alex reads jane austen

alex reads pride and prejudice 

For the most part, in my life, I’ve always enjoyed Romance. What I perceive it to be, which is filled with lofty ideals, extensively tagged works on AO3, and maybe a really vivid imagination. But I’ve found an incredible joy in knowing there is more to it than what I’ve always known.

I think the most world-shifting part for me is how romance hasn’t always been: boy meet girl, boy woo girl, boy and girl get married. With all due respect, heterosexual relationships and their trials and tribulations aren’t always the most entertaining forms of media for me, despite their persistence. I find myself wanting more of the female characters, far less of the male ones, and valuing the bonds women create between eachother and taking that away as my favorite parts of the story. And I think that that is okay.

But what has been somewhat knocking the back of my head is how Romance is everywhere. I’ll find myself speaking to a friend about something mundane, and then my immediate follow up is: ah, that’s pretty romantic isn’t it? It is everywhere. Even when you need it least. And yet I am somewhat pleased with this result. Despite the way I might seem, I think finding gentle, quaint experiences a little more exciting is very good for me. Oftentimes I perceive myself as boring, so to think there is a whole other subset of people out there who find the joys in those exact mundanities is rather comforting. To me, that is what romance exists in: the space between everything else.

“How could you begin?" said she. "I can comprehend your going on charmingly, when you had once made a beginning; but what could set you off in the first place?"
"I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun." (pg 359)

To me, love born in those simple moments, slowly and then all at once, is some of the most special kinds of love out there. The encapsulation of it throughout, is one that I very much appreciate. But I’m the last person to tell you that love only is romantic. No, I think love for life is in everything, the colors of everything surrounding you, the air, the way it all moves you toward realizing your heart is what makes you human.