的消失，她看清了真相，并理解了达西的担忧确实不无道理。
05
The Best Marriages Balance Prudence and Passion
最好的婚姻会平衡理智与情感
In Pride and Prejudice, Lydia marries out of pure passion and Charlotte marries out of sheer prudence: “Marriage had always been her object,” despite not "thinking highly either of men or of matrimony.” But the novel extols the best marriages as those that balance prudence and passion, sense and sensibility. Jane and Bingley’s marriage fits this description, even though both their wit and passion are more subdued than those of Elizabeth and Darcy.
在《傲慢与偏见》这本书中，Lydia 嫁给了爱情， Charlotte嫁给了理智：「婚姻一直是她的目标，」尽管她「对男人和婚姻并没有什么好感」。小说所赞颂的最佳的婚姻其实就是能够平衡谨慎与激情、理智与情感的婚姻。Jane 和Bingley的婚姻符合这一描述，尽管他们所彰显的智慧与情感没有伊丽莎白与达西的那么强。
It is, of course, Elizabeth and Darcy’s marriage which the novel holds up as exemplary. Theirs is a match crowned by the twin laurels of romance and reason.
其实伊丽莎白与达西之间的婚姻才是我们的模范。他们的婚姻是爱情与理智双重桂冠的结合。
06
A Good Marriage Challenges Both Partners to Grow
好的婚姻会让双方共同成长、彼此成就
Despite being well-matched in both intellect and passion for each other, Elizabeth and Darcy have to undergo painful chastening, admit their errors, enlarge their perspectives, and see matters through the eyes of the other before they can love each other. And although the novel ends, as all classical comedies do, with their felicitous union, we know enough of their strong minds and robust personalities to perceive that challenges will lie ahead. But we are certain that Elizabeth and Darcy are, like iron that sharpens iron, equally matched. Their marriage provides the best marriage lesson of all: Marry someone whose love will develop you into a better person.
尽管伊丽莎白和达西对彼此的智慧和情感是旗鼓相当的，他们却也不得不在恋爱之前经受痛苦的历练、承认错误，拓宽视野并从他人角度来看待事情。尽管和其他喜剧一样，小说以二人的幸福结合而结尾，我们也能从他们二人的固执以及强烈个性推断出他们的婚姻也会面临挑战，然而我们相信，伊丽莎白与达西就像铁磨砺铁一样，彼此成就。他们的婚姻给我们提供了最好的婚姻课， 那就是：一定要嫁给一个能够成就你的人。
And to borrow a line from another novel, “Reader, I married him.”
最后引用另外一本小说的一句话，「读者，我嫁给了他」
作者简介：
*雅思8.5达人@Lili 老师
-阅读听力9写作8.5口语8
超过10年的教学经验，曾多次创下帮学生40课时内达到雅思8分和7.5分的高分记录，擅长帮学生搭建高分句型结构、满分素材，强雅思写作批改，直击失分点，英国名校圣安德鲁斯大学(英国卫报排名第二; 威廉王子母校) 英语教育MBA 双硕士科班出身，有着深厚的英语语言教学以及写作功底，TESOL 资格证书 TESl Canada 资格认证；
分享雅思以及英语的技巧，希望读者都能「用英语认识世界，也让世界认识你」！