Eliška Komárková

Theme: Pride and Prejudice

Author: Jane Austen

JCA 3

Daniel Paul Sampey

Word count: 1494

Date of Submission: 18th December

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Trying to find a suitable husband or wife could be considered as the main plot. Though the

title of the book gives off an idea that building your opinion on one’s character just by the

first impression can be considered as prejudice.

The story begins with an arrival of a young gentleman to Netherfield Park which causes great

commotion in local society. The young gentleman, Mr. Bingley, becomes fond of Jane

Bennet, the oldest daughter of the Bennet family. At the ball held in Hertfordshire the families

meet both Mr. Bingley’s sisters and his closest friend, Mr. Darcy. At another time the Bennet

daughters meet another young gentleman, Mr. Wickham. Elizabeth Bennet befriends him and

soon finds about seemingly dark past between Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy.

The next time, Elizabeth meets Mr. Darcy it’s at Rosings where he asks for her hand in

marriage. She refuses him for being too proud. During summer, Elizabeth is visiting

Derbyshire with her aunt and uncle. They meet Mr. Darcy there and his behaviour is

completely different. This causes a change in Elizabeth’s opinion of him. Elizabeth’s younger

sister Lydia elopes with Wickham causing a great deal of trouble to the rest of the family. Mr.

Darcy’s participation in getting Lydia married is another reason for Elizabeth’s affection

towards him. Jane marries Mr. Bingley and Elizabeth Mr. Darcy.

Mr. Darcy is a young lord of Pemberley. When he first appears he seems to be the “dark”

character. He gives off an impression of being very proud and arrogant. After Elizabeth’s

refusal of his proposal he goes through a drastic change of character even though his previous

behavior can be justified.

Elizabeth Bennet is a young lady who is cheerful, amiable and with quick wit. She puts a lot

of significance on first impression. Her behavior in general could be considered unusual for

her time period, the first half of 19th century.

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Pride and Prejudice is situated at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th

century. It can be seen as a fact considering that authoress herself lived during those years. It

is not much of a surprise Jane Austen would write about time and society she knew the best.

In retrospect, we now look back to Jane Austen, who wrote novels about the life
of the landed gentry, seen from a woman’s point of view, and wryly focused on
practical social issues, especially marriage and choosing the right partner in life
with love being above all else.*1

Pride and Prejudice is only one of her romances. There are others Jane Austen is known for.

As mentioned in A Jane Austen Encyclopedia by Paul Poplawski:

The six novels by which she is mainly known fall into two groups in terms of their
composition. The first three were all first written in the 1970s: Sense and
sensibility (begun about 1795, apparently in epistolary form under the title “Elinor
and Marianne”), Pride and Prejudice (written as “First Impressions” between
October 1796 and August 1797), and Northanger Abbey (written about 1798 or
1799, under the title “Susan”). (Poplawski 74)

Jane Austen lived during the reign of George III. Her works belong to the period of

romanticism. Jane Austen was one of the few women writers of her times. The first time she

ever brought her work to a publisher he refused to even read the manuscript. This can be seen

in Jane Austen and Her Times:

Considering how easily the heights of celebrity were stormed at that time, and
especially by a woman, it is most remarkable that Jane received no
encouragement, and had no literary society, and not one literary correspondent in
the whole of her lifetime. Of course her first novel was not published until 1811,
and then anonymously, with the simple inscription "By a Lady" on the title-page,
yet it sold well and became very popular, and though no effort was made to
proclaim her the authoress certainly there was no rigid attempt to hide her
personality. Before the publication of Emma her identity was known, for she was
requested to dedicate this book to the Prince Regent. And this was the only
recognition of any public sort she received.**

There is one theme that appears time and time again in Pride and Prejudice, it is the

matter of marriage and its importance. The first sentence of the story says it all: “It is a
1
http://www.scribd.com/doc/4716266/English-Literature
**http://www.mollands.net/etexts/mitton/mitton9.html

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truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must

be in want of a wife.”

Not only is it a life matter for a young man himself but for families with unmarried

daughters as well. And it is in fact the arrival of a young man with good fortune which

causes a great commotion among such families. It was their chance at marrying off their

daughters. The young ladies go to balls where they meet this young man and them and

their families hope that it would be them to gain this young man’s affection.

Wedding or marriage out of love wasn’t something that was considered normal or it

wasn’t even supported. It was generally considered foolish. Till 18th century most

Europeans believed that love was born within marriage not before. In the 18th century

England romances such as Tom Jones by Henry Fielding disapproved of weddings out

of acquisitive reasons and celebrated victories of romantic love.

Marriage was a tool for bringing heirs, for continuing ones sect. Marrying someone who

was not equal in social status was looked down at probably as much as at a pair living

together without being in wedlock.

This, the matter of living together out of wedlock, happens in Pride and prejudice as

well. It is the moment where Lydia, the youngest Bennet, elopes with Wickham. If not

kept in secret it would bring a great deal of shame to the whole Bennet family. This

incident made it almost impossible for Lydia’s older sisters to get married.

Their chances at getting married were low since the beginning considering they had

next to nothing of dowry. And in those times it was almost impossible to get married

without some amount of dowry.

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It is understandable then that Lady de Bourgh, Mr. Darcy’s aunt, considered Elizabeth’s

marriage with Mr. Darcy as getting better than she deserved with her social status and

her family connections.

Lady de Bourgh represent the old times where marriage was arranged by parents of

children for social or political reasons. She and Mr. Darcy’s mother arranged such

marriage for their own children.

In Pride and Prejudice there are a few types of marriage where partners are not visibly

equal, for example the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. Theirs is the marriage of love.

Mr. Bennet was born a gentleman but Mrs. Bennet was not from upper middle class as

can be seen by her behaviour. Mrs. Bennet knows absolutely nothing about tact. Mr.

Bennet married her because he had fallen in love with her but has no respect whatsoever

for her. So once the love came down to some kind of indifference he saw that she is in

no way equal to him and for that he usually makes fun of her.

Another marriage is that of Charlotte to Mr. Collins. This marriage was more an act of

necessity on both sides. Charlotte has no real beauty and so she would probably soon

end up as a spinster which is no good at all. Mr. Collins on the other hand needed a wife

who would look after his household and as a means of setting an example of matrimony

in his parish given to him so graciously by Lady de Bourgh herself.

The most entertaining marriage would probably be that of Mr. Bingley and Jane Bennet

as her father so jokingly uttered: “I have no doubt of your doing very well together.

Your tempers are by no means unlike. You are each of you so complying, that nothing

will ever be resolved on; so easy, that every servant will cheat you; and so generous,

that you will always exceed your income.”

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Though personally I think that marriage of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth would prove rather

interesting as well, after all they both have difficult personality. But it is said that

opposites attract so they should not have that many unsolvable problems. And even if

their love for each other dimmed somewhat, they would still have enough respect for

each other which should make their marriage bearable.

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Bibliography:

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 2004
The Novels and Letters of Jane Austen. Edited by Reginald, Brimley Johnson. New
York, 1906
<http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/brablets.html#toc>
Aylmer, Janet. Darcy’s Story. London: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., 2006
Mitton, Geraldine Edith. Jane Austen and Her Times. London: Methuen & Co., 1907
<http://www.mollands.net/etexts/mitton/mitton9.html>
Poplawski, Paul. A Jane Austen Encyclopedia. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1998