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What Is The Theme Of Human Nature In Pride And Prejudice

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People aren’t always who they seem to be. Someone who appears hopeless can find happiness, and someone who has everything can lose everything. This theme of opposites can be seen throughout the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The book resonates with readers myself included because it shows that someone’s first impression can be an inaccurate picture of who they are as a person. This theme can be seen in both Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, as their characters develop throughout the novel. This way of writing characters is important because it gives the reader hope and makes them believe in happy endings despite the fact that people tend to be cynical. This kind of plot can be seen in lots of the literature that followed Pride and Prejudice, and with this work Austen gives the perfect timeless representation of human nature.
One example of a character who changes a lot from the reader’s first impression is Mr Darcy. Mr. Darcy appears prideful and arrogant at the beginning, stating “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me” (Austen 13). Slowly throughout the book we start to see a kinder and more human side of Darcy; as evidenced by the letter he gave to Elizabeth.
“Every line proved more clearly that the affair, which she has believed it impossible that any contrivance could so represent, as to render Mr Darcy’s conduct in it less than infamous, was capable of a turn which must make him entirely blameless throughout the whole” (Austen 199).

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