Pride and the Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice tells a story of a young girl in the midst of a very materialistic society. Jane Austen uses the setting to dramatize the restraints women had to endure in society. As the novel develops, we see how women have to act in a way according to their gender, social class, and family lineage. Elizabeth Bennet’s sisters represent the proper societal lady while Lizzy is the rebel. Through her characters Austen shows how a women’s happiness came second to the comfort of wealth. As the plot develops, events are laid out to illustrate how true love is unattainable when women marry for intentions of wealth. Women have very specific and limited roles in a society where men are the superior. In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

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 of status is founded on social prejudice while Elizabeth's initial prejudice against him is rooted in pride of her own perception. But their true communications afterwards made both of them correct their ideas about each other's characteristic as well as their own personalities.

Although Mr. Darcy has trouble getting along with Elizabeth because she is honest about her opinions, he maintains an attraction to her. When the

In the beginning Mr. Darcy thought of himself as polite and of himself as a gentleman. He thought of himself as though he was the perfect man, that he was just like society expected him to be like. Elizabeth was a strong independent women who did not need to be taken care of by anyone, and could do anything and everything by herself. Much to her mother’s disapproval who wanted her to be taken care of and helped when needed.

Elizabeth declines the proposal from Mr. Darcy because of the way he has treated her but Elizabeth is being offered a really good deal here. Elizabeth makes Darcy look like a fool when Darcy proclaims his love to Elizabeth since Darcy usually is never told no by anyone. The novel illustrates Elizabeth’s hesitation to committing to a marriage with Mr. Darcy. The readers see that Elizabeth holds a strong belief that everyone is born with evil she says “There is, I believe, in every disposition a tendency to some particular evil a natural defect, which not even the best education can overcome. And your defect is to hate everybody” (Austen 143).

Miss Woodhouse! who can think of Miss Smith, when Miss Woodhouse is near” (Austen, 2006a, p.

As for Mr.Darcy he seems to have a preconception with every word that comes out of his mouth. Even when he confesses his love to Elizabeth he tells her he did not want to confess his love because he was to good for her. “In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feeling will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire you and love you.” (Austen 227). He tells her something he wishes to keep secret, but she listens to what Mr.Darcy has to say

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.

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 shared his letter, and also when Mr. Darcy saved her sister from ruining the family. When Elizabeth was at Pemberley with Mr. Darcy, she observed Mr. Darcy acting completely civil towards her and her aunt and uncle, even after she rejected his marriage proposal. This was the moment that Elizabeth started to consider her initial judgement of Mr. Darcy's character to be wrong. With the letter, his civility at Pemberley, and the saving of her sister, pointing towards Mr. Darcy's true character, Elizabeth finally realized that her pride and prejudice was blinding her from her love of Mr. Darcy. When Mr. Darcy returned to Longbourn, Elizabeth had changed her original opinion of him, and was willing to be Mrs.

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.

The continued interations with Elizabeth led Darcy to begin his adventure forth to wed Elizabeth, even going so far as to propose, and refuse the denial returned. The persistance of Darcy caused Elizabeth to reflect internally, asking "Why is he so altered? From what can it proceed? It cannot be for me—it cannot be for my sake that his manners are thus softened” (Austen Ch.43). However, it wasn’t just Darcy that changed. This, rather shockingly, forced Elizabeth to realize “vanity, not love, has been my folly,” and that even herself of all people “had been blind, partial, prejudiced, absurd.” (Austen Ch.36) and that she too held herself of a level superior to Darcy, and promptly softened her “prejudice” against Darcy, even feeling “a more gentle sensation towards [Darcy] than she had ever felt in the height of their acquaintance” (Austen

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).