Pride And Prejudice Essay Prompts

In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, the similarities and differences between Mr. Darcy's proposals
show that a strong romantic bond should develop from an absolute understanding of each other's
characters.
In the first proposal, Mr. Darcy surprises Elizabeth with his presence, and after his brisk entrance,
"He sat down for a few moments, and then getting up walked about the room."(Austen 162) He
proceeds to initiate his proposal to Elizabeth, making her increasingly more irritated. When Mr.
Darcy expects excitement and compliance to his proposal, he is met with Elizabeth's curt words,
saying how displeased she was that Mr. Darcy was focusing on how socially inferior she was to
him, and how his romantic feelings for her were developed against his will. She continues to
refuse his proposal by mentioning that he was an agent in his sister's happiness because he stopped
the progress Jane and Bingley's relationship. From my analysis of the text, Mr. Darcy's first
proposal is brimming of misunderstanding and lack of respect of each other, which is also
physically shown...show more content...
In Mr. Darcy's first proposal, Elizabeth has been told by Mr. Darcy's cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam
that he has recently "saved a friend from the inconveniences of a most imprudent marriage
,"(Austen 159) Elizabeth quickly makes the connection that it was the marriage of Jane and Mr.
Bingley. As she returns to contemplate on this privately, she is disturbed by Mr. Darcy and she
greets him coldly, and eventually refuses his advances. Comparatively, as they stroll together at
Netherfield, Elizabeth gratefully thanks Mr. Darcy for his help in settling the precarious marriage
matters between Lydia and Mr. Wickham. Her attitude towards him here is a positive one, and she
is willing to open up, and also listen to Mr. Darcy explain
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Pride And Prejudice Essay
Pride and Prejudice In Pride and Prejudice Austen offers up commentary on a variety of themes–
prejudice, family, marriage, class, and so on. Of all the themes, perhaps none is better developed
than that of Pride. Pride and Prejudice is regarded as a brilliant piece of social commentary,
offering a vivid peek into the British Regency life in 1813. The social milieu of Austen's Regency
England was particularly stratified, and class divisions were rooted in family connections and
wealth. In her work, Austen is often critical of the assumptions, pride, and prejudices of upper–class
England. Austen often satirizes England's prideful individuals; the England she depicts is one in
which social mobility is limited, and class–consciousness and...show more content...
He reflects later on why he was that way: "I was spoiled by my parents, who though good
themselves . . . allowed, encouraged, almost taught me to be selfish and overbearing . . . to think
meanly of all the rest of the world." In the end, Darcy and Elizabeth's later realization of a mutual
love infers that with the proper moral upbringing one may overcome pride to lead a life of
decency and kindness. The subsequent marriage of Darcy and Elizabeth shows that class
restrictions, while rigid, do not determine one's character and that love can overcome all obstacles,
including class and pride. After all, it is the anxieties about social connections, or the desire for
better, more priding social relationships, that seem to be interfering with the workings of love.
Furthermore, not only does Austen's novel display an ambiguity about emotion as a result of pride,
but also exhibits an appreciation for wealth and pride, which is characterized by Darcy. In its
awareness of the conditions of modernity and city life and the consequences for family structure and
individual characters, the novel prefigures much Victorian literature as does the authors' use of such
elements as many formal social gatherings and rather flawed, prideful characters. The theme of pride
is developed by the class consciousness of the characters throughout Pride and Prejudice. Darcy's

In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen explores nineteenth–century ideas about marriage and social
status. Austen uses Pride and Prejudice to suggest that marriage is only a matter of social rank and
social opportunity, rather than a union of two people who have love and affection for each other.
Using this, Austen proves that an advantageous marriage is practically one of the only ways a woman
can improve her social position in society. By showing how interrelated a woman's social potential
and the institution of marriage is, Austen is able to create commentary on the nature of marriage
itself and women's social positions in the nineteenth century. In nineteenth century England, women
often married wholly to get ahead socially, even if it...show more content...
This preservative she had now obtained; and at the age of twenty–seven, without having ever been
handsome, she felt all the good luck of it. (88)
The passage begins by stating that Charlotte "was tolerably composed," which highlights how
crucial of a situation it was to receive a marriage proposal. This short three word phrase shows
how relieved Charlotte was to finally receive a proposal, but was still under pressure to remain
emotionally composed during the affair. If Elizabeth was not Mr. Collins could have receded his
proposal placing her back into the state where she would have been desperate to marry a man so that
she could further advance her social status. Additionally, Charlotte had "satisfactory" reflections on
the topic of the proposal from Mr. Collins, showing that it was indeed a good occurrence on some
level to receive this marriage proposal. In contrast, however, the passage then switches from a
sign of a relief of Charlotte to a tone of unhappiness, when the narrator paints a true picture of Mr.
Collins by listing his poor qualities. This listing creates a divide in the relationship, where
Charlotte is happy to have a proposal, but is unhappy to whom she has been proposed by. The
divide is further widened during the next statement, that despite all of Mr. Collins bad qualities, "He
would still be her husband." The divide created by Austen highlights the

Examples Of Prejudice In Pride And Prejudice
Darcy's Societal Critique in Pride and Prejudice
The novel Pride and Prejudice (1813) by Jane Austen centres on Elizabeth Bennet and her family
and the society of Austen's time. Jane Austen believed "that three or four families in a country
village is the very thing to work on" (Herbert 5). In Pride and Prejudice, and in Austen's other works,
domestic life takes the centre stage in her critique on society. Julia Prewitt Brown stated in her book
on Austen's novels and social change that readers often believe "that laws, customs, social norms,
and preferences are the unexplained assumptions of her world"(24), yet she argued that Austen
intended to explain the necessity or rather, expose the weaknesses and criticize societal expectations.
...show more content...
Not only does Darcy resist the social expectations of Austen's time and defy the norms of social class
, he actually leaves his high connections behind. At first, even in the act of defying the social
expectations of the townspeople at the ball, it can be argued that Darcy conforms to another
social norm. When he starts getting to know Elizabeth and begins to fall in love with her, Darcy
is held back from his own feelings by the knowledge of Elizabeth's inferior connections. A wealthy
upper class man should marry a woman of his own standing, his own class. However, later in the
novel, when Darcy and Elizabeth discuss the letter, he states how wrong he was to judge Elizabeth
based on her family. Darcy was in this way prejudiced towards the lower classes, nevertheless he
started to overcome this prejudice because he fell in love with Elizabeth. Then after the
repercussions of his first proposal and Elizabeth's rejection he truly overcomes the teachings he got
from his higher connections:
Painful recollections will intrude which cannot, which ought not, to be repelled. I have been a
selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle. As a child I was taught what was right,
but I was not taught to correct my temper. I was given good principles, but left to follow them in
pride and conceit. (Austen

Shancee Oehler
Mrs. Lisa Brown
AP Literature and Composition Period 2
10 October 2017
Rough Draft: 1995 AP Exam Pride and Prejudice Prompt
"... [N]o sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she hardly had a good feature
in her face, then he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful
expression of her dark eyes. To this discovery succeeded some others equally mortifying. Though
he had detected with a critical eye more than one failure of perfect symmetry in her form, he was
forced to acknowledge her figure to be light and pleasing; and in spite of his asserting that her
manners were not those of the fashionable world, he was caught by their easy playfulness" (Ch. 6).
In the early nineteenth century, women were seen as objects of marriage to their male counterparts,
only if they were considered wealthy and agreeable to society's standards. In the novel Pride and
Prejudice, the reader sees the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, as a paradox to this concept of how
women were supposed to be. Throughout the entirety of the novel, Jane Austen portrays early
nineteenth century ideals that society standardized in a satirical manner through Elizabeth's defiance
of them.
During the Victorian era, gender roles became separated and entered into different spheres that only
interacted at specific moments. Women were considered physically weaker yet morally superior to
men, which meant that they were best suited to the domestic sphere. Not only

Theme Of Pride In Pride And Prejudice
In the novel 'Pride and Prejudice', Jane Austen has presented both positive and negative aspects of
the two main theme–Pride and Prejudice. She has used a range of good examples and characters to
demonstrate these two characteristics. She has also set different rewards or punishments for
different characters, showing us both sides of being pride or prejudice.
'Pride' was presented in two different ways, one shows us the sense of worth and self respect of a
single, while the other one is conceit and arrogance. In the novel, Mr Darcy has definitely got pride,
he is the richest man in the city and always values himself as the most important one in the small
town. He did not expect anyone to be better than him. Mr Darcy's pride about his...show more
content...
This is why she despises Mr Darcy for so long, but initially admires the lying Wickham. She thinks
her initial opinions and ideas are always correct and this leads us to 'prejudice'. Prejudice is
affected by first impression and would also affect the personal thoughts of a person or an object
in the future. The great prejudice which Lizzy holds toward Mr Darcy is just because their first
unpleasant met at the ball. Within a few sentences, Mr Darcy has already given Lizzy a feeling
that he is really pride and never cares for others' feelings. This makes Lizzy to hold prejudice
towards Mr Darcy for a long time and leads to some misunderstanding between them as well. On
the other hand, Mrs Bennet has prejudice towards Mr Darcy since the start of the book. 'I simply
just hates him!' Said by Mrs Bennet after the ball. Mrs Bennet had such strong prejudice towards
Mr Darcy just because that he refused to dance with Elizabeth at the ball and embarrassed their
whole family. As we can see here, prejudice is mostly depend on the first impression of a person.
Some other good examples in the book includes the marriage between Mr Bingley and Miss Jane
Bennet. Jane is pretty and well educated, she is also really lucky to meet Mr Bingley and get to
marry him. Mr Bingley is hot, handsome, kind and rich, he has got every quality to be a

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Essay
Pride and Prejudice Essay: Own Prompt #8–The Obscurities of the Victorian Society In Pride and
Prejudice, Jane Austen satirizes the superficially built society in Victorian Era by pointing out the
flaws with the recurring themes of marriage versus love and gender roles through dramatic irony and
character relations.
All relationships and the idea of true love tend to be obscured by this materialistic society that is
based on wealth, power, title, and connections. Jane Austen constantly paints the Victorian scene of
the socialite women gathering to discuss about the idea of marriage as Charlotte Lucas points out
that "there is much gratitude or vanity in every form of attachment that it is not safe to leave any to
itself...very few of us...show more content...
Furthermore Jane Austen supports the idea that sum of true love plus marriage isn't a fairy tale with
no problems. Going through conflicts and disagreements with the significant other are what make
love more passionate, strong, and deep. In the beginning, both characters dislike each other and the
superficial community induces them with "pride" and "prejudice" against one another, however
their love and intellectual and deep similar characteristics overpower society's views. No matter what
obstructive, manipulative, and perverted idea of society, their own defined complex love kept them
bounded strong. Jane Austen develops Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy with more depth and intellect, to
symbolize the complexity and deepness true love and marriage has to offer. She demonstrates
through society's impure views and character relationships, the theme of love and marriage often can
be manipulated by the 1800s Victorian Era ideals.
Jane Austen also brings out the strength that women plan in gender roles in society by employing
satire. As a female British writer in the 1800s when the powerful women ruler of Queen

Satire in Jane Austen's Pride in Prejudice Essay
Jane Austen's Satirical Writing:
Analyzing the Satire of Social Class Within Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice delves into the issue of why social standing in a society based
solely on class should not be the most important thing when evaluating the worth of a person.
Through several different literary techniques – such as letters and abundant focalizers – Austen
conveys important information about key issues she has with the significance placed on social
standing. The theme of class and social standing is echoed constantly throughout Austen's novel in
numerous ways, highlighting several aspects of the gentry that she distrusts. The entirety of the
novel focuses mainly on the distances placed between characters...show more content...
In assessing the weight that social standing has on the progression of the story in Pride and Prejudice,
one can attain a great bit of insight into why specific characters act the way they do throughout the
novel. The infamous Bingley sisters, for instance, are so attached to the idea of material wealth that
they fail to realize when their comments are unacceptable. Ms. Bingley herself, who is so attached
to the idea that she is superior to Elizabeth in every way, cannot understand why Mr. Darcy could
possibly find Elizabeth attractive in any sort of manner. It is her status–hungry and conceited
personality that allows the audience to see the sheer difference between her and her brother, Mr.
Charles Bingley. Unlike his sisters, he is not trying to climb up the social hierarchy to gain status
and power; instead, he shows a gentler, more levelheaded side to the gentry as he falls in love with
Elizabeth's older sister, Jane. It is characters with personalities and ideals like Mr. Bingley's that
Austen revered and trusted above all others.
Curiously enough, however, the hardheaded Mr. Darcy, who is very aware of his social standing, is
the one character in the novel who goes through the most drastic personality change. Though
Elizabeth Bennet had the positive, clever and levelheaded personality that Austen herself may have
had when dealing with the social mobility of her time, it is instead

Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice
R/s it was reported that earlier today, Candice physically abused Justice (14). R/s Justice's face is
swollen. R/s Candice beats the children with her fist and different objects. R/s Candice calls the
children out of their names and they calls her out of her name. R/s Candice calls the children
"punks, bitch, stupid, retarded, and slow." R/s Candice takes Bella (2) to daycare filthy and she
doesn't bathe the child. R/s the children dress themselves. R/s one time Candice chase Justice with
a hammer. R/s one time Candice hit Dy'Verse (16) in the back with a skateboard and had hit him in
the head several times. R/s Candice tells the children she hates them. R/s the home is a wreck. R/s
every week she gets calls about the physical and emotional

In the 1800s women were confined to strict social obligations while men had more individual
freedom. Austen highlights this notion to shed light on the unfair double standard. For example,
women were subject to extreme pressures to find a husband and marry well. Mrs. Bennet's
continual stress to find husbands for her daughters shows the importance of marrying and more
importantly, marrying well. After Elizabeth turns down Mr. Collins' listless offer, Mrs. Bennet
wails to Elizabeth saying, "'But I tell you what, Miss Lizzy, if you take it into your head to go on
refusing every offer of marriage in this way, you will never get a husband at all,'" (Austen, 78).
While it is hard to justify Mrs. Bennet's often overblown and melodramatic speeches,...show more
content...
Lydia's downfall epitmatizes the importance of reputation. After Lydia's downfall, Elizabeth and
Jane are concerned that they will never be able to find husbands because this "proof of family
weakness," (Austen, 185). Lydia contrasts Elizabeth and Jane in the sense that she is a "slave of
passion and instinct" (Bonaparte) while her older sisters are sensible enough to realize that her
Wickham incident could prevent them from ever marrying well. While it would seem that family
matters could remain private, this could not be farther from the truth. Infact, as Elizabeth states,
"'loss of virtue in a female is irretrievable – that one false step involves her in endless ruin,'" (Austen,
193). This means that the surrounding estates and districts will hear about Lydia's downfall. Even
the uptight Lady Catherine de Bourgh is aware of the "infamous elopement," (Austen, 240). This
indicates that undoubtedly, Elizabeth could struggle to uphold her reputation in the future because
she is Lydia's sister. The behavior of Elizabeth's younger sisters shows the importance of
establishing a good reputation. For example, Mr. Darcy was originally repulsed by Lydia and
Mary's lack of social grace which shows that mannerisms were strictly judged and were an important
component in establishing oneself.
Through the use of complex and dynamic characters, Austen brings to life the harmful nature of a
quick judgemental mindset and steadfast pride. This novel also illustrates the struggle that women
have faced as they move toward social equality. As this novel ages through the years, it shows the
history of social ranking based on connections. Furthermore, while its characters may age, the values
and lessons of equality and graciousness do

Mrs. Bennet: Pride and Prejudice
In Jane Austen's novel, Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet, the mother of the protagonist, Elizabeth,
is generally portrayed as a buffoon who is an adversary for he daughter that is trying to force her
into a marriage she does not want. One may wonder how she can be justified in any way,
considering that she is known to embarrass her family members and behave idiotically. However,
in the time period they live in, a marriage is necessary for all of the family to avoid a terrible fate.
Mrs. Bennet, while often behaving improperly, does try to do the best for her daughters based on
the world she lives in. Elizabeth Bennet's refusal of Mr. Collins puts her family at risk of being
homeless. In England at the time of great landowners, according...show more content...
As a result of being treated this way, women would have fewer opportunities to advance in their
career, which were not often in manufacturing or agriculture for men or women. When women were
landless and unmarried, they had little to no political representation or influence. As the BBC
stated, "when parliamentary reform was being debated in 1867, John Stuart Mill proposed an
amendment that would have given the vote to women on the same terms as men but it was rejected
by 194 votes to 73" (BBC 1). Not until much later would women get the right to vote, meaning that
the sisters could not develop a career based on their speaking or intellectual abilities in Britain,
which extended to academic positions, as, according to the Republic of Pemberley, "women did not
usually have careers as such, and were not "citizens" in the sense of being directly involved in
politics, there was little generally–perceived need for such higher education for them" (Republic of
Pemberley 1). No institution of higher learning would accept women, so that kind of career would
have been impossible at the time. In addition to the social barriers of being a working woman, the
Bennet sisters would have to face serious economic impracticalities when employed. Women were
almost always paid significantly less than their male counterparts, as according to London's Central
Court, "Female domestic servants earned less than

Pride and the Prejudice
"The power of doing anything with quickness is always prized much by the possessor, and often
without any attention to the imperfection of the performance." (1) Said Mr Darcy. This is one of the
world's most popular novels, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice has charmed readers since its
publication of the story of the amusing Elizabeth Bennet and her relationship with the aristocrat
Fitzwilliam Darcy. During this essay it will explore the construction of characters, in particular it will
be Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy also exploring the social situation in which the
characters operate and exploring the cultural context (Victorian England).
The position of the writer Jane Austen, I find she is trying to say that power is...show more content...
Collins.
"You mean to frighten me, Mr. Darcy, by coming in all this way to hear me? But I will, not be
alarmed though your sister does play so well. There is a stubbornness about me that never can
bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises with every attempt to
intimidate me" Elizabeth to Mr. Darcy. (1) This shows that Lizzie, using a typically male behavior
which tends to be quite demanding and also powerful. Elizabeth what she said not only shows that
she matches Fitzwilliam Darcy's intelligence but yet tops him in a kind of way. Many of Elizabeth's
characteristics you would often find in a man which makes her have some sort of power
(individually).
With Mr. Darcy on the other hand, as much as his exterior he is extremely powerful in the book,
when you read about him through the eyes of Elizabeth Bennet you start to think more and more
about his actual characteristics. (He waits to be approached, he prefers listen then to talking, he is
friendly rather than aggressive, he is anxious about his reputation and judges people according to
their manners, he is the person his friends come to for advice, and he writes letters instead of
personally confronting people.)(5) Were the predictable male, he would have stood his ground after
his failed proposal to Elizabeth and directly explained to her in

The novel 'Pride and Prejudice' addresses many themes and motifs, but one of the more prevalent is
pride itself, which Austen expertly weaved throughout, showing the effects it has on both the
perpetrator's lives and the lives of those around them. This theme of pride relates to the time period
the novel was written in, which was the Regency era, where the class system was deemed of
significant importance and particular traits of the gentry were considered necessary, including an
extent of pride. Austen attacks this view and admits a harsh observational outlook by having
everyone in the book hold some degree of pride, whilst bloating the major characters until they
become caricatures revelling in exaggerated tendencies. The two...show more content...
This statement is interesting, because on one hand it is ironic as previously the book identified a
'common' belief that Mr. Darcy was 'one of the proudest and most disagreeable men' which proves
pride is not always held under 'good regulation' yet it also causes the reader to ruminate on the truth
of his words, because preceding circumstances had demonstrated this concept. For instance, when
Mrs. Bennet exhibits pride in her scornful treating of the Lucas's, calling their news 'second– hand'
the reader naturally mocks her, but when Austen portrays Darcy as having familial pride it is seen
as inherently virtuous. Therefore, the reader can gauge that the levels and types of pride are
significant in determining whether it is positive or negative and so we comprehend Mr. Darcy's
argument. Mary also commented on the distinction between pride and vanity when she remarked
that, 'pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of
us.' This observation supports Mr. Darcy's point, and so our overall belief. Austen moreover delves
deeper into pride than simply stating it as positive and negative, with certain people obtaining
intense levels which appear obnoxious and callous to the reader. One such character whom the
reader can perceive as containing negative pride is Miss Bingley, who has even seeped this
characteristic into the given

Research Essay
Introduction
Pride refers to a deep and consistent feeling of satisfaction of one's possession, class and
achievements. Pride as a theme has been developed in the novel "pride and prejudice" by Jane
Austen. Characters can claim better treatment and status in the society and also relationships based
on their family possessions as well as exploits. Mr. Bennett daughters are also proud because they
are beautiful which gives them the audacity to boast to men who want their hand in marriage (Gao,
Haiyan, 2013 p. 384). Pride refers to Pride is the main theme that Jane Austen centers her novel "
pride and prejudice "in which she centers on the family of Mr. and Mrs. Bennett. Pride is the
defining factor in relationships and...show more content...
Mr. Bennett daughters liked to visit army barracks with the aim of being associated with
courageous men who are fighting for the country. Property is also another consideration and
motivation for Jane Austen to write a book regarding pride. The novel has been embedded on
domestic concerns for the property. At different occasions, families have shown the desire to
forge alliances through marriage to secure their property. Mr. Bennett who does not have a son is
interested in marrying off her daughters to rich men with plenty of estates as he lives his land to
Mr. Collins, a male family member to ensure the land remains in the family hands. Darcy and Mr.
Bingley are depicted as affluent individuals in the community not because they are educated but
because they own large estates. Finally, marriage is also a source of pride at the time when the
novel was written. Families were using marriages as a source of pride, and only daughters who were
married with a wedding without eloping with men gave pride to their families (Fullerton, Susannah,
2013).
Analysis There are different instances, situations and purposes of pride in "pride and prejudice" by
Jane Austen. Pride is used to determine relationships as well as associations between people in the
novel. Pride is however intertwined with other major themes in the novel, and sometimes it is
evident on its own. Pride is shaped in the novel by physical, social,

Thesis Statement For Pride And Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice: Essay Outline Thesis statement, including map of development: In Jane
Austen's novel "Pride and Prejudice," the author traces portrait of women's role during the Regency
period: they were expected to get married, to be accomplished and to self–scarify. Topic Sentence
#1: Marriage was crucial at the time, and women of the early Victorian age were expected to
marry and to get their daughters married. a.Argument: Marriage assured social security for both the
women and the family. b.Example: When Lady Catherine tells Elizabeth that Darcy was supposed
to marry her daughter: "The engagement between them is of a particular kind. From their infancy,
they have been intended for each other. It was the favorite wish of his mother, as well as of her's.
While I their cradles, we planned the union: and now, at the moment when the wishes of both sisters
would be accomplished, in their marriage, to be prevented by a young woman of inferior birth, of
no importance in the world, and wholly unallied to the family!" (Austen 335–336). c.Explanation:
Lady Catherine's reaction demonstrates the crucial importance of marriage in the society, but also
for women. Families needed their daughters to marry in the same social class or above to insure
social prestige. Demonstrates Lady Catherine's role to protect the high class and prestige of her
descendants through marriage. For Elizabeth and her family, this union with the higher class assures
them social security. a.Argument: Marriage was a market, women needed to marry to ensure
financial security. b.Example: When Mrs. Bennet learns that Mr. Bingley is coming to town: "A
single man of large fortune; four of five thousands a year. What a fine thing for our girls!" (Austen
6). c.Explanation: Marriage was the only way for the Bennet girls to ensure financial security. Girls
are too high class to get jobs but would not inherit. Financial security also ensured future economic
security for Mrs. Bennet after her husband's death. Topic Sentence #2: Women of the early 1800s
need to demonstrate accomplishments and education. a.Argument: Accomplishments demonstrated a
woman's value. b.Example: Lady Catherine to Elizabeth: " 'Do

Prejudice and Pride in Pride and Prejudice
In any literary work the title and introduction make at least some allusion to the important events of
the novel. With Pride and Prejudice, Austen takes this convention to the extreme, designing all of
the first and some of the second half of the novel after the title and the first sentence. The concepts
of pride, prejudice, and "universally acknowledged truth" (51), as well as the interpretation of those
concepts, are the central focus of the novel. They dictate the actions of almost all the major
characters (not just Darcy and Elizabeth), and foreshadow all of the major events in the novel,
especially in the first few chapters, involving the first ball at Netherfield. While Darcy...show more
content...
"Proud" summarizes the general demeanor of Lady Catherine de Bourgh herself, as she looks upon
the world down the length of her nose. "Some time we shall be happy to hear [Elizabeth play]," she
informs Mr. Collins and Darcy. Then she adds, "Our instrument is a capable one, probably superior
to [Elizabeth's]" (199). Pride assures Elizabeth that her first impressions of Darcy are indisputable.
Thus, while only Darcy seems to act as the embodiment of pride, the other characters are not immune
to it.
Just as the characters unknowingly follow Darcy's example of pride, they commit Elizabeth's
crucial mistake, prejudging people (especially Darcy) according to horribly inadequate experience.
Elizabeth's positive judgement of Wickham and negative one of Darcy prevent her from seeing
Wickham's devious and whimsical nature and Darcy's honest efforts to improve despite the
apparent lack of incentive. Like Elizabeth, the rest of the Bennets, and indeed the rest of those
living in the vicinity of Meryton, believe Darcy to be a wholly disagreeable man. (In fact, he began
as such, but even when he began to change, everyone refused to realize it, and maintained their
dislike of him because of their previous judgements.) Mrs. Bennet is prejudiced against all other
mothers with young daughters, believing them to be just as ambitious and scheming as she herself
is. When told that Mrs. Long promised to introduce the Bennet sisters to Bingley, Mrs. Bennet hisses

Character Analysis : ' Pride And Prejudice '
Seema Sabbagh
Mr. Clark
AP Literature, 6th
11/10/14
Pride and Prejudice
2002 – Morally ambiguous characters –– characters whose behavior discourages readers from
identifying them as purely evil or purely good –– are at the heart of many works of literature.
Choose a novel or play in which a morally ambiguous character plays a pivotal role. Then write an
essay in which you explain how the character can be viewed as morally ambiguous and why his or
her moral ambiguity is significant to the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.
Judging by reality and fiction, there is not a single person to exist that has been purely evil or
purely good. Yet it is in human nature to judge others as good or evil. Elizabeth Bennet, the
protagonist of Pride and Prejudice was quick to judge Fitzwilliam Darcy, the second central character
of the novel, harshly based on her false assumptions of the arrogance of the wealthy. His initial
egocentrism, due to his belief in a structured social hierarchy, caused her to form a prejudiced
opinion of him. Throughout Pride and Prejudice, Fitzwilliam Darcy is shown to exhibit both good
and evil qualities, although not always apparent to the narrator, Elizabeth. Jane Austen's portrayal of
Mr. Darcy as a morally ambiguous character uncovers the significance of class in English society
during the late seventeenth century. The central theme of Pride and Prejudice is one of class. In a
world where the lines of class are strictly drawn, the dignity

Prejudice In Pride And Prejudice
Are there both good and bad types of pride and prejudice? In her book, Pride and Prejudice, Jane
Austen demonstrates the different kinds of these chracteristics through each character. Lizzy,
Jane, and Darcy are all completely different characters who show their pride and prejudice in
completely different ways. Since the very beginning of the book, Elizabeth Bennet, who is also
known as Lizzy, was very quick to judge, and her prejudice led her to believe in the wrong people.
When Lizzy met Mr. Wickham she instantly believed his story about Darcy; perhaps it was
because she already disliked him. He told her that he had grown up with Mr. Darcy and that he was
quite prideful. Wickham continued to say that Darcy had wronged him in a tremendous way and of
course Lizzy...show more content...
Darcy was very misunderstood as his first impression at the dance in Netherfield was not very
good. Elizabeth and all the other people in the town saw him as prideful; however, Darcy shows
later on in the book that he is just not very good with people. He explained to Elizabeth that the
story Wickham told her was actually a lie. Darcy began with the true story like this: he gave
Wickham money to study law but Wickham spent all of his money on other things. Coming back
to Darcy, he asked for more money and after refusing, Wickham deceived Darcy's sister into
elopement. When Darcy found out, he convinced Georgiana, his sister, not to follow through.
After finding out this story and hearing Darcy explain his past actions to her, Lizzy realized how
wrong she was and that she let her prejudice get in the way. After reading and understanding the
whole story, the reader can tell which characters let their pride or prejudice consume them.
Elizabeth always judged people by their first impressions. She began to love Wickham who turned
out to be a fraud, and she hated Darcy all because he was shy and misunderstood. Prejudice in
Elizabeth's case is in fact bad. However Jane's prejudice was on a different

Pride and Prejudice Essay
Pride and Prejudice
The novel Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austen was originally to be called First
Impressions. Hence the ultimate aim of this essay is to identify how successful this novel is in
giving 'First Impressions' of the characters. The focus of this essay is on the opening chapters of
the novel as this is where we are first introduced to the characters. 'It is a truth universally
acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.' This
is one of Austen's famous quotes and sums up the main theme of the novel; that in the time this
novel was written all men with a good wage are eligible bachelors in finding a woman to marry. I
would consider this idea to be put under...show more content...
Due to
Lydia's wrong doings the Bennett's have descended in the hierarchy.
The only way the Bennett sisters can redeem their reputation, status in society and moreover be able
to get married to someone in their own class is if Lydia Bennett marries Mr. Wickham. Today such a
situation wouldn't be frowned upon; however in Austen's day there would be harsh consequences.
Ultimately, this indicates the difference in social historical background.
Jane Austen began writing the novel during the turn of the century in
1796, as she was writing the novel she wished to call it First
Impressions. However, after much re–drafting the novel was published under the title Pride and
Prejudice in 1813. Jane Austen was born in
Steventon, Hampshire on 10th December 1775. She was the daughter of a clergyman and one of
8 children. Many thought that Jane wrote her novels on the basis of her social knowledge as this
is all she knew about and believed she was unaware of major world events. Strictly speaking this
is incorrect. Her brothers, to whom she was very close, were involved in political and military
matters and she was informed by them any major events that had taken place in the world. It was
her own choice to write about social issues and possibly may have chosen to write in this style as
she could have personally experienced the events that she based the novel on, showing authenticity.
Why is this novel still popular today? Jane Austen's

Pride and Prejudice: Complex Relationships
This paper will discuss the relationships between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, Jane and Mr.
Bingley, Mother and Father , Lydia and Wickham, and the Mother and her daughters . The book
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is all about the relationships that the Bennet Family has with
one another and the people they lead in. My reasoning behind this discussion of their
relationships is to provide yet another outsider look on how it looks. I have read a couple of
article and I feel like most individuals get the relationships very off, the story is very simple and
give a good step by step presentation of how the relationships work bout.
Pride and Prejudice primarily focuses on Elizabeth and...show more content...
Elizabeth Bennet also describes her sister to be a wonderful sister because people have a general
liking to her (outside of her beauty), she has also never spoken ill of anyone and is just a general
good human being. While Jane is being described as this wonderful, beautiful, and kind human
being throughout the novel; the sames is said for Mr. Bingley. Mr. Bingley is continually said to be
gentlemanlike and he is described by the author about him being very pleasant, easy going, and to
have manners toward all people (despite his higher ranking). At their first meeting, early in the novel,
Jane and Bingley both see these positive characteristics in each other, and see nothing negative to
come from their relationship.
There is an immediate connection between the two. As shown in the novel the relationship
between Jane and Mr.Bingley goes well beyond and the "love at first sight" relationship. After the
public ball she is invited by Caroline Bingley to have dinner with her (this was a way of the sister
finding out more information about this Bennet sister and also just figuring out where the sudden
amount of love that her brother has for Jane came from). While reading this letter the mother in
mere seconds plots how her daughter will be able to stay over (without telling anyone until after).
She makes Jane go on horseback, which lead Jane to having a cold since it was raining while she
was riding. This incident worked exactly to the mother

Pride And Prejudice Essay Prompts

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