Pride and Prejudice

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It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice directs our attention to two common human weaknesses. In fact, it is stated in the title itself: Pride and Prejudice. This can be linked to Austen’s original title which was first impressions. Austen is presenting in her story a warning about relying too much on first impressions and how this can lead to misjudgment and prejudice. That is, having prejudices based on first impressions is not appropriate nor does it do you any good either. Before making any assumptions concerning the personality of another person, one should at least try to get to know the person, or, do not always rely on first impressions.

Pride is a very significant theme in the story of Mrs. Bennet trying to marry off her daughters in order to secure their future happiness. In order to grasp the theme of pride in the novel an understanding of what it is, is necessary. Austen uses a literary device called the omniscient voice, by using Mary, one of the Bennet daughters, in order to convey one interpretation of pride:

“Pride” …is a very common failing I believe… human nature is particularly prone to it….there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency…pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves… p.15

The definition above is acceptable since it outlines what a majority of readers would associate with pride. Human beings are in fact very prone to pride and a feeling of self-satisfaction is to most people irresistible. However, it does apply well to Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy is a man who is found to be “high and conceited” (p.9) and not liked much by the people in his surroundings during his first appearance in the novel at the Meryton assembly hall. The pride that Darcy possesses is a common type of pride, that is, his self-satisfaction has reached a point where it has almost become the same as hubris. However, his pride will have a negative impact on the impressions of him by the people in his acquaintance; hence, it is not very surprising that he undergoes a metamorphosis in his personality and in the opinion of other characters during the duration of the novel. The source of Mr. Darcy’s pride is his upbringing since he has had everything in his favor from the day he was born and, according to Miss Lucas, he therefore has the right to be proud. Mr. Darcy supports Miss Lucas’ theory. He states that there are two types of pride. They are legitimate pride, and illicit pride. According to Mr. Darcy, a person can posses legitimate pride only if there is a profound, correct, reason for it; hence, he is supporting his own pride and the reason is the circumstances that he was raised by allows him to do so.
Pride can also relate to Mr.Collins. Mr. Collins proposal to Elizabeth is an ideal example of this. This is because he is consumed with pride, which has been created due to his social position in life and the patronage received from Lady Catherine de Bourgh. When he asks Elizabeth to marry him he is certain that she will accept. Hence, when Elizabeth rejects him he claims that“…. It is usual with young ladies to reject….the man they secretly mean to accept…I shall hope to lead you to the altar ere long.” (p.88), showing his stubbornness and certainty, created by his pride, but Elizabeth is stern in her decision. He is stunned by this and admits that his pride has been humiliated.

The second main theme, prejudice, is somewhat harder to define than pride since it is very easy to over-emphasize its importance. The reason as to why there is quite a lot of prejudice in the novel is that there is pride. Prejudice is the outcome of pride and first impressions. Again using Mr. Darcy would clarify this. Since Mr. Darcy is a very proud man, the opinions of him are mostly negative. Elizabeth and Mrs. Bennet are the two characters who openly prejudice against Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth clearly detests Mr. Darcy after the Meryton ball and her prejudice and misjudgment of him is fuelled by the fact that she believes that Mr. Darcy is responsible for Mr. Wickham having to go off to London just before the Netherfield ball. To Elizabeth’s astonishment, Mr. Darcy asks her to dance. Though Elizabeth is so blinded by prejudice that it is ironical when she asks Mr.Darcy to “...never allow yourself to be blinded by prejudice?” Her prejudice towards him, and misjudgment of him, constantly keep on building due to the one faulty first impression at the Meryton assembly ball. It is a critical turning point in the novel when Mr. Darcy unexpectedly declares his love for Elizabeth. However, at this point Elizabeth’s feelings are further away from loving him than they have ever been before or will ever be later on. It is not surprising that Mr. Darcy is rejected. There is irony at this point in the novel since Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are actually more emotionally close to each other than what they ever will be again. From this point onwards Elizabeth’s feelings towards Mr. Darcy starts to transform. When she visits Pemberly almost five months after her rejection to Mr. Darcy, she has a change of mind. However the transition from loathing the man to actually being affectionate towards him has been very gradual since his proposal and finalized by the grandeur of his estate at Pemberly and the housekeeper’s sincere comment of her master:

I have never had a cross word from him in my life… they who are
good-natured children, are good-natured when they grow up; and he
was always the sweetest-tempered, most generous-hearted boy in the
world. p.203

Elizabeth has long believed that Mr. Darcy is of the complete opposite nature, but in fact, she was only blinded by the wrongful first impression she had of him. In addition, when she unexpectedly meets Mr. Darcy at Pemberley she is astonished by his excellent manners. She now realizes for herself that her prejudices towards him had been wrong.
The prejudices that Mrs. Bennet have are mostly directed towards the general feelings of characters and her own expectations for her daughters. In the very opening statement this is evident since after the omniscient voice explains about how a “…single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” (p.1), the readers will observe Mrs. Bennet supporting this idea fully and trying to convince her husband that Mr. Bingley, a man of four or five thousand a year, is the rightful property of one of their daughters. She also believes that Mr. Bennet is going to die before her, and leave her and the girls, without any home because of the entailment on their estate, Longbourn, to a male heir only. However when Mr. Collins, on the behalf of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, wants to make Mrs. Bennet´s daughters “…every possible amends” (p.51), she prejudices that Mr. Collin will marry one of the girls, but as earlier explained, his marriage proposal is refused and this is, of course, devastating news to Mrs. Bennet.
Later on when Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy has decided to marry, Mrs. Bennet states that she clearly “…knows how much you [Elizabeth] dislike him” (p.309) upon receiving the news of them marrying. This shows that her prejudice has continued for a longer time than Elizabeth’s, but this is solely because she has not been in his surroundings for a long time and therefore not seen how he has changed since the Netherfield ball.

A lesser theme, but as important as the two others, is the danger of wrongful first impression. Upon meeting someone for the first time it is very important to remember that first impressions can, and are sometimes, wrong. In Pride and Prejudice it is quite easy to grasp the Bennet’s, again mainly Elizabeth’s, faulty first impression of Mr. Darcy. This creates the tension between the characters and the whirlpool of events occurring over the next fifteen months relating to this one cynical first impression of Mr. Darcy. There are characters in the novel as well who have been biased by the first impression of other. One of them is Georgiana Darcy. Elizabeth forms her impression of her after what she has seen in Mr. Darcy, but it turns out that Georgiana is quite the opposite of what Elizabeth expects. In addition, Lydia, one of the Bennet daughters, must have received a very good first impression of Mr. Wickham since she elopes with him and ...