The Themes of Pride and Prejudice
Abstract
Abstract
In this article, we attempt to show the themes of Pride and Prejudice. Firstly I will show the main themes of pride and prejudice: love, reputation, class, courtship and pride. The last part of the paper shows that this great novel not only attracted thousands of readers in Austen’s time, but also gave a special feeling to today’s people.
Love between Darcy and Elizabeth
As in any good love story; the lovers must elude and overcome numerous stumbling blocks, beginning with the tensions caused by the lovers’ own personal qualities. Elizabeth’s pride makes her misjudge Darcy on the basis of a poor first impression, while Darcy’s prejudice against Elizabeth’s poor social standing blinds him, for a time, to her many virtues. Of course, one could also say that Elizabeth is guilty of prejudice and Darcy of pride? The title cuts both ways. Austen, meanwhile, poses countless smaller obstacles to the realization of the love between Elizabeth and Darcy, including lady Catherine’s attempt to control her nephew, miss Bingley’s snobbery, Mrs. Bennet’s idiocy, and Wickham’s deceit. In each case,
Love between Darcy and Elizabeth
As in any good love story; the lovers must elude and overcome numerous stumbling blocks, beginning with the tensions caused by the lovers’ own personal qualities. Elizabeth’s pride makes her misjudge Darcy on the basis of a poor first impression, while Darcy’s prejudice against Elizabeth’s poor social standing blinds him, for a time, to her many virtues. Of course, one could also say that Elizabeth is guilty of prejudice and Darcy of pride? The title cuts both ways. Austen, meanwhile, poses countless smaller obstacles to the realization of the love between Elizabeth and Darcy, including lady Catherine’s attempt to control her nephew, miss Bingley’s snobbery, Mrs. Bennet’s idiocy, and Wickham’s deceit. In each case,
anxieties about social connections, or the desire for better social connections, interfere with the workings of love. Darcy and Elizabeth’s realization of a mutual and tender love seems to imply that Austen views love as something independent of these social forces, as something that can be captured if only an individual is able to escape the warping effects of hierarchical society.
Women’s reputation
Women’s reputation
Pride and Prejudice depicts a society in which a woman’s reputation is of the utmost importance. A woman is expected to behave in certain ways. Stepping outside the social norms makes her vulnerable to ostracism. This theme appears in the novel, when Elizabeth walks to nether field and arrives with muddy skirts, to the shock of the reputation-conscious miss Bingley and her friends.
At other points, the ill-mannered, ridiculous behavior of Mrs. Bennet gives her a bad reputation with the more refined (and snobbish) Darcy’s and Bingley’s. Austen pokes gentle fun at the snobs in these examples, but later in the novel, when Lydia elopes with Wickham and lives with him out of wedlock, the author treats reputation as a very serious matter. by
At other points, the ill-mannered, ridiculous behavior of Mrs. Bennet gives her a bad reputation with the more refined (and snobbish) Darcy’s and Bingley’s. Austen pokes gentle fun at the snobs in these examples, but later in the novel, when Lydia elopes with Wickham and lives with him out of wedlock, the author treats reputation as a very serious matter. by
sort of orderbecoming Wickham’s lover without benefit of marriage, Lydia clearly places herself outside the social pale, and her disgrace threatens the entire Bennet family.
Class boundaries and prejudice
The theme of class is related to reputation, in that both reflect the strictly regimented nature of life for the middle and upper classes in regency England. The lines of class are strictly drawn. While the Bennet’s, who are middle class, may socialize with the upper-class Bingley and Darcy, they are clearly their social inferiors and are treated as such. Austen satirizes this kind of class-consciousness, particularly in the character of Mr. Collins, who spends most of his time toadying to his upper-class patron, lady Catherine Deborah. Though Mr. Collins offers an extreme example, he is not the only one to hold such views. his conception of the importance of class is shared, among others, by Mr. Darcy, who believes in the dignity of his lineage; miss Bingley, who dislikes anyone not as socially accepted as she is; and Wickham, who will do anything he can to get enough money to raise himself into a higher station.
Class boundaries and prejudice
The theme of class is related to reputation, in that both reflect the strictly regimented nature of life for the middle and upper classes in regency England. The lines of class are strictly drawn. While the Bennet’s, who are middle class, may socialize with the upper-class Bingley and Darcy, they are clearly their social inferiors and are treated as such. Austen satirizes this kind of class-consciousness, particularly in the character of Mr. Collins, who spends most of his time toadying to his upper-class patron, lady Catherine Deborah. Though Mr. Collins offers an extreme example, he is not the only one to hold such views. his conception of the importance of class is shared, among others, by Mr. Darcy, who believes in the dignity of his lineage; miss Bingley, who dislikes anyone not as socially accepted as she is; and Wickham, who will do anything he can to get enough money to raise himself into a higher station.
Courtship between Darcy and Elizabeth and between Bingley and Jane
In a sense, Pride and Prejudice is the story of two courtships? Those between Darcy and Elizabeth, Bingley and Jane. Within this broad structure appear other, smaller courtships: Mr. Collins’s aborted wooing of Elizabeth, followed by his successful wooing of charlotte Lucas; miss Bingley’s unsuccessful attempt to attract Darcy; Wickham’s pursuit first of Elizabeth, then of the never-seen miss king, and finally of Lydia. Courtship therefore takes on a profound, if often unspoken, importance in the novel. Marriage is the ultimate goal; courtship constitutes the real working-out of love. Courtship becomes a sort of forge of a person’s personality, and each courtship becomes a microcosm for different sorts of love (or different ways to abuse love as a means to social advancement).
Conclusion
Pride and Prejudice was the representative work of Jane Austen. It gave a vivid expression of the reactionary and traditional country life and people’s minds during 18th centuries and 19th centuries in Britain to us. This great novel not only attracted thousands of readers in Austen’s time, but also gave a special feeling to today’s people. In order to make much more people know the book, the paper shows the main idea of the pride and prejudice
Conclusion
Pride and Prejudice was the representative work of Jane Austen. It gave a vivid expression of the reactionary and traditional country life and people’s minds during 18th centuries and 19th centuries in Britain to us. This great novel not only attracted thousands of readers in Austen’s time, but also gave a special feeling to today’s people. In order to make much more people know the book, the paper shows the main idea of the pride and prejudice
The Themes of Pride and Prejudice
班级：统本英贸1001
姓名：李冬晓
学号：101150000413
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