Themes Of Pride and Prejudice

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Themes Of Pride and Prejudice
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  Theme Of #LOVE
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Pride and Prejudice contains one of the
most cherished love stories in English
literature: the courtship between Darcy
and Elizabeth . As in any good love story,
the lovers must elude and overcome
numerous stumbling blocks, beginning
with the tensions caused by the lovers’
own personal qualities. Elizabeth’s pride
makes her misjudge Darcy on the basis of
a poor first impression, while Darcy’s
prejudice against Elizabeth’s poor social
standing blinds him, for a time, to her
many virtues. (Of course, one could also
say that Elizabeth is guilty of prejudice
and Darcy of pride—the title cuts both
ways.) Austen, meanwhile, poses
countless smaller obstacles to the
realization of the love between Elizabeth
and Darcy, including Lady Catherine’s
attempt to control her nephew, Miss
Bingley’s snobbery, Mrs. Bennet’s idiocy,
and Wickham’s deceit. In each case,
anxieties about social connections, or the
desire for better social connections,
interfere with the workings of love. Darcy
and Elizabeth’s realization of a mutual
and tender love seems to imply that
Austen views love as something
independent of these social forces, as
something that can be captured if only an
individual is able to escape the warping
effects of hierarchical society. Austen
does sound some more realist (or, one
could say, cynical) notes about love, using
the character of Charlotte Lucas, who
marries the buffoon Mr. Collins for his
money, to demonstrate that the heart does
not always dictate marriage. Yet with her
central characters, Austen suggests that
true love is a force separate from society
and one that can conquer even the most
difficult of circumstances.
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  Theme Of  #Reputation
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Pride and Prejudice depicts a society in
which a woman’s reputation is of the
utmost importance. A woman is expected
to behave in certain ways. Stepping
outside the social norms makes her
vulnerable to ostracism. This theme
appears in the novel, when Elizabeth
walks to Netherfield and arrives with
muddy skirts, to the shock of the
reputation-conscious Miss Bingley and her
friends. At other points, the ill-mannered,
ridiculous behavior of Mrs. Bennet gives
her a bad reputation with the more refined
(and snobbish) Darcys and Bingleys.
Austen pokes gentle fun at the snobs in
these examples, but later in the novel,
when Lydia elopes with Wickham and
lives with him out of wedlock, the author
treats reputation as a very serious matter.
By becoming Wickham’s lover without
benefit of marriage, Lydia clearly places
herself outside the social pale, and her
disgrace threatens the entire Bennet
family. The fact that Lydia’s judgment,
however terrible, would likely have
condemned the other Bennet sisters to
marriageless lives seems grossly unfair.
Why should Elizabeth’s reputation suffer
along with Lydia’s? Darcy’s intervention
on the Bennets’ behalf thus becomes all
the more generous, but some readers
might resent that such an intervention was
necessary at all. If Darcy’s money had
failed to convince Wickham to marry
Lydia, would Darcy have still married
Elizabeth? Does his transcendence of
prejudice extend that far? The happy
ending of Pride and Prejudice is certainly
emotionally satisfying, but in many ways it
leaves the theme of reputation, and the
importance placed on reputation,
unexplored.

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Theme of #Intellectual_Pride
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This is so pronounced in the novel
where Darcy alienates himself from other
people due to pride. This is seen where he
acted so snobbishly with lot f superiority
when they encountered for the first time
on the ball with Benet leading to them
being turned off. In his loving of Elizabeth,
Darcy acted so proudly to a point
whereby, Elizabeth was disgusted due to
his behavior leading her to despise him so
much. We see him debasing Elizabeth
family so much even after proposing to
her for marriage. Nevertheless, to ensure
that he wins her love back and marry her,
Darcy had to look at her life once again
and change her intense pride to ensure
that he makes her happy (Catherine,
2005).
In addition, there is the intellectual pride
that is portrayed by Mr. Benet to Mary
who is the sister that he likes mocking
around. In the novel Benet makes mockery
of Mary by talking to her and saying,
"what say you Mary? For you are a young
lady of deep reflection I know, and read
great books, and makes extracts." At this
point, Mary felt that that was a mockery
and felt that she should say something but
held her breath knowing that it was not
the right time to say it. Out of his pride,
he never let Mary to adjust her ideas to
respond to him, but suggested that they
should go back to Mr. Bigley.
Catherine De Bough is seen to be so proud
of her elf due to the social status that she
is in. she is seen to base her pride in the
wealth and the privileges that the wealth
bring along with making her overestimate
her ability. Her pride show that she is
capable of d0oing anything. According to
the novel, her pride is shown through the
statement that she makes. She says,
"There are few people in England, I
suppose, who have more true enjoyment
of music than me, or a better natural
taste. If I had ever learnt, I should have
been a great proficient." That mere pride
is not supported by any aspect of her life.
Otherwise, no matter the wealth that she
has and privileges that the wealth bring
along her way, it does not mean that she
is capable of doing everything.
.
Her pride is able to drift her to think that
her feelings are the only important one.
She talks rudely with little or no conscious
that she is doing so. She said that, "I have
told Miss Bennet several times, that she
will never play really well, unless she
practices more; and though Mrs. Collins
has no instrument, she is very welcome,
as I have often told her, to come to
Rosings every day, and play on the piano
forte in Mrs. Jenison's room. She would
be in nobody's way, you know, in that part
of the house,'' (Austen, chapter 35). This
showa the level that the Mrs. Catherine
had due to the status she had to an extent
of the pride being so rooted in her that
even by making insensible statement she
does not realize she is rude
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Theme of #Prejudice
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Prejudice has also been very rampant in
this book where several people undermine
others mostly due to their education and
economic status. According to the novel,
Elizabeth had some prejudice issues to
deal with. Darcy who economically was
stable but was constantly hurt by the issue
of his prejudice by undermining her family
loved her. It took time for Elizabeth to
overcome her lover's prejudices that were
always followed with arrogance and
snobbery. Elizabeth is portrayed to be very
caring and she was hated the things that
Darcy said about her family that seemed
to be so belittling (Catherine, 2005).
The following conversation show the level
at which prejudice has been heighted by
especially Darcy in the way he gives his
regards towards Jane Bennet according to
Austen chapter 8, he says;
""I have an excessive regard for Jane
Bennet, she is really a very sweet girl, and
I wish with all my heart she were well
settled. But with such a father and
mother, and such low connections, I am
afraid there is no chance of it.''
"I think I have heard you say, that their
uncle is an attorney in Meryton.''
"Yes; and they have another, who lives
somewhere near Cheapside.''
"That is capital,'' added her sister, and
they both laughed heartily.
"If they had uncles enough to fill all
Cheapside,'' cried Bingley, ``it would not
make them one jot less agreeable.''
"But it must very materially lessen their
chance of marrying men of any
consideration in the world,'' replied Darcy.
This conversation shows the level of the
prejudice that Darcy had for the lower
class people. According to him, the idea
of living in Cheapside and Meryton was
because of inferiority of the economic
status. They really hold them with very
low regard.
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Theme of #Class And
#Economic_Inequality
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In the novel, the line between those who
have and those who have not are clearly
drawn. This is a clear reflection of what
was happening in England at the time.
Although the Bennet middle class family,
they possibly mingled with their counter-
parts in upper class. Nonetheless, it is
evident that they felt inferior and were
indeed treated as such. The issue of class
consciousness is shown when Mr. Collins
takes most of his time bootlicking those in
the upper class- Lady Catherine. Similarly,
Darcy is of the opinion that his lineage of
dignity to him, on the same line Miss
Bingley hates those that are not socially
acceptable to her (Pat 45). Individuals
also strive to climb the social ladder as
shown by Wickham who is ready to go in
doing extra ordinary things to acquire
social class. However, the novel in a
succinct manner proves that through
marriage, love as well as happiness
brought about by it breaks the chains of
social class.
There are clear evidences that economic
inequality facing women at the time
forced them to marry partners that were
undesirable so to speak so that they could
gain financial security. A typical example
of such marriage was between Collin and
Lucas Charlotte who was ready to even
mess with her own life but be with a rich
man who could fulfill her financial needs.
This is condemned by the author. It is also
financial inequality that makes Mrs.
Bennet to arrange suitors to her daughters
and one of her daughters, Elizabeth says
of her sister Jane, "If Jane should die, it
would be comfort to know that it was all
in pursuit of Mr. Bingley" (Austen Chapter
7).