Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Essay

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.

Elizabeth has a good relationship with her sisters and parents and all seem to love each other very much. Elizabeth and her mother didn’t have the greatest relationship and she was the least dear to her mother out of the all her other sisters and her. Elizabeth and her father are very close unlike with her mother. All her mother wants is to see all five of her daughters married, so much so that she tries to force elizabeth to marry Mr. Collins so they would not lose their estate. Elizabeth has a good relationship with all her sisters but has a greater relationship with her older sister Jane and she understands a lot about her that no one else does. Elizabeth has a weird relationship with Mr. darcy. When Elizabeth first meets Mr Darcy. she falls in love with him of the fact they are so much alike. Mr. Darcy does not find her attractive enough to tempt him and elizabeth gets very offended by this remark and Elizabeth ignores him. Mr darcy eventually takes a liking to Elizabeth when she wants nothing to do with him anymore. The relationship between them changes a lot but in the end they marry. Elizabeth was known as a women who was very intelligent and honest, and was very kind to

The eventual marriage between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice comes as a result of their profound personal rediscoveries. Initially, a slew of misunderstandings between the two characters, stemming from their first encounter at a ball in Meryton, had plagued the relationship, nearly rendering it irreconcilable. They both left that first ball with wildly different interpretations of each other’s intentions; Darcy’s refusal to dance with Elizabeth instilled her with a budding resentment that would distort her judgement of him until mid-way through the novel, while the former character, assured by his pride, viewed her disposition as flirtatious in nature. These conflicting perspectives put them both at cross-purposes, but neither realizes this truth until they each embark on a personal journey of self-discovery; Elizabeth and Darcy’s subsequent realizations better them both, and renders the pair romantically compatible.

Darcy realizes that his pride is keeping he and Elizabeth apart. Mr. Darcy earns Elizabeth’s love by fixing all the wrongs he has committed to her and her family. He brings Elizabeth’s sister and Mr. Bingley back together, saying, “ I told him, moreover, that I believed myself mistaken in supposing, as I had done, that your sister was indifferent to him; and as I could easily perceive that his attachment to her was unabated, I felt no doubt of their happiness together” (Chapter 58 ). Elizabeth is also grateful when Mr. Darcy persuades Wickham to marry Lydia as shown in this quote: “ The vague and unsettled suspicions which uncertainty had produced of what Mr. Darcy might have been doing to forward her sister’s match, which she had feared to encourage as an exertion of goodness too great to be probable, and at the same time dreaded to be just, from the pain of obligation, were proved beyond their greatest extent to be true!” Elizabeth sees that Mr. Darcy is good at heart (Chapter 52). With this new information, she accepts his second marriage

The first impression is the hardest impression to overcome. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy did not have a very smooth first interaction. Because of his social status, Mr. Darcy comes across as very pride during his first interaction with Elizabeth. Mr. Bingly (Mr. Darsy’s friend) suggests that Mr. Darcy dances with Elizabeth at a social event – a ball. “She [Elizabeth] is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me; I [Mr. Darcy] in no humour to present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men.” It is at this even that both characters reveal their flaws to each other. Instead of saying “no” politely, Darcy shows his prideful character by insinuating that Elizabeth was not charming enough for him. On the other hand, the comment by Darcy causes

Beginning with Mr. Darcy's failed proposal and his later letter of explanation, Elizabeth's proud and judgemental nature is altered by the pressure placed on her to decide if she wishes to marry Mr. Darcy or not. Introspection and her eventual acceptance of her romantic feelings for Mr. Darcy demonstrate that strenuous emotional situations can lead to a change in character, by allowing her to open up her prejudiced mind and see that the opinions she has are not always correct. Prior to her relations with Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth is a young woman who sees little point in marrying if she does not find a man whom will bring her happiness in life. This provides a foundation from which she can change, placing her in an ideal position to change in response to the

Darcy is the worst man she has ever met because he insults her before speaking to her. She expects nothing except a horrible man whenever confronted with him, but upon their second meeting, Mr. Darcy has decided he loves Elizabeth to his own surprise. Upon admitting his love for her, the irony is Elizabeth expected a confession of hate from Mr. Darcy not a confession of love. Mr. Darcy even includes the reasons why he should not like Elizabeth in his declaration. Austen states, “Elizabeth’s astonishment was beyond expression. She stared, coloured, doubted, and was silent” (145). Mr. Darcy’s attitude towards Elizabeth changes abruptly to her, and this causes his declaration of love to be startling. Elizabeth does not love Mr. Darcy, and she does not think he loves her. The irony of his declaration is not lost on Elizabeth since she knows how out of character his love is. His conflicting emotions cause the ironic situations between himself and

Mr. Darcy loves Elizabeth so much but the feeling is not mutual between the two. When he proposes to Elizabeth, she is staying at the Hunsford house. Mr. Darcy is a very wealthy man and does not let the fact that Elizabeth is not as wealthy as him affect the way he feels about her. He goes out of his way to let her know how much better he is than her within their social standings and Elizabeth gets offended because she is a very self-respecting woman. Once Mr. Darcy proposes to her, she turns him down and later to gives him the reason why she did. This evolved their relationship for the better because it shows Mr. Darcy cannot get what he wants all the time because of how much

Darcy’s begins by explaining his thoughts and the reason behind what did: breaking up Jane and Mr. Bingley. As he explains his observations and intents, it’s understood that Mr. Darcy had logically thought it through and was only doing what he thought was best for his friend Mr. Bingley as he believed Jane’s love to not be as deep as Mr. Bingley’s. After reading, Elizabeth comes to admit that Jane didn’t act very open with her feelings towards Mr. Bingley due to Mr. Darcy’s appeal to her good sense of logic and reason. Additionally, Mr. Darcy’s letter to Elizabeth consists of his side of the story as he explains his past and most importantly, his connection with the infamous Mr. Wickham. Here, Mr. Darcy becomes better understood as he explains Mr. Wickham’s dishonorable intents not only with his family’s money but his sister.

When Elizabeth flatly turns down his marriage proposal, it startles Darcy into realizing just how arrogant and assuming he has been. Soon, there is reconciliation between Darcy and Elizabeth where each admits how much they have changed as a result of their earlier encounters. An example of this is when Lady Catherine visits to insure the marriage between Darcy and Elizabeth. She came in order to prevent it, but when Darcy hears the manner in which Elizabeth answered Lady Catherine, he realizes that Elizabeth regards him differently. He saw that her attitude of him had changed which prompted him to make his marriage proposal. Thus, we can now see that Darcy and Elizabeth both have balance in their relationship because they are able to reflect against each other and each is capable of undergoing a change. In the end, Darcy is willing to marry into a family with three silly daughters, an embarrassing mother and is willing to make Wickham his brother-in-law .It may be that he is more easygoing about other people's faults because he is now aware of his own.

Regaining focus on Austen’s thought about happiness, with respect to marriage or love; the authors position on such topic is amplified via the characters’ pairings and doublings and as they shift through the course of the novel. As we analyze the main characters in the novel, both Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy are the main couplet in which experience significant development as the novel gallops along towards the ending. Being the second oldest of the Bennet sisters, Elizabeth Bennet, is a

Amidst a family that makes analyses of other people either incorrectly or not at all, Elizabeth prides herself on her ability to correctly assess people. Overshadowed by her admiration of Mr. Wickham and her unfortunate first impression of Mr. Darcy, her ability to be an impartial spectator of each of these men’s characters is askew. “She had been blind, partial, prejudiced, absurd” (Austen 178). Her preference dictates which facts and opinions she regards as correct, therefore showing her lack of maturity leading up to the letter itself. When she reads the letter, she finally sees the full picture and realizes that she had thrown out facts that did not fit her initial impression of the men. “I have courted the prepossession and ignorance, and driven reason away” (Austen 179). Elizabeth was letting her emotions cloud her rationality. Once shown how she had unfairly judged both men, she comes to the realization that she hides the true judgmental aspect of her personality even from herself: “Till this moment I never knew myself” (Austen 179). Blinded by a superiority that comes with being the most praised child, she never doubted a fault within herself.

Darcy, himself. From then her true colors start to shine across each page and she comes into herself fully. Darcy begins by ignoring her at a public dance and then further on for disturbing the possible link between Jane, her sister, and Charles Bingley. There is definite reasoning behind it but Elizabeth is quick to judge those she encountered making it an important part of her overcoming her obstacles to become the romantic of the novel.

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).

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