Prejudice Long Form Fiction
Jane Austen AP Lang and Comp
The Author and Her Times Born December 16, 1775, Jane Austen was an English novelist known mainly for her six major novels, which interpret and critique upon the British society at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often deal with the women’s dependence to marry to achieve a higher social standing and economic security. There is little to no information about Jane Austen's life because only a few letters out of the many survived. Austen attended the Reading Abbey Girls’ School, but mostly formed her education at home by reading and self-practice. Austen was feeling ill by 1816 but ignored the warning
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Daughter of Mr. Bennet, Elizabeth is the most intelligent and sensible out of her siblings. She is well read and clever minded, often saying things that might prove troublesome for her later. Elizabeth’s realization of Darcy’s true self eventually triumphs over her initial judgements against him. Her honesty, virtue, and clever mind enable her to rise above the nonsense and bad behavior that is expected of her class-bound and often spiteful society.
Fitzwilliam Darcy- A wealthy man, master of Pemberley, and the nephew of Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Though Darcy is intelligent and honest, his excessive pride causes him to look down to people social lower than him. Over the course of the novel, he tempers his class-consciousness and learns to admire and love Elizabeth for her strong character.
Jane Bennet- The eldest and most beautiful Bennet sister. Jane is more reserved and gentler than Elizabeth. The easy pleasantness with which she and Bingley interact contrasts starkly with the mutual distaste that marks the encounters between Elizabeth and Darcy.
Charles Bingley- Darcy’s considerably wealthy best friend. Bingley’s purchase of Netherfield, an estate near the Bennet’s, serves as the impetus for the novel. He is a genial, well-intentioned gentleman, whose easygoing nature contrasts with Darcy’s initially discourteous demeanor. He is blissfully uncaring about class
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In every love story ever written the two lovers go through obstacles to be together. And so, in this story they must put aside their pride and realize that their prejudices were wrong, for them to realize the true character of the other person. They must separate themselves from society’s norms and notions and realize that their true love is right in front of them.
In the setting in which the novel was written a person’s Reputation was of great importance. For instance, a woman could get a bad reputation for not adhering to the rules society set for her. See in the novel a woman was expected to behave in certain ways. Elizabeth strays away from this idea that a woman should be pleasing and always agree with everyone and such things. Her character is so spirited in comparison with all other women in the novel, she is a very opinionated woman who is very frank with her thoughts.
In Pride and Prejudice the lines of Social Class are strictly drawn. The Bennet’s are the middle class with the Darcy’s and Bingley’s as the higher class. Therefore, the Bennet’s are treated as inferiors. You can see this class-bound society clearly in the way Mr. Collins acts to Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Mr. Collins spends most of his time worshipping the ground she walks on. And so, he submits to the fact that she is superior to him of lower
Before his transformation, Darcy exhibits arrogance and pride. Darcy’s behavior at the Meryton ball, in particular, reflects his arrogance. Although many people at the ball initially esteemed Darcy for his wealth, “his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity.” (14). More specifically, his manners contained characteristics that were “haughty…and fastidious” and “were not inviting.” (21). Because Darcy’s pride restricts him to dance a mere four times, he further insults the Meryton assembly by failing to interact socially (154). While at a ball at Bingley’s estate, Netherfield, Darcy reveals his arrogance through his rude behavior toward Mr. Collins, a cousin of the Bennets who has close ties to Darcy’s aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Although Collins speaks to Darcy without proper introduction, Darcy does not conceal his arrogance and shows irritation “at being so addressed.” (92) Entertaining Collins with only “distant civility,” Darcy’s rudeness increases as his patience with Collin’s speech diminishes, eventually leaving Collins with only a slight bow (92).
She is admirable, intelligent and lovely. Elizabeth’s chief obstacle is her first impression of Darcy. She perceived him as arrogant and self-satisfied. However Elizabeth was not a sensible woman,
Caroline Bingley is a particularly interesting character, whose chief purpose is to aid in plot complications and undoubtedly irritate the reader. Economically, she is very much like her brother. As a product of the new gentry, she possesses a dowry of £20,000, a large sum, even for her social ranking, which gives her an advantage in marrying up on the social ladder. Her negative qualities of hypocrisy and selfishness do not aid her in her pursuit of Mr. Darcy as a potential husband; in fact they discourage Darcy as he often responds to her compliments with silence (Austen 42). Upon recognition of Darcy’s interest in Elizabeth, she proceeds to criticize everything about the Bennet sister, right down to the hem of her skirt (39). This two-facedness portrays the hypocrisy of and the effect of elevated rank on the attitudes of the new gentry of Nineteenth
His sense of her inferiority–of its being a degradation of–the family obstacles which judgment had always opposed to inclinations were dwelt on...” (Austen 12). These words reflect Mr. Darcy’s excessive pride and heightened awareness of social status, while inducing him to recount all the ways in which he and Elizabeth are an illogical union, rather than relaying anything complimentary. In response to this insult-ridden proposal, Elizabeth proclaims that if he had acted in a more “gentlemanlike manner,” she would have been more inclined to express sympathy following her rejection of his advances. Despite Elizabeth’s clear message that she will not observe his insensitive words in submission, Mr. Darcy endures in the conviction that his prideful manners toward Elizabeth are well-justified and merely detail the truthful, adverse nature of her inferior social standing with the utmost sincerity.
Darcy as a proud, arrogant man based upon his actions at the assembly where she first sees him. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy first meet at a ball where she instantly believes him to be a rude individual as she watches him only dance with women he knows and hears him call her tolerable. Elizabeth is offended by Mr. Darcy’s actions at the ball, and uses this knowledge to instantly form a negative opinion of his character. Mr. Darcy’s good nature and kind heart is therefore overlooked by Elizabeth as they continue to see each other, and she does not let go of her original prejudice of him until the end of the novel when she eventually realizes her love for him and marries him. Elizabeth’s poor and unchanging opinion of Darcy led to her initially saying no to Darcy’s first marriage proposal. Had Elizabeth not held a grudge on Mr. Darcy for his original actions at the ball, she could have realized her love for him sooner. Her mistrust of Darcy also led to repercussions that negatively affected her and her family’s lives. She would not have been deceived by Mr. Wickham and she would have saved her family from shame and embarrassment if she would have waited longer to form an opinion of Mr.
E. One of Darcy’s closest friends who falls in love with Jane Bennet. F. Is the novel’s protagonist, who in the beginning dislikes Darcy but eventually falls in love with him. G. A clergyman who is in line to own the Bennett estate, and who likes to brag about knowing Catherine deBourgh. H. Elizabeth’s Bennett good friend who is married to Mr. Collins.
Charles Bingley- Mr Bingley is Darcy’s rich friend. He is the owner of the Netherfield Estate. He is kind and has good intentions.
Darcy, he first comes into her life the same time Mr. Bingley comes into town. At first he is scene as this mysterious man that does not say much, and tries to avoid contact with any new people, but quickly becomes an important role in this story. When he first meets Elizabeth they do not get along very well, in fact it seems as if they are the exact opposite of each other; which leads to them starting to enjoy the challenges they both bring to one another. Mr. Darcy first influences her when disrespects her family for being odd and unusual, saying how (quote), her sister Jane is not a good fit for Mr. Bingley and how he shouldn’t waste his time with people who aren’t as rich, educated, or as sophisticated as him. This influences Elizabeth in a positive way because it finally gets her to speak up for herself and her family, and by her debating against Mr. Darcy, it influences the both of them to get to know one another, because he finally sees someone who might be interesting enough for him to enjoy. Another way Mr. Darcy influences Elizabeth is when he splits up her sister Jane and Mr. Bingley because he thought she wasn’t serious about him because she never openly expressed how she felt about him. This affects Elizabeth in a negative way because she is the only one who truly understands her sister, and know that she does that because she is shy, this leaves Elizabeth heartbroken because she was really
Elizabeth as a Woman of Independent Mind in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice In Jane Austen's novel 'Pride and Prejudice', Elizabeth Bennet is shown to be an opinionated, "headstrong" young woman. Her unconventional independence challenges the 19th century stereotype of high society women, who tended to conform to the expectations of society. Though her prejudiced judgement of others fails her sometimes, Elizabeth has "a lively, playful disposition, that" delights "in anything ridiculous".
Just as the characters unknowingly follow Darcy's example of pride, they commit Elizabeth's crucial mistake, prejudging people (especially Darcy) according to horribly inadequate experience. Elizabeth's positive judgement of Wickham and negative one of Darcy prevent her from seeing Wickham's devious and whimsical nature and Darcy's honest efforts to improve despite the apparent lack of incentive. Like Elizabeth, the rest of the Bennets, and indeed the rest of those living in the vicinity of Meryton, believe Darcy to be a wholly disagreeable man. (In fact, he began as such, but even when he began to change, everyone refused to realize it, and maintained their dislike of him because of their previous judgements.) Mrs. Bennet is prejudiced against all other mothers with young daughters, believing them to be just as ambitious and scheming as she herself is. When told that Mrs. Long promised to introduce the Bennet sisters to Bingley, Mrs. Bennet hisses
Mr. Darcy is very proud and vain man. Darcy’s pride occurs because his family allows him to follow his principles “in pride and conceit” (Austen 310). Elizabeth decides soon after meeting him that he is a
Introduced to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice as a tall, handsome, self-absorbed aristocrat, Darcy experiences a change in personality and character. In order to dispose of his existent views on money and marriage, Darcy needed to feel something, to fall in love. Although he was well mannered, he did not know how to treat women with respect, especially those of a lesser economic status. The love of Elizabeth Bennet, however, changed his behavior.
Mr. Darcy, as one of the main characters, is for the better part of the novel a focus of the theme of pride. His pride is very obvious. It is a part of his nature and is seen in his mannerisms and in his speech. Darcy has such a high opinion of himself that he does not care what others think of him or his prideful actions. He believes that he is the best in every way possible and finds that his standing in society gives him the right to be critical of those not as perfect as he.
Darcy’s conception of Elizabeth was established on the fact that her family is embarrassing and discourteous, making her promptly inferior to him. However, Elizabeth’s strong-willed and independent character attracted Darcy’s difficult attention, proving to him her true and unique reeling personality. Particular plot twists throughout the novel have occurred that helped Darcy and Elizabeth reveal their true identities. Darcy’s boastful attitude backfires when he first proposed to Elizabeth, who immediately refuses his offer due to his unintentional insults concerning her class and familial relations. However, Elizabeth’s reason for rejecting Darcy was not only for his abusive remarks, but also because of his interference with Jane’s happiness owing to the fact of his belief that her social class and emotional status were not good enough for his dear companion. After the incident, Darcy and Elizabeth did coincidentally meet when Elizabeth and the Gardiners were visiting Darcy’s estate thinking he would be out of town. Darcy got to see the other half of Elizabeth’s family, who were well mannered and delightful. While Darcy and Elizabeth explored other sides of each other, Wickham was taking advantage of Lydia’s ignorance and ran away with her. When Darcy receives the news about what Lydia and Wickham have done, instead of just mocking how reckless the Bennet’s are he decides to help them. Having a
This shows how influential her writing has become throughout the years. Austen’s writing opened the door for other writers to explore romantic literature. “J.K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, grew up reading Austen, who she described as ‘the pinnacle to which all other authors aspire’” (Redman). She inspires others, not only to write romance, but science fiction like Rowling has done. Her influence on the literature work is is astonishing considering she lived in the 1700’s. Many writers of that time are forgotten by most, but she has lived on way past her death. Austen is taught in high school and college English classes. She has been a huge inspiration for female writers as well. “Jane Austen is now thought of as one of the greatest English authors and considered by many as the first great woman novelist” (Jane Austen [b.1775-d. 1817]). Being considered as one of the first female novelist is a great accomplishment and a huge honor, it is a great shame the “creator” of romance did not get the recognition until after her death. She could have helped develop most extraordinary writers in her