Theoretical Highschool Mircea Eliade Lupeni

Mathematics-Informatics

Pride and prejudice

Author:
Gman Bogdan, the XIth grade

Coordonating teacher:
Ursu Cristina

Lupeni
2016

Cuprins

1. Argument..........................................................3
2. Introduction......................................................3
3. Plot sumary.......................................................4
4. Main characters................................................7
5. Major themes..................................................11
Marriage..........................................................12
Wealth..............................................................13
Class.................................................................13
Self knowledge................................................14
6. Final considerations.......................................14
7. Bibliography...................................................15

1. Argument
Pride and prejudice is a story which, behind the ideal of love, is talking about
women position in a male society, where marriage is made for money and not in the name of
love, and where social classes do not mix up and where pride is very important and prejudice
is above everything.
I chose to talk about this novel because the title impressed me from the begining and
the themes appeared very interesting. I thought this novel would teach me something about
that period of time and show me a different society, apart from ours. I was curious about the
image of family which was created then, comparative with the imagine of family in our
modern society.

2. Introduction
Pride and Prejudice is a novel of manners by Jane Austen, first published in 1813.
The story follows the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, as she deals with issues of manners,
upbringing, morality, education, and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of the British
Regency. Elizabeth is the second of five daughters of a country gentleman, Mr. Bennet, living
in Longbourn.
Set in England in the late 18th century, Pride and Prejudice tells the story of Mr. and
Mrs. Bennet's five unmarried daughters after two gentries have moved into their
neighbourhood: the rich and eligible Mr. Bingley, and his status-conscious friend, the even
more rich and eligible Mr. Darcy. While Bingley takes an immediate liking to the eldest
Bennet daughter, Jane, Darcy is disdainful of local society and repeatedly clashes with the
Bennets' lively second daughter, Elizabeth.
Pride and Prejudice retains a fascination for modern readers, continuing near the top
of lists of "most loved books". It has become one of the most popular novels in English
literature, selling over 20 million copies, and receives considerable attention from literary
scholars. Likewise, it has paved the way for archetypes that abound in many contemporary
literature of our time. Modern interest in the book has resulted in a number of dramatic
adaptations and an abundance of novels and stories imitating Austen's memorable characters
or themes.
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3. Plot sumary
The novel centres on Elizabeth Bennet, the second of the five daughters of a landed
country gentleman. Elizabeth's father, Mr. Bennet, is a bookish man and somewhat neglectful
of his responsibilities. In contrast Elizabeth's mother, Mrs. Bennet, a woman who lacks social
graces, is primarily concerned with finding suitable husbands for her five daughters, who will
inherit little or nothing from their father due to primogeniture laws. Jane Bennet, the eldest
daughter, is distinguished by her kindness and beauty; Elizabeth Bennet shares her father's
keen wit and occasionally sarcastic outlook; Mary is studious, devout and musical albeit
lacking in taste; Catherine, sometimes called Kitty, the fourth sister, follows where her
younger sister leads while Lydia is flirtatious and lacks maturity.
The narrative opens with news in the Bennet family that Mr. Bingley, a wealthy,
charismatic and sociable young bachelor, is moving into Netherfield Park in the
neighbourhood. Mr. Bingley is soon well received while his friendMr. Darcy makes a less
favourable impression by appearing proud and condescending at a ball that they attend (he
detests dancing and is not one for light conversation). Mr. Bingley singles out Jane for
particular attention, and it soon becomes apparent that they have formed an attachment to
each other. While Jane does not alter her conduct for him, she confesses her great happiness
only to Lizzie. By contrast, Darcy slights Elizabeth, who overhears and jokes about it despite
feeling a budding resentment.
Upon paying a visit to Mr. Bingley's sister, Caroline, Jane is caught in a heavy
downpour, catching cold, and is forced to stay at Netherfield for several days. Elizabeth
arrives to nurse her sister and is thrown into frequent company with Mr. Darcy, who begins to
act less coldly towards her.
Mr. Collins, a clergyman and heir to Longbourn, the Bennet estate, pays a visit to the
Bennets. Mr. Bennet and Elizabeth are much amused by his obsequious veneration of his
employer, the noble Lady Catherine de Bourgh, as well as by his self-important and pedantic
nature. It soon becomes apparent that Mr. Collins has come to Longbourn to choose a wife
from among the Bennet sisters (his cousins), and Jane is initially singled out, but because of
Jane's budding romance with Mr. Bingley, Mrs. Bennet directs him toward Elizabeth. After
refusing his advances, much to the consternation of her mother, Elizabeth instead forms an
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acquaintance with Mr. Wickham, a militia officer who relates having been very seriously
mistreated by Mr. Darcy despite having been a godson and favourite of Darcy's father. The
accusation and her attraction to Mr. Wickham both increase Elizabeth's dislike of Mr. Darcy.
At a ball given by Mr. Bingley at Netherfield, Mr. Darcy becomes aware of a general
expectation that Mr. Bingley and Jane will marry, and the Bennet family, with the exception
of Jane and Elizabeth, make a public display of poor manners and decorum. The following
morning, Mr. Collins proposes marriage to Elizabeth, who refuses him, much to her mother's
distress. Mr. Collins recovers and promptly becomes engaged to Elizabeth's close friend
Charlotte Lucas, a homely woman with few prospects. Mr. Bingley abruptly quits Netherfield
and returns to London, which devastates Jane, and Elizabeth becomes convinced that Mr.
Darcy and Caroline Bingley have conspired to separate him from Jane.
Jane is persuaded by letters from Caroline Bingley that Mr. Bingley is not in love
with her but goes on an extended visit to Aunt and Uncle Gardiner in London in the hope of
maintaining her relationship with Caroline, if not with Charles Bingley. There, she visits
Caroline and, eventually, her visit is returned. She does not see Mr. Bingley and is forced to
realise that Caroline does not care for her.
In the spring, Elizabeth visits Charlotte and Mr. Collins in Kent. Elizabeth and her
hosts are frequently invited to Rosings Park, the home of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Darcy's
aunt; coincidentally, Darcy also arrives to visit. Elizabeth meets Darcy's cousin, Colonel
Fitzwilliam, who vouches for Darcy's loyalty by using as an example how Darcy had recently
stepped in on behalf of a friend, who had formed an attachment to a woman against whom
"there were some very strong objection". Elizabeth rightly assumes that the said friend is none
other than Mr. Bingley, and her dislike of Darcy deepens. Thus, she is no mood to accept
when Darcy arrives and, quite unexpectedly, confesses love for her and begs her hand in
marriage. His proposal is flattering, as he is a very distinguished man, but it is delivered in a
manner that is ill suited. He talks of love but also of revulsion at her inferior position and
family. Despite assertions to the contrary, he assumes she will accept him.
Elizabeth rebukes him, and a heated discussion follows; she charges him with
destroying the happiness of both her sister and Bingley, with treating Mr. Wickham
disgracefully and with having conducted himself towards her in an arrogant, ungentleman-like
manner. Mr. Darcy, shocked, ultimately responds with a letter giving a good account of his
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actions: Wickham had exchanged his legacies for a cash payment, only to return after
frittering away the money to reclaim the forfeited inheritance; Wickham then attempted
to elope with Darcy's young sister, Georgiana, which would have secured her fortune for
himself. Regarding Jane and Bingley, Darcy claims he had observed no reciprocal interest in
Jane for Bingley and had assumed that she was not in love with him. In addition to this, he
cites the "want of propriety" in the behaviour of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and her three younger
daughters. Elizabeth, who had previously despaired over this very behavior, is forced to admit
the truth of Mr. Darcy's observations, and begins to see that she has misjudged him. She, quite
rightly, attributes her prejudice to his coldness towards herself at the beginning of their
acquaintance.
Elizabeth tells her father that Darcy was responsible for uniting Lydia and Wickham,
one of the two earliest illustrations of Pride and Prejudice. The clothing styles reflect the time
the illustration was engraved (the 1830s), not the time in which the novel was written or set.
Some months later, Elizabeth and her aunt and uncle Gardiner visit Pemberley,
Darcy's estate, believing he will be absent for the day. He returns unexpectedly and is
surprised but gracious and welcoming, quite unlike his usual self. He treats the Gardiners very
civilly, surprising Elizabeth, who assumes he will "decamp immediately" on learning who
they are. Darcy introduces Elizabeth to his sister, which Elizabeth knows is the highest
compliment he can bestow. Elizabeth begins to acknowledge her own attraction to him. Their
reacquaintance is cut short, however, by the news that Lydia has run off with Mr. Wickham.
Elizabeth and the Gardiners return to Longbourn (the Bennet family home), where Elizabeth
grieves that her renewed acquaintance with Mr. Darcy will end as a result of her sister's
disgrace.
Lydia and Wickham are soon found and are persuaded to marry, which enables the
Bennet family to preserve some appearance of decorum. Jane, Elizabeth and Mr. Bennet
conclude that Uncle Gardiner must have bribed Wickham to marry Lydia, and they are
ashamed of their indebtedness and inability to repay him.
Mrs. Bennet, quite typically, has no such scruples; being ecstatic to have a daughter
married, she never stops to consider the want of propriety and honesty throughout the affair.
Mr. and Mrs. Wickham visit Longbourn, where Lydia lets slip that Mr. Darcy attended their
wedding but that it was to have been a secret. From a letter, Elizabeth discovers from Aunt
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Gardiner that in fact, Mr. Darcy was responsible for finding the couple and negotiating their
marriage at great personal and monetary expense for him. Elizabeth is shocked and flattered
as "her heart did whisper that he had done it for her" but is unable to dwell further on the topic
because of Mr. Bingley's return and subsequent proposal to Jane, who immediately accepts.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh pays an unexpected visit to Longbourn. She has heard a
rumour that Elizabeth will marry Mr. Darcy and attempts to persuade Elizabeth to agree not to
marry. Lady Catherine wants Mr. Darcy to marry her daughter (his cousin) Anne De Bourgh
and thinks that Elizabeth is beneath him. Elizabeth refuses her demands. Disgusted, Lady
Catherine leaves, promising that the marriage can never take place. Elizabeth assumes she
will apply to Darcy and is worried that he may be persuaded.
Darcy returns to Longbourn. Chance allows Elizabeth and Darcy a rare moment
alone. She immediately thanks him for intervening in the case of Lydia and Wickham. He
renews his proposal of marriage and is promptly accepted. Elizabeth soon learns that his
hopes were revived by his aunt's report of Elizabeth's refusal to promise not to marry him.
The novel closes with a "happily-ever-after" chapter including a summary of the
remaining lives of the main characters. None of the characters changes very much in this
summary, but Kitty has grown slightly more sensible from association with Jane and
Elizabeth and distance from Lydia, and Lady Catherine eventually condescends to visit the
Darcy family.

4. Main characters
Elizabeth Bennet The reader sees the unfolding plot and the other characters mostly
from her viewpoint. The second of the Bennet daughters, she is twenty years old and is
intelligent, lively, playful, attractive, and wittybut with a tendency to judge on first
impression (the "prejudice" of the title) and perhaps to be a little selective of the evidence on
which she bases her judgments. As the plot begins, her closest relationships are with her
father, her sister Jane, her aunt (Mrs. Gardiner), and her best friend Charlotte Lucas. As the
story progresses, so does her relationship with Mr. Darcy. The course of Elizabeth and Darcy's
relationship is ultimately decided when Darcy overcomes his pride, and Elizabeth overcomes
her prejudice, leading them both to surrender to their love for each other.
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Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy is the male protagonist of the novel and is twenty-eight years
old. He is the wealthy owner of the renowned family estate of Pemberley inDerbyshire, and is
rumoured to be worth at least 10,000 a year. This is equivalent to anywhere from around
200,000 ($290,120 USD) a year to around 10 million ($14.5 million USD) a year in 2014,
depending on the method of calculation, but such an income would have put him among the
400 wealthiest families in the country at the time. Handsome, tall, and intelligent, Darcy lacks
the social ease that comes so naturally to his friend Bingley. Others frequently mistake his
aloof decorum and rectitude as further proof of excessive pride (he is the "pride" of the title).
While he makes a poor impression on strangers, such as the landed gentry of Meryton, Darcy
is greatly valued by those who know him well.
As the novel progresses, Darcy and Elizabeth are repeatedly forced into each other's
company, resulting in each altering their feelings for the other through better acquaintance and
changes in environment. At the end of the work, both overcome their differences and first
impressions to fall in love with each other.
Mr Bennet is the patriarch of the Bennet family, a gentleman of modest income with
five unmarried daughters. Mr. Bennet has an ironic, cynical sense of humour that irritates his
wife. Though he loves his daughters (Elizabeth in particular), he often fails as a parent,
preferring to withdraw from the never-ending marriage concerns of the women around him
rather than offer help. In fact, he often enjoys laughing at the sillier members of his family,
partially the reason many have fatal faults, as he has not taken pains to amend them. Although
he possesses inherited property, it is entailedthat is, it can only pass to male heirsso his
daughters will be on their own upon his death.
Mrs. Bennet is the wife of her socially superior Mr. Bennet and mother of Elizabeth
and her sisters. She is frivolous, excitable, and narrow-minded, and she imagines herself
susceptible to attacks of tremors and palpitations when she is displeased. Her public manners
and social climbing are embarrassing to Jane and Elizabeth. Her favourite daughter is the
youngest, Lydia, who reminds her of herself when younger, though she values the beauty of
the eldest, Jane. Her main ambition in life is to marry her daughters to wealthy men; whether
or not any such matches will give her daughters happiness is of little concern to her.
Lady Catherine confronts Elizabeth about Darcy, on the title page of the first
illustrated edition. This is the other of the first two illustrations of the novel.
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Jane Bennet is the eldest Bennet sister. Twenty-two years old when the novel
begins, she is considered the most beautiful young lady in the neighbourhood. Her character is
contrasted with Elizabeth's as sweeter, shyer, and equally sensible, but not as clever; her most
notable trait is a desire to see only the good in others. As Anna Quindlenwrote, Jane is "sugar
to Elizabeth's lemonade." Jane is closest to Elizabeth, and her character is often contrasted
with that of Elizabeth. She is favoured by her mother because of her beauty.
She falls in love with Mr. Bingley, a rich man who has recently moved to
Hertfordshire, and a close friend of Mr. Darcy. Their love is initially thwarted by Mr. Darcy
and Caroline Bingley, who are concerned by Jane's low connections and have other plans for
Bingley. Mr. Darcy, aided by Elizabeth, eventually sees the error in his ways and is
instrumental in bringing Jane and Bingley back together.
Mary Bennet is the only plain Bennet sister, and rather than join in some of the
family activities, she mostly reads and plays music, although she is often impatient to display
her accomplishments and is rather vain about them. She works hard for knowledge and
accomplishment, but has neither genius nor taste. Like her two younger sisters, Kitty and
Lydia, she is seen as being silly by Mr. Bennet. Mary is not very intelligent but thinks of
herself as being wise. When Mr. Collins is refused by Elizabeth, Mrs. Bennet hopes Mary
may be prevailed upon to accept him and we are led to believe that Mary has some hopes in
this direction, but neither of them know that he is already engaged to Charlotte Lucas by this
time. Mary does not appear often in the novel.
Catherine, or Kitty, Bennet is the fourth daughter at 17 years old. She is the shadow
of Lydia, although older than she, she follows in her pursuits of the 'Officers' of the regiment.
She appears but little, although she is often portrayed as envious of Lydia and also a 'silly'
young woman. However, it is said that she has improved by the end of the novel.
Lydia Bennet is the youngest Bennet sister, aged 15 when the novel begins. She is
frivolous and headstrong. Her main activity in life is socializing, especially flirting with the
officers of the militia. This leads to her running off with George Wickham, although he has no
intention of marrying her. She dominates her older sister Kitty and is supported in the family
by her mother. Lydia shows no regard for the moral code of her society, and no remorse for
the disgrace she causes her family.

Charles Bingley is a handsome, good-natured, and wealthy young gentleman

(aparvenu/nouveau riche) of 23, who rents Netherfield Park near Longbourn. He is contrasted
with his friend Mr. Darcy as being more kind and more charming and having more generally
pleasing manners, although not quite so clever and experienced. He lacks resolve and is easily
influenced by others. His two sisters, Caroline Bingley and Louisa Hurst, both disapprove of
Bingley's growing affection for Jane Bennet.
Caroline Bingley is the snobbish sister of Charles Bingley, with a dowry of twenty
thousand pounds. Miss Bingley harbours romantic intentions for Mr. Darcy and therefore is
jealous of his growing attachment to Elizabeth. She attempts to dissuade Mr. Darcy from
liking Elizabeth by ridiculing the Bennet family in Darcy's presence, as she realises that this is
the main aspect of Elizabeth with which she can find fault. She also attempts to convey her
own superiority over Elizabeth, by being notably more polite and complimentary towards
Darcy throughout. She often compliments his younger sister, Georgiana - suspecting that he
will agree with what she says about her. Miss Bingley also disapproves of her brother's esteem
for Jane Bennet, and it is acknowledged later that she, with Darcy, attempts to separate the
couple. She sends Jane letters describing her brother's growing love for Georgiana Darcy, in
attempt to convince Jane of Bingley's indifference towards her. When Jane goes to London
she ignores her for a period of four weeks, despite Jane's frequent invitations for her to call
upon her. When she eventually does, she is rude and cold, and is unapologetic for her failure
to respond to Jane's letters. Jane, who is always determined not to find fault with anybody, is
forced to admit that she had been deceived in thinking she had a genuine friendship with
Caroline Bingley, the realisation of which she relays to Elizabeth in a letter.
George Wickham has been acquainted with Mr. Darcy since childhood, being the
son of Mr. Darcy's father's steward. An officer in the militia, he is superficially charming and
rapidly forms an attachment with Elizabeth Bennet. He spreads tales about the wrongs Mr.
Darcy has done him, adding to the local society's prejudice, but eventually he is found to have
been the wrongdoer himself. He runs off with Lydia, with no intention of marrying her, which
would have resulted in her complete disgrace, but for Darcy's intervention to bribe Wickham
to marry her.
William Collins, aged 25, is Mr. Bennet's clergyman cousin and heir to his estate. He
is "not a sensible man, and the deficiency of nature had been but little assisted by education or
society". Mr. Collins is obsequious, and lacking in common sense. Elizabeth's rejection of Mr.
10

Collins's marriage proposal is welcomed by her father, regardless of the financial benefit to
the family of such a match. Mr. Collins then marries Elizabeth's friend, Charlotte Lucas.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who possesses wealth and social standing, is haughty,
pompous, domineering, and condescending, although her manner is seen by some as entirely
proper and even admirable. Mr. Collins, for example, is shown to admire these characteristics
by deferring to her opinions and desires. Elizabeth, by contrast, is duly respectful but not
intimidated. Lady Catherine's nephew, Mr. Darcy, is offended by her lack of manners,
especially towards Elizabeth, and he later courts her disapproval by marrying Elizabeth in
spite of her numerous objections.
Mr and Mrs Gardiner: Edward Gardiner is Mrs. Bennet's brother and a
successfullawyer of sensible and gentlemanly character. Aunt Gardiner is close to her nieces
Jane and Elizabeth. Jane stays with the Gardiners in London for a period, and Elizabeth
travels with them to Derbyshire, where she again meets Mr. Darcy. The Gardiners are quick in
their perception of an attachment between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, and judge him without
prejudice. They are both actively involved in helping Mr. Darcy arrange the marriage between
Lydia and Mr. Wickham.
Georgiana Darcy is Mr. Darcy's quiet, amiable, and shy younger sister, aged 16
when the story begins. When 15, Miss Darcy almost eloped with Mr. Wickham, who sought
her thirty thousand pound dowry. Miss Darcy is introduced to Elizabeth at Pemberley and is
later delighted at the prospect of becoming her sister-in-law. Georgiana is extremely timid and
gets embarrassed fairly easily. She idolises her brother Mr. Darcy (Fitzwilliam Darcy), and the
two share an extremely close sibling bond, much like Jane and Elizabeth. She is extremely
talented at the piano, singing, playing the harp, and drawing. She is also very modest.
Charlotte Lucas is Elizabeth's friend who, at 27 years old (and thus past prime
marriage age), fears becoming a burden to her family and therefore agrees to marry Mr.
Collins, whom she does not love, to gain financial security. Though the novel stresses the
importance of love and understanding in marriage (as seen in the anticipated success of
ElizabethDarcy relationship), Austen never seems to condemn Charlotte's decision to marry
for money. Austen uses Lucas as the common voice of early 19th Century society's views on
relationships and marriage. She is the daughter of Sir William Lucas and Lady Lucas, friends
of Mrs. Bennet.
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Louisa Hurst is the older sister to Caroline Bingley and Charles Bingley, and wife of
Mr. Hurst. She is the nicer of the two sisters, but like Caroline, she doesn't encourage her
brother's admiration toward Jane Bennet because of her connections.

5. Major themes
Many critics take the novel's title as a starting point when analysing the major themes
of Pride and Prejudice; however, Robert Fox cautions against reading too much into the title
because commercial factors may have played a role in its selection. "After the success
of Sense and Sensibility, nothing would have seemed more natural than to bring out another
novel of the same author using again the formula of antithesis and alliteration for the title. It
should be pointed out that the qualities of the title are not exclusively assigned to one or the
other of the protagonists; both Elizabeth and Darcy display pride and prejudice." The title is
very likely taken from a passage in Fanny Burney's popular 1782 novel Cecilia, a novel
Austen is known to have admired:
"The whole of this unfortunate business," said Dr. Lyster, "has been the result of
PRIDE and PREJUDICE. ... Yet this, however, remember: if to PRIDE and PREJUDICE you
owe your miseries, so wonderfully is good and evil balanced, that to PRIDE and PREJUDICE
you will also owe their termination ..." (capitalisation as in the original.)
A major theme in much of Austen's work is the importance of environment and
upbringing on the development of young people's character and morality.[10] Social standing
and wealth are not necessarily advantages in her world, and a further theme common to
Austen's work is ineffectual parents. In Pride and Prejudice, the failure of Mr. and Mrs.
Bennet as parents is blamed for Lydia's lack of moral judgment; Darcy, on the other hand, has
been taught to be principled and scrupulously honourable, but he is also proud and
overbearing. Kitty, rescued from Lydia's bad influence and spending more time with her older
sisters after they marry, is said to improve greatly in their superior society. American novelist
Anna Quindlen observed, in an introduction to an edition of Austen's novel in 1995:
Pride and Prejudice is also about that thing that all great novels consider, the search
for self. And it is the first great novel that teaches us this search is as surely undertaken in

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the drawing room making small talk as in the pursuit of a great white whale or the public
punishment of adultery.
Marriage
The opening line of the novel announces: "It is a truth universally acknowledged,
that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." [13] This sets
marriage as a central subjectand really, a central problemfor the novel generally. Readers
are poised to question whether or not these single men are, in fact, in want of a wife, or if such
desires are dictated by the "neighborhood" families and their daughters who require a "good
fortune." Marriage becomes an economic rather than social activity. In the case of Charlotte
Lucas, for example, the seeming success of the marriage lies in the comfortable economy of
their household, while the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet serves to illustrate bad
marriages based on attraction and surface over substance (economic and psychological). The
Bennets' marriage is one such example that the youngest Bennet, Lydia, will come to re-enact
with Wickham, and the results are far from felicitous. Though the central characters, Elizabeth
and Darcy, begin the novel as hostile acquaintances and unlikely friends, they eventually work
to understand each other and themselves so that they can marry each other on compatible
terms personally, even if their "equal" social status remains fraught. Austen's complex
sketching of different marriages ultimately allows readers to question what forms of alliance
are desirable, especially when it comes to privileging economic, sexual, companionate
attraction.
Wealth
Money plays a key role in the marriage market, not only for the young ladies seeking
a well-off husband, but also for men who wish to marry a woman of means. Two examples are
George Wickham, who tried to elope with Georgiana Darcy, and Colonel Fitzwilliam.
Marrying a woman of a rich family also ensured a linkage to a high family as is visible in the
desires of Bingley's sisters to have their brother married to Georgiana Darcy.
Inheritance was by descent, but could be further restricted by entailment, which
would restrict inheritance to male heirs only. In the case of the Bennet family, Mr. Collins was
to inherit the family farm upon Mr. Bennet's death and his proposal to Elizabeth would have
allowed her to have a share. Nevertheless, she refused his offer. Inheritance laws benefited
13

males because most women did not have independent legal rights until the second half of the
19th century. As a consequence, women's financial security at the time the novel is set
depended on men. For the upper middle and aristocratic classes, marriage to a man with a
reliable income was almost the only route to security for the woman and her future children.
Class
Even as Austen is known for her "romances," almost all of the marriages that take
place in her novels engage with some form or another on the economic concerns involved in
the matches. Pride and Prejudice is hardly the exception. When Darcy proposes to Elizabeth,
he cites their economic and social differences as an obstacle his excessive love has had to
overcome, though he still anxiously harps on the problems it poses for him within his social
circle. His aunt, Lady Catherine, later characterizes these differences in particularly harsh
when she conveys what Elizabeth's marriage to Darcy will become: "Will the shades of
Pemberley be thus polluted?" Though Elizabeth responds to Lady Catherine's accusations as
to her potentially contaminating economic and social position (she insists she and Darcy are
"equals"), Lady Catherine refuses to accept Darcy's actual marriage to Elizabeth even as the
novel closes.
Meanwhile, the Bingleys present a particular problem for navigating social class.
Though Caroline Bingley and Mrs. Hurst behave and speak of others as if they have always
belonged in the upper echelons of society, Austen makes a point to explain that the Bingleys
acquired their wealth by trade rather than through the gentry's and aristocracy's methods of
inheriting estates and making money of the tenants (landlords). The fact that Bingley rents
Netherfield Hall (it is, after all, "to let") distinguishes him significantly from Darcy, whose
estate belonged to his father, who in turn was the younger son of an Earl. Bingley, unlike
Darcy, does not own his property, but he has portable and growing wealth that makes him a
good catch on the marriage market for daughters of the gentility, like the Jane Bennet, who
have the social status (they're of "good family") but require the money.
Self knowledge
Elizabeth and Darcy were not born a great match. It is through their interactions and
their critiques of each other that they recognise their faults and work to correct them.
Elizabeth meditates on her own mistakes thoroughly in chapter 36: "How despicably have I
14

acted!" she cried; "I, who have prided myself on my discernment! I, who have valued myself
on my abilities! who have often disdained the generous candour of my sister, and gratified my
vanity in useless or blameable distrust. How humiliating is this discovery! yet, how just a
humiliation! Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind. But vanity, not
love, has been my folly. Pleased with the preference of one, and offended by the neglect of the
other, on the very beginning of our acquaintance, I have courted prepossession and ignorance,
and driven reason away, where either were concerned. Till this moment I never knew myself."
Pride and Prejudice, like most of Austen's other works, employs the narrative
technique of free indirect speech, which has been defined as 'the free representation of a
character's speech, by which one means, not words actually spoken by a character, but the
words that typify the character's thoughts, or the way the character would think or speak, if
she thought or spoke'. Austen creates her characters with a fully developed personalities and
unique voices. Though Darcy and Bennet are very alike, they are also immensely
different. By using narrative that adopts the tone and vocabulary of a particular character (in
this case, Elizabeth), Austen invites the reader to follow events from Elizabeth's viewpoint,
sharing her prejudices and misapprehensions. 'The learning curve, while undergone by both
protagonists, is disclosed to us solely through Elizabeth's point of view and her free indirect
speech is essential ... for it is through it that we remain caught, if not stuck, within Elizabeth's
misprisions'.

6. Final considerations
In conclusion, this novel tach us that is very important to forget our prejudice and be
more open and not to blame someone because he or she is in a bad mood because we dont
know all the causes and we cant have a faire judgement.
On the other side, it is very important to let behind our pride because sometimes we
are not the center of the Universe and some people may be offenced by our behavior.

7. Bibliography
1. "Monstersandcritics.com". Monstersandcritics.com. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 27
January 2012.
2. Janet M. Todd (2005), Books.Google.com, Jane Austen in Context, Cambridge University
Press p. 127
3. Tim Worstall (31 August 2014). "Using Mr. Darcy's Income To Disprove Thomas
Piketty". Forbes.
4. Austen, Jane (1996). Pride and Prejudice, Penguin Classics, note 2 to Chapter 3
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5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Austen, Jane, and Carol Howard. Pride and Prejudice. New York: Barnes & Noble
Classics Collection, 2003.
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