Theme of Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice is structured around the theme of pride versus prejudice, with characters showing aspects of each of these traits in their behavior and in their personalities. Both major and minor characters reflect issues of pride and instances of prejudice as common characteristics that shape their actions, usually without their being at all aware of it. The terms "pride" and "prejudice" contrast particularly as essential characteristics of Darcy (the proud) and Elizabeth (the prejudiced) as they learn to overcome their natural inclinations sufficiently to come together. Austen does not simply present these characters as representatives of these character traits as would be found in an allegory, and indeed both traits are evident in both characters in some degree. What Austen shows is that the society of the time is so guided by issues of pride and prejudice that real human connections are rare and to be prized.

The social comedy of Jane Austen, as seen in Pride and Prejudice, is infused with a moral purpose. The reality of the characters is heightened by their foibles and by the foolishness in which they indulge. This is presented against the backdrop of the accepted norms of society, and there is irony in the difference between the social norms the characters think they uphold and their real behavior, often at odds with what society requires. These differences are not great: Austen's characters do not stray far from the acceptable social p

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interplay. The title of the novel indicates the underlying forces at work--the pride of characters such as Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, and the prejudice that results when they meet and fail to see past the surface presented to society. Austen uses a series of social encounters, with the several sisters each reacting in her own way to the prospect of marriage, and the essential nature of the story is apparent from the opening passage in which Mrs. Bennett indicates that her primary interest in life is making good marriages for her daughters. The social and economic benefits of a marriage between Elizabeth and Darcy in particular are apparent from the first, and the complication is in the perception Elizabeth has of Darcy, the "prejudice" that is her first impression of the man (the original title of the novel was "First Impressions"). The obstacle is social and psychological, and it is overcome through repeated contacts and the evolution of a learning process brought about by conversation and observation, social interaction on a personal level. Mr. Darcy is the wealthy man who falls in love with Elizabeth, and this man's pride is apparent from the first. His pride motivates him in his selection of a wife as in other actions, so

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