Alex Duncan

How does Austen present prejudice?

In ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen, the theme of prejudice is often discussed and
explored. This extract is from chapter 56 where Elizabeth is telling her sister Jane
that she is going to marry Mr. Darcy who she has had a firm prejudiced opinion of
throughout the novel. This is surprising news to Jane, whose emotion does shock is
shown through Austen’s use of punctuation and irony.

Austen highlights the irony of Elizabeth marrying Mr Darcy through Jane and her
sister’s dialogue. The frequent use of hyphens and exclamation marks conveys Jane’s
shock and how she is struggling to understand how much Elizabeth’s opinion of Mr
Darcey has changed. When she first met Mr Darcy he was so rude to her at the ball,
for her to later be marrying him is ironic considering what a high level of “dislike” she
used to feel towards him. By ensuring they overcome their prejudice views and end
up together, Austen is commenting on how fickle the opinions of society at that time
were. They were never based off fact, but purely gossip or prejudices made when
people first interacted. Austen is also suggesting that if you view your relationships
with a more open mind, that you might discover feelings that you never would have
thought to have existed due to you previously being blinded by prejudice. This is
shown in this extract, when Jane exclaims that she believes her sister to be joking
because she knows “it to be impossible”. This supports the idea that society in the
19th Century would have believed it unimaginable for an opinion to change and
shows that they based fact on prejudice.

Most of the novel, including this extract is from Elizabeth’s perspective. This is an
effective way for Austen to manipulate the views of the reader as she often tries to
show her own opinion through Elizabeth and is therefore always offering that to the
reader. Elizabeth is a trusted character and readers, as well as other characters,
think she makes good judgement calls. Jane was finding it hard to conceive the idea
of her sister marrying Darcy but she finally came to terms with it after Elizabeth
“seriously assured her of its truth”. Elizabeth realises how wrong her initial
judgements of Mr Darcy were and now she knows she must make sure she corrects
everyone else’s opinions of him, as she knows that her prejudices have influenced
those around her. The reader has also seen throughout the novel how seriously
Elizabeth takes marriage and how she disagreed with her friend Charlotte Lucas who
married for the wrong reasons. The fact that she is actually engaged to Mr Darcy
shows the extent of the development of her prejudiced opinions. She hasn’t just
forgiven him, but has realised she completely misunderstood him and how different
he is to what she original thought. Austen is suggesting that instead of forming a
strong opinion on initial interaction, that is is actually better to take your time and
get to know someone’s personality so you have a better understanding of the
entirety of their character.

In Chapter 8, The Bingley sisters are encouraging Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy to be

prejudiced against Jane and Elizabeth. Miss Bingley thinks Elizabeth is ridiculous for
walking five miles, “above her ankles in dirt”, and thinks that due to this highlighting
their difference in class it should be evidence that they shouldn’t mix with the
Bennetts. She is blinded by her jealousy for Elizabeth being the object of Mr Darcy’s
affection and is therefore never seeing the good in what Elizabeth or her sister do.
She always believes their behaviour to be a direct reflection of their lower class and
from this builds a case as to why Elizabeth isn’t good enough for Mr Darcy and why
Jane isn’t good enough for Mr Bingley. Although, the Bingley sisters are wealthy,
attractive and have a high social status, they cannot prevent those matches from
occurring by the end of the novel. This is Austen commenting on how prejudice
actually has no weight and is not a solid foundation to base opinions on.

In conclusion, Prejudice is a prominent theme that is integral to the development of

the characters and their views as well as the plot. It creates humour throughout the
novel by contrasting changing opinions and is used by Austen to comment on society
at that time.