PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Name – Ankit Kumar Dubey

Regd. no. – 21HEMA25

Name – Ankit Kumar Dubey

Regd. no. – 21HEMA25

Pride and Prejudice can be said to be the most famous work of

Jane Austen. It is her second novel published on 28 January 1813.

The novel was initially titled First Impressions but later Jane

Austen changed it to be Pride and Prejudice. The title Pride and

Prejudice, suits perfectly to the novel as when going through the

novel even at a superficial level Elizabeth’s prejudice towards Mr.

Darcy is easily noticeable and so is the pride of Mr. Darcy which

makes the plot of the novel more interesting. Elizabeth’s prejudice

prevents her from knowing the true character of Mr. Darcy and Mr.

Darcy’s pride makes him a little reserved and doesn’t let him

express what he is truly thinking or feeling. But a close reading

will make you aware that Elizabeth was affected with pride and

Mr. Darcy with prejudice also which can be discerned from a few

events. When Mr. Darcy refused from dancing with anyone except

Miss Bingley at the first ball, Elizabeth’s pride was hurt which lead

to her being prejudiced towards Mr. Darcy. We can also see that

Elizabeth is a little proud of her being a good judge of character. In

the very same instance, we can also notice Mr. Darcy’s prejudice

towards other classes as he had already presumed that none were

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beautiful or worthy enough of being his dance partner. We can also

see it during Mr. Darcy’s first proposal to Elizabeth. Mr. Darcy

was prejudiced that the financial motivation and comfort will be

enough for Elizabeth to marry him. Subsequently, Elizabeth’s

pride is hurt by his curt and somewhat rude proposal. This event

somewhat already feels like a climax to the audience because so

much is happening in the story and this elevates the suspense of the

reader even more so and keeps them hooked to the novel. Jane

Austen has very creatively embedded pride and prejudice in both

the primary characters.

Another point that is worthy of mention here is that none of her

characters are ideally perfect even when they are the main

protagonist of her novel and also none of her villains are purely

evil and without any shred of decency. As we have already noted

the imperfections in the characters of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy

even when the whole plot of the novel revolves around them. If we

have to designate someone as a villain it would be Mr. Wickham.

He is greedy and elopes with Lydia and in the past, he also tried to

elope with Miss Darcy but was unsuccessful. He is a negative

character but even he cannot be said to be pure evil. These

imperfections of her characters and restraint from over-

exaggerating the flaws and absurdities make Jane Austen’s

characters seem more authentic and real to life. It would not be

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wrong to say that Miss Austen is a master in the art of

characterizations. There is no denying that her characters are all

drawn from the gentry or the upper-middle class, none of her

characters have to work for earning a living. Seldom does a

character of lower-class appear in her novel and even if such

characters appear, they are shown from a distance and not

subjected to close characterization. She wrote: “A little bit of

ivory, two inches wide, on which I work with a brush so fine as to

produce a little effect after much labour”. Pride and prejudice has

straight as well as round characters and almost no superfluous

characters except for Kitty and Mary. All the characters contribute

in some way or the other in developing the story and moving

forward of the plot. Characters also develop through dialogues and

throughout the novel but it seems limited to the primary characters

or maybe it was intended for the secondary characters to remain

the same by the author. One fine example of such change is Mr.

Bennet’s character, after Lydia’s elopement episode he becomes

more attentive to his family and a little less careless. Fine shades of

character are skillfully brought out. No two flirts, no two fools, no

two snobs are alike. Austen is at her best when working with

female characters but when dealing with male characters they are

more or less seen through the lens of female characters. 

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The plot of the novel is well-knit and organic. The sequence of

events is logical and doesn’t seem to be forced for achieving a

particular narrative. The overall structure of the novel is dramatic.

With the advancement of the plot, the misunderstanding and

tension increases and so does the intensity of the reader’s curiosity

before coming to a final and satisfying resolution. The novel is of

conversation and not action. Whatever action there is, it is very

trivial like going to a ball or dinner or little visits. The novel is of

everyday common situations for the gentry of that era. Walter

Scott remarked on the matter, “Miss Austen’s very finely written

novel Pride and Prejudice…that young lady had a talent for

describing the involvement and feeling and characters of ordinary

life which is to me the most wonderful, I ever met with…What a

pity such a gifted creature died so early!” The plot of Pride and

Prejudice is compound and not simple, it consists of the main plot,

subplot, and many episodes which are all woven together skillfully

by the author. The sub-plot of Jane and Mr. Bingley serves as a foil

to the main plot of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. For instance,

Bingley’s departure to London deepens the prejudice of Elizabeth

as she thinks Mr. Darcy is the reason for Bingley’s departure.

Lydia and Wickham’s episode of elopement offers the element of

melodrama to the novel and also highlights the true character of

Mr. Darcy and helps in dispelling Elizabeth’s prejudice. Mr.

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Collin’s comic proposal to Elizabeth also serves the purpose of

comic relief and shows her in a favorable light to the readers.

Collin’s marriage to Charlotte resolves in Elizabeth’s visit to

Hunsford where she comes to know more about Darcy and her

prejudice weakens. These events show Jane Austen’s skill in

handling such events for the progress of her novel. Initially, the

sub-plot was in the foreground but was later pushed to the

background very subtly as the main plot of the novel starts. Overall

the plot has no loose ends and all the parts have been well-fused

into a single compact whole.

Pride and Prejudice is widely accepted as a social comedy. It deals

with the social life of Bennets’, Lucas’ and Bingley’s. The petty

jealousies, rivalries, and suspicious with beset this narrow and

confined life have been skillfully exposed by the novelist. The

novel shows how the marriages at the time of writing were mostly

influenced by financial motivations. The very first line of the

novel, “it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in

possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a good wife”,

shows the irony of the author on the matter. Wickham marries

Lydia solely due to monetary reasons and Charlotte married Mr.

Collins despite his stupidity only because he can provide her with a

comfortable life. The materialism of different characters can be

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seen such as Mrs. Bennet’s and it is treated with irony by the

author. Mrs. Bennet considers Mr. Bingley a good prospect for

marriage with Jane because he has a large fortune; she doesn’t

consider any other thing of greater value than wealth in marriage.

David Daiche remarks that in Pride and Prejudice the novelist,

“has exposed the economic basis of sound relationships with an

ironic smile.” The main protagonists however and do not adhere to

this notion of financial motivation being the sole reason for

marriage. The author also shows a glimpse of aristocratic life

through the rude, snob, and insolent Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

The life of the country clergy has also been glanced at through Mr.

Collins. Similarly, through the flirtation of Lydia and Catherine

with the military officers, we can form an idea of military social

life. Jane Austen has observed the absurdities of the social life

presented in the novel and interpreted them in a humorous way,

most of the time with an ironic smile.

We can find the use of irony in abundance in Pride and Prejudice.

Miss Austen uses it sometimes as a stylistic device and sometimes

to expose the follies of society and her characters. It is aptly said

that her novels are written to be read and reread. She constantly

revised her novels and rewrote them again before final publication.

This gives a sense of perfection to her novels. 

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