How Does Wickham First Impressions In Pride And Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is a novel that has intrigued readers for decades. Despite where one may be from, what gender they are, or what age they are, this story enthralls every reader. One of the primary reasons that this book is so notorious is because the two main themes: pride and prejudice, are two characteristics that any person can say they have come to know. Whether it be in themselves, in a friend, or even in a stranger, pride and prejudice are two defining attributes a person may have. Almost every character in this novel possesses at least one of these characteristics and because of this, relationships are created, broken down, and built

Although Elizabeth’s decision to decline Mr. Collins’ offer was not affected by social pressure, her society nevertheless has a strong influence on her. She based her judgment of both Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy with respect to her society. People at Meryton adores Mr. Wickham for his appearance and personality. As the speaker says, “His appearance was greatly in his favour… The introduction was followed up on his side by a happy readiness of conversation… and the whole party were still standing and talking together very agreeably (69).” Her affection for him gets her better judgment to the extent that she believes everything he says. She even criticized herself later on to be fooled by vanity. The society sees Mr. Wickham as a man with

Furthermore, not only does Austen’s novel display an ambiguity about emotion as a result of pride, but also exhibits an appreciation for wealth and pride, which is characterized by Darcy. In its awareness of the conditions of modernity and city life and the consequences for family structure and individual characters, the novel prefigures much Victorian literature as does the authors’ use of such elements as many formal social gatherings and rather flawed, prideful characters. The theme of pride is developed by the class consciousness of the characters throughout Pride and Prejudice. Darcy’s

In fact, everyone in the town thought he was a nice person due to his nice manner and kind appearance, but he wasn’t actually that nice. It was discovered in a research article that “(p)eople often draw trait inferences from the facial appearance of other people” (Willis, Todorov 2005). He was a gambler and he owed a lot of money every time he traveled past a place. Also, he was a liar and a gold digger for trying to marry to women for their money. Furthermore, he spoke ill of Darcy and ruining Darcy’s reputation just because Darcy didn’t want to give money to him. All of these characters cannot be tell from first impressions, and Wickham smartly present himself in a way that can hide his true characters from the

Deeper in the novel Elizabeth begins to admire another fellow by the name of Wickham. During Elizabeth’s and Wickham’s relationship he informed her that he has been treated horribly by Darcy. Wickham’s telling her that sabotaged Elizabeth’s opinion on Darcy (chapter 13-17). Later on Darcy proposed to Elizabeth and she rejects him. Explaining to him that him that his actions to Wickham were irrational and that his arrogant demander when proposing wasn’t pleasant. After Elizabeth’s remarks Darcy gives her a letter explaining everything and showing that he really in not a bad person (chapter 27-34). The letter soon changes Elizabeth’s perspective Darcy. Darcy facing rejection causes him to transform his arrogance into courtesy for others. Which led to him being worthy of Elizabeth’s love (chapter 56-61). Darcy cleaning up is act is an example of how Elizabeth’s perspective on him inspired him to better himself in her favor.

Without words or knowledge of another's characteristics, most people find themselves criticizing others based on their first impression. How do they look, how do they speak, what clothes do they wear or even how much money they are worth. All these questions and yet the most initial impressions do not involve who a person is on the inside. Just as it is in the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, she suggests that during the Victorian era first impressions play a significant role in how one’s life plays out, whether a woman becomes a burden on her family or lives a comfortable life. In the novel, Jane Austen portrays the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, as the daughter, who steps away from the stereotypical woman of this period, rather than marrying to alleviate a burden on her family, she chooses to marry Mr. Darcy because she loves him. Unfortunately the couple starts off on bad terms because of Mr. Darcy’s initial insult towards Elizabeth creating the main conflict of the story. Jane Austen demonstrates this idea through the theme of reputation, the motif of courtship, and its setting during the Romantic era. As a result, we get a novel that during its time; truly challenges the classic role of woman, being wives and mothers without opinions or intelligence. An interesting fact about the main idea is that the novel’s first given title was The First Impressions. From that we know that first impressions play a grand role in the book.

Wickham is a character that was introduced as a good guy that was not friendly with the ‘bad’ guy Mr. Darcy. We learn that they grew up together and money because this fight. “Mr. Wickham was the happy man towards whom almost every female eye was turned, and Elizabeth was the happy woman by whom he finally seated himself.” (Austen 57.) In this perspective Wickman seems to be the kind of man that any woman would be lucky to have causing Lydia to fall for him. While later we see the kind of man he really is and how he only really cares about is money. If all the people were not blinded by the good first impression of him they might not have let him blind them and ruin Mr. Darcy’s reputation. According to the Academic Director of The George Washington University Study Abroad Centre in London, Laurie Kaplan. “The young gentlemen had been companions in their youth, but a series of betrayals by one man destroys the trust that existed between the families and causes an irreparable split between them.”(Kaplan 1.) This shows that they had a rivalry which Elizabeth would have wanted both sides on if she had not favored Wickham due to him being better in social situations. This is one issue that would have been avoided if Elizabeth did not put so much pressure on her first meeting of

In Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, she exemplifies the ignorance which pride can lead to, such as prejudice. This theme is apparent through the various characters in the book, displaying excessive pride and making assumptions about other people’s personalities without fully knowing them. Factors such as social class, financial stability, and use of manners tend to determine whether a person is agreeable, and is what multiple characters use to make judgments of others. Characters such as Fitzwilliam Darcy and Charles Bingley display this theme very effectively, in their decisions and the way they behave. Fitzwilliam Darcy allows his pride to overcome him and refuses to socialize or have any connection with anyone he deems unacceptable to his standards. Although Charles Bingley does not display excessive pride, he allows his pride to affect his opinions and choices. Once they discard their pride and refuse to allow their prejudice to overcome them, Darcy and Bingley are able to discover the true character of others, receive admiration from others, and obtain happiness. After refusing the negative opinions of others, putting themselves on the same level as others, and disregarding various aspects that are irrelevant to one’s personality, Darcy and Bingley achieve contentment.

Elizabeth's prejudice against Darcy is fuelled when she hears from Wickham that Darcy has treated him wrongly. Elizabeth accepts Wickham's story without exploring it fully because she believes that he is a gentleman and so is trustworthy. This is another example of how first impressions can be wrong, as Wickham is not a gentleman as Elizabeth first thought and has not told Elizabeth the whole truth about why Darcy treated him wrongly. When Elizabeth finds out the vital information that Wickham has not mentioned her opinion of both Wickham and Darcy changes dramatically. This is a crucial point in the novel as this is when Elizabeth realises how easily she has formed prejudices and opinions about people that are wrong.

Throughout the novel, Elizabeth only has bad things to say about Darcy. She believes that he is a vain and conceited man who sees her family as incompetent and inferior. Darcy’s bad habits and pride make Elizabeth form prejudices that mask Darcy’s true personality. And due to her preconceived notions on Darcy, Elizabeth believes Mr. Wickham’s story about Darcy and also speculates that Darcy

Darcy’s pride and his sense of superiority are considered rude and ungentlemanly behavior, and no amount of money or fine looks can save him from falling into disgrace with the people of Hertfordshire. Later, when Darcy first proposes to Elizabeth, she shocks him when she angrily exclaims that “had [he] behaved in a more gentleman-like manner” (168), then she may have felt

Also, Elizabeth's perception of Mr. Wickham is incorrect (Molar 25). She thinks he is, and he does appear to be, a perfect gentleman on the outside because of the way he portrays himself, but really, he is one of the most flawed characters in the novel. Elizabeth is "completely taken in by the almost transparent duplicity" (Moler 25) of Mr. Wickham, especially when he speaks. "A thorough, determined dislike of me, a dislike which I cannot but attribute in some measure to jealousy. Had the late Mr. Darcy liked me less, his son might have borne with me better; but his fatherÕs uncommon attachment to me, irritated him I believe very early in life. He had not a temper to bear the sort of competition in which we stood, the son of preference which was often given me" (Austen 72), Mr. Wickham speaks with eloquence and Elizabeth takes it for face value, and believes everything he says. If what he says is true, problems do not arise, but what he says is false and is in fact hurtful to another man, Mr. Darcy. Austen shows it is important to see all sides of the story before making a judgement, otherwise it is called being prejudice. She also portrays the fact that there is probably a lot more to people than what they show to the world. This

Although Darcy's words revealed a large metamorphism in his disposition, his actions are more evident and show his true ability to change. At Mr. Darcy's introduction to the novel he is immediately described as "…haughty, reserved, and fastidious, and his manners, though well bred, were not inviting" (Austen 12). Austen introduces Darcy with all of his pretentious nature. Following the Meryton ball, Austen continues to display that unattractive nature of Darcy by comparing him to Bingley. "Darcy, on the contrary, had seen a collection of people in whom there was little beauty and no fashion, for none of whom he had felt the smallest interest, and from none received either attention or pleasure" (Austen 12). This statement reinforces the idea that Mr. Darcy is only concerned with talented women of great importance. It is Elizabeth, however, who wins his heart with her liveliness and witty remarks.

Pride and Prejudice, a novel written by Jane Austen during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century is often thought of as simply a love story and although on the surface this is true, it is in fact much more than that. Austen focuses greatly on the class system and lack of social mobility allowed in England during this period (the Napoleonic Wars, 1797-1815) and the pride and prejudice that these social divides reveal, as well as the personal pride and prejudice shown by individual characters and how these interlink. The novel is in many ways a comedy of manners (that is, a comedy that ridicules a particular social group because of their attitudes and behaviour, in this case the Upper class and to some extent the Middle class).

In the beginning, Elizabeth thinks that Darcy is "the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world"(7).  Given that the point of view in this work is predominantly based upon Elizabeth's observations, the descriptions of Darcy can be rendered as Elizabeth's attitude toward him.  Another evidence supporting her dislike of Darcy is represented by following depiction: "He[Darcy] was at the same time haughty, reserved, and fastidious..."(11).  Thus, repulsed by Darcy's detached conceit and arrogance, Elizabeth rejects his offer to dance(38).  The negative impression toward Darcy is reinforced by Wickam's impartial statement about him: "for almost all his[Darcy's] actions may be traced to pride"(61).  Superficially Darcy is "condemned as the worst of men"(104).  The accumulated prejudices against Darcy unfailingly culminates in Elizabeth's blunt rejection to Darcy's proposal.  The reason for her refusal, she argues, is his arrogance, conceit and selfish disdain of the feelings of others(145).  Taken together, the overall situation strongly suggests that Elizabeth regards Darcy as "the last man in the world whom I[she] could ever be prevailed on to marry"(145).