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The Importance Of Pride In Pride And Prejudice

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In the novel Pride and Prejudice, Austen emphasizes the importance of overcoming one’s pride in order to obtain true happiness. Excessive pride is a character trait that can get in the way of the happiness of many relationships, whether it’s familial love, friendship or romantic love. Balance must be obtained between vanity and modesty in order for a partnership between two people to work. By contrasting the internal struggle to find that equilibrium, Austen emphasizes the importance of humility through Darcy, who must face the challenge of overcoming his pride in order to reach the heart of the woman he loves.
Mr. Darcy’s excessive pride is evidenced very early on in the novel, particularly in his interactions with others. At the Meryton ball, where the reader first encounters Darcy, within five minutes of him entering the room, he was deemed to be “above his company” and “above being pleased.” This is very telling of Darcy’s proud character because, Darcy’s manners are very honest and reflect his innermost thoughts. By noting that “His manners…though well bred, were not inviting.” it reveals that Darcy truly believes he’s better than the people he talks to. He doesn’t find a reason to be amiable, so he isn’t. His haughtiness is also shown through his indifference towards dancing at the ball, evidenced by the fact that he “danced only once with Mrs. Hurst, once with Miss Bingley, declined being introduced to any other lady.” The true point of these balls, at its core, is to dance and meet people, in order to find a partner. Darcy finishes dancing with Mr.Bingley’s sisters out of obligation, and then declines to dance entirely, meaning, although he’s a bachelor, he really has no intention of courting any of the many ladies in the room because he deems them to be beneath his status. In addition, Darcy’s hauteur is also brought to light in his conversation with Elizabeth when he tells her that pride, “where there is real superiority of mind, pride will always be under good regulation.” This shows Darcy’s vanity, because he justified his pride by saying he actually is superior. This sentence, rather ironically, indicates how highly he thinks of himself, because he believes he has a right to be prideful.

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