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Pride and Prejudice
 
Pride and Prejudice, published in 1813, is Jane's Austen's earliest work, and insome senses also one of her most mature works. Austen began writing the novelin 1796 at the age of twenty-one, under the title First Impressions. The originalversion of the novel was probably in the form of an exchange of letters. Austen'sfather had offered he manuscript for publication in 1797, but the publishingcompany refused to even consider it. Shortly after completing First Impressions,Austen began writingSense and Sensibility, which was not published until 1811.She also wrote some minor works during that time, which were later expandedinto full novels. Between 1810 and 1812 Pride and Prejudice was rewritten for  publication. While the original ideas of the novel come from a girl of 21, thefinal version has the literary and thematic maturity of a thirty-five year oldwoman who has spent years painstakingly drafting and revising, as is the patternwith all of Austen's works. Pride and Prejudice is usually considered to be themost popular of Austen's novels.
Major ThemesPride
As said in the words of Mary at the beginning of the novel, "human nature is particularly prone to [pride]" (Volume I, Chapter 5). In the novel, pride preventsthe characters from seeing the truth of a situation and from achieving happinessin life. Pride is one of the main barriers that creates an obstacle to Elizabeth andDarcy's marriage. Darcy's pride in his position in society leads him initially toscorn anyone outside of his own social circle. Elizabeth's vanity clouds her  judgment, making her prone to think ill of Darcy and to think well of Wickham.In the end, Elizabeth's rebukes of Darcy help him to realize his fault and tochange accordingly, as demonstrated in his genuinely friendly treatment of theGardiners, whom he previously would have scorned because of their low socialclass. Darcy's letter shows Elizabeth that her judgments were wrong and sherealizes that they were based on vanity, not on reason.
Prejudice
Pride and prejudice are intimately related in the novel. As critic A. Walton Litzcomments, "in Pride and Prejudice one cannot equate Darcy with Pride, or Elizabeth with Prejudice; Darcy's pride of place is founded on social prejudice,while Elizabeth's initial prejudice against him is rooted in pride of her own quick  perceptions." Darcy, having been brought up in such a way that he began toscorn all those outside his own social circle, must overcome his prejudice inorder to see that Elizabeth would be a good wife for him and to win Elizabeth'sheart. The overcoming of his prejudice is demonstrated when he treats theGardiners with great civility. The Gardiners are a much lower class than Darcy, because Mr. Darcy is a lawyer and must practice a trade to earn a living, rather 
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than living off of the interest of an estate as gentlemen do. From the beginningof the novel Elizabeth prides herself on her keen ability for perception. Yet thissupposed ability is often lacking, as in Elizabeth's judgments of Darcy andWickham.
Family
Austen portrays the family as primarily responsible for the intellectual andmoral education of children. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet's failure to provide thiseducation for their daughters leads to the utter shamelessness, foolishness,frivolity, and immorality of Lydia. Elizabeth and Jane have managed to developvirtue and strong characters in spite of the negligence of their parents, perhapsthrough the help of their studies and the good influence of Mr. and Mrs.Gardiner, who are the only relatives in the novel that take a serious concern inthe girls' well-being and provide sound guidance. Elizabeth and Jane areconstantly forced to put up with the foolishness and poor judgment of their mother and the sarcastic indifference of their father. Even when Elizabethadvises her father not to allow Lydia to go to Brighton, he ignores the advice because he thinks it would too difficult to deal with Lydia's complaining. Theresult is the scandal of Lydia's elopement with Wickham.
Women and Marriage
Austen is critical of the gender injustices present in 19th century English society.The novel demonstrates how money such as Charlotte need to marry men theyare not in love with simply in order to gain financial security. The entailment of the Longbourn estate is an extreme hardship on the Bennet family, and is quiteobviously unjust. The entailment of Mr. Bennet's estate leaves his daughters in a poor financial situation which both requires them to marry and makes it moredifficult to marry well. Clearly, Austen believes that woman are at least asintelligent and capable as men, and considers their inferior status in society to beunjust. She herself went against convention by remaining single and earning aliving through her novels. In her personal letters Austen advises friends only tomarry for love. Through the plot of the novel it is clear that Austen wants toshow how Elizabeth is able to be happy by refusing to marry for financial purposes and only marrying a man whom she truly loves and esteems.
Class
Considerations of class are omnipresent in the novel. The novel does not putforth an egalitarian ideology or call for the leveling of all social classes, yet itdoes criticize an over-emphasis on class. Darcy's inordinate pride is based on hisextreme class-consciousness. Yet eventually he sees that factors other thanwealth determine who truly belongs in the aristocracy. While those such as MissBingley and Mrs. Hurst, who are born into the aristocracy, are idle, mean-spirited and annoying, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner are not members of the aristocracyin terms of wealth or birth but are natural aristocrats by virtue of their 
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intelligence, good-breeding and virtue. The comic formality of Mr. Collins andhis obsequious relationship with Lady Catherine serve as a satire classconsciousness and social formalities. In the end, the verdict on class differencesis moderate. As critic Samuel Kliger notes, "It the conclusion of the novel makesit clear that Elizabeth accepts class relationships as valid, it becomes equallyclear that Darcy, through Elizabeth's genius for treating all people with respectfor their natural dignity, is reminded that institutions are not an end inthemselves but are intended to serve the end of human happiness."
Individual and Society
The novel portrays a world in which society takes an interest in the privatevirtue of its members. When Lydia elopes with Wickham, therefore, it is scandalto the whole society and an injury to entire Bennet family. Darcy considers hisfailure to expose the wickedness of Wickham's character to be a breach of hissocial duty because if Wickham's true character had been known others wouldnot have been so easily deceived by him. While Austen is critical of society'sability to judge properly, as demonstrated especially in their judgments of Wickham and Darcy, she does believe that society has a crucial role in promoting virtue. Austen has a profound sense that individuals are social beingsand that their happiness is found through relationships with others. According tocritic Richard Simpson, Austen has a "thorough consciousness that man is asocial being, and that apart from society there is not even the individual."
Virtue
Austen's novels unite Aristotelian and Christian conceptions of virtue. She seeshuman life as purposeful and believes that human beings must guide their appetites and desires through their use of reason. Elizabeth's folly in her misjudgments of Darcy and Wickham is that her vanity has prevented her fromreasoning objectively. Lydia seems almost completely devoid of virtue becauseshe has never trained herself to discipline her passions or formed her judgmentsuch that she is capable of making sound moral decisions. Human happiness isfound by living a life in accordance with human dignity, which is a life inaccordance with virtue. Self-knowledge has a central place in the acquisition of virtue, as it is a prerequisite for moral improvement. Darcy and Elizabeth areonly freed of their pride and prejudice when their dealings with one another helpthem to see their faults and spur them to improve.
Love
 
 Pride and Prejudice
contains one of the most cherished love stories in Englishliterature: the courtship between Darcy and Elizabeth. As in any good love story,the lovers must elude and overcome numerous stumbling blocks, beginning withthe tensions caused by the lovers' own personal qualities. Elizabeth's pridemakes her misjudge Darcy on the basis of a poor first impression, while Darcy's
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