Pride And Prejudice By Jane Austen

Elizabeth Bennet states, “I do, I do like him,” she replied, with tears in her eyes; “I love him. Indeed he has no improper pride. He is perfectly amiable. You do not know what he really is; then pray do not pain me by speaking of him in such terms (364).” During this quote, Elizabeth is talking to her father about Mr.Darcy; she tries to explain how she feels about him in order for her father to approve of them getting married. This quote is an example of a major theme in the novel; appearances are not dependable. When Elizabeth first meets Mr.Darcy she thinks he is extremely proud and condescending, and Mr.Darcy believes Elizabeth to be tolerable. Throughout the course of the novel, both characters get to learn more about what is behind the deceiving exteriors that

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.

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

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was first published in 1813(Gary vii) a time when women had “few legal and economic rights or even receiving little respect, women can be seen as oppressed victims of a patriarchal society, subordinate first to their fathers and, then, to their husbands who had, of course, been selected by their fathers” (Swords, 76-82). At first glance one might think that Pride and Prejudice reinforces sexist stereotypes, however upon further examination of Jane Austen and her heroine Elizabeth it is clear that Pride and Prejudice in fact erodes the sexist stereotypes of women.

As Fitzwilliam Darcy combats the moral flaw of pride, Pride and Prejudice’s protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, grapples with her own character downfalls. Elizabeth is a young woman of clever, astute, and sharp-witted manner. Notwithstanding, her satirical speech and propensity to make impetuous judgements often blind her as to the unbiased truth of matters. Elizabeth, who deems herself a superior judge of character,

Pride and prejudice is a novel that was written by Jane Austen concerning manners, pride and intolerance. Austen is a writer of distinction that manages to catch the attention of the audience in issues such as marriage, class, love and deceit. The novel is a love story; however, its author was also aimed at explaining the unfairness and discrimination that presides over the relationships that exists between people as well as how it impacts the choices of men and women. She was also concerned about how women make decisions concerning marriage. Austen depicts a society where different choices for people are rather limited, on the basis of almost entirely on a family 's connections and social ranking (Austen, 13). Austen 's novel “Pride and Prejudice” brings into spotlight various critical moral concerns in relation to the subject of the institution of marriage as well as other significant issues related to it.

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

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.

In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Jane uses the novel to show the common day romance of the time period. In the novel, Elizabeth Bennet, a sophisticated, lively girl manages to change Mr. Darcy, a cocky, stubborn man into a person who is head over heels in love. Although it takes her some time, Elizabeth is able to change the way Mr. Darcy feels about love in general and causes him to act differently then he has ever done before. Mr. Darcy’s self- discovery in response to Elizabeth Bennet’s blunt honestly allows him to re-evaluate his approach to love.

In addition, she is described as a beauty with expressive eyes. Elizabeth’s teasing wit brings on Darcy’s admiration, which on her part was unrequited. Instead she falls madly in love with his archenemy, the charming and charismatic Mr. Wickham. Oblivious of the truth,Miss Bennet gladly believed the accusations of inexcusable behavior and awful stories regarding Darcy made by Mr. Wickham. Only when she comes to her senses and listens to others does she realize her dreadful mistake. Darcy was really not so terrible, actually admirable and pleasant and as for Mr. Wickham he was a two faced, opportunist, who only cared about money. Her wish was granted and she got to marry for love and not for wealth although in this case she got both.

Darcy. Mr. Darcy is prideful, rich, reclusive, and of high society where Elizabeth is cordial and of the common people. Mrs. Bennet is very selfish, controlling, and dramatic, yet Elizabeth is down- to- earth. Lydia Bennet is immature and elopes while Elizabeth is mature and looking for love. Jane, the oldest sister, says she wishes to marry for love yet she marries for money. The contrasts between Elizabeth and her family set her apart as if she is special.

In some novels, women either have a trivial role or contribute to the overall meaning of the work. In some fashion, women have an obvious or underlying hand in the grand scheme of the storyline. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is centered around the character of Elizabeth Bennet. Elizabeth’s character in itself is the embodiment of independence and non-conformity. In every aspect and trait of Elizabeth’s being, she constantly goes against the grain of what society perceives to be proper and correct. Through the use of Elizabeth’s appearance, adherence to social status, and concept of marriage, Jane Austen paints a character that has enough strong-will to challenge the strict social rules.

Elizabeth thinks of Darcy as being “the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world” (15). After Darcy discomfits Elizabeth, “She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me” (13), she herself becomes prideful and prejudiced against him. Prejudice also is an issue for Darcy because he dislikes Elizabeth in the beginning for her low social status, for being impecunious and socially inept family: “Their struggle is as much as against each other as it is against the pressure of society or family. The novel presents a balance of power not only between two characters but between two conflicting modes of judgment” (Bloom 50), but Darcy is forced to deal with his pride and prejudice when he falls in love with Elizabeth. Elizabeth rejects Darcy’s first proposal based mostly on his pride and condescension.

Darcy. When Elizabeth and Darcy first meet, they are quick to make judgements about each, not only that but they are harsh judgements. (Butler, 234). Darcy, upon meeting the Bennets, tells Mr. Bingley that Elizabeth is “tolerable” (Austen, 7). Elizabeth overhears this which causes her to make her own impressions of Mr. Darcy himself. Once these impressions are made, they continue to act on them throughout the book. Elizabeth soon realizes that she is quick to judge when she talks to Jane about Darcy (Butler, 234). She tells her sister, “...I meant to be uncommonly clever in taking so decided a dislike to him, without any reason” (Austen,

Elizabeth’s pride causes her to be reserved and drives her to prove that she is different from her boisterous younger sisters who take any opportunity to dance with a male (Austen, 26). Elizabeth’s aloofness further hinders her from developing a relationship with Darcy. Darcy continues to be enamored by Elizabeth’s charm and he does not stop pursuing her even though excessive pride causes Elizabeth to discourage him from her. In response to Elizabeth’s conceit Darcy who is generally polite does however become rude and haughty to Elizabeth as a defense mechanism. As a result of Elizabeth’s haughtiness, Darcy’s positive character is stymied and can only reveal itself in the middle of the novel (Nardin, 6).