"I never saw such a woman."

"Oh! certainly," cried his faithful assistant [Miss Bingley], "no one can be really esteemed accomplished, who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved."


"All this she must possess," added Darcy, "and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading."


"I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing any."


"Are you so severe on your own sex, as to doubt the possibility of all this?"


"I never saw such a woman."


~Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (Chapter 8)

In the movie from 2005, Elizabeth actually says, "I never saw such a woman. She would certainly be a fearsome thing to behold," and I actually like that better. Sorry Jane Austen.

I have to admit, I never saw such a woman either, and I've seen many women (and men) I admire. Maybe it's the fact that we're far too busy--women nowadays actually go to school and get degrees and all that--but still, that's quite a bit to accomplish.

Although the character of Miss Bingley makes me giggle, I'm more inclined to follow the philosophy of French writer Émile Zola. You see, once upon a time, earlier this year, I finally bought a copy of my favorite book of all time, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. (More about that later. For now, READ IT.) I picked up the Harper Perennial Modern Classics version, which comes with, "insights, interviews, and more..." in the back.

Along with the biography of author Betty Smith and a piece by her daughter was a short essay by Betty herself, entitled, "Fall in Love with Life." In it, she quotes Zola: "'To have a child, to plant a tree, to write a book.' That, he said, was a full life!" (I should break out the internal citation rules, but I won't.)

I was as struck by that quote as Betty was. In a world of far too much to accomplish, far too many things to do, it really is that simple. A successful life can consist of those basic three pillars: doing something good for the world (planting a tree), completing a work (Betty interprets "writing a book" as, "a symbol for any constructive job, honestly done," and I agree with her), and raising a child. Thank god for that succinct summary.

And so, my mission: to live a full life, by Zola's standard. Some of it will have to wait (I'm not planning on a child anytime soon). And I won't try to carry it out all at once. But now it will be in the back of my mind. Hence, this won't be a blog of, "What-can-I-do-today-to-make-my-life-successful-and-productive-GAH." But it will be an interesting experiment.

Here we go. And maybe, along the way, I'll end up resembling something of Miss Bingley's "accomplished woman." But she still makes me giggle.

Photo from enchantedserenityperiodfilms.blogspot.com