Prejudice. From the moment they met, Darcy and Elizabeth had to overcome numerous obstacles for their relationship to thrive. To fully appreciate Austen’s portrait of romance in her novel the reader must study her portrayal of the lasting effects of first impressions, how “pride and prejudice” are words perfectly fit for the novel’s title, and how the relationships of the main characters with their friends and families influence the overall story.
Elizabeth’s first interactions …show more content…
Austen cleverly chose the title for her novel, Pride and Prejudice, which became the focus for the emotional displays of her characters. While the novel was mostly told from Elizabeth’s point of view, there were also demonstrations of Darcy’s personal struggle with his pride and prejudice views of the society around him. Elizabeth was raised by her father as an intellect, which was considered rare for her socioeconomic status during that time. She prided herself on being keenly observant and with a strong discernment. As Austen wrote from her antagonist 's point of view, she showed us how Elizabeth was prejudiced against Darcy and never considering how her judgement matched his own. Elizabeth overcomes her obstacle of both pride and prejudice when she read the letter Darcy writes to her after her rejection of his first proposal. To demonstrate Elizabeth’s realization of how she had judged others so poorly Austen wrote, “She grew absolutely ashamed of herself. Of neither Darcy nor Wickham could she think without feeling she had been blind, partial, prejudiced, absurd” (Austin 182). Elizabeth realized she …show more content…
One of the biggest challenges in the success of Darcy and Elizabeth’s relationship was the influence their families and friends put on them. One of the more prominent examples in the novel took place when Elizabeth met George Wickham, who informed her of his depiction of
Darcy’s character, which included Darcy had taken money intended for Wickham out of jealousy. Due to her current interactions with Darcy in the novel, as well as how honest
Wickham’s character seemed, Elizabeth believed the portrayal to be true and allowed this influence to further sway her feelings of prejudice. We see the significance this has on her character when she states, “I had not thought Mr. Darcy so bad as this--though I have never liked him. I had not thought so very ill of him--I had supposed him to be despising his fellow-creatures in general, but did not suspect him of descending to such malicious revenge, such injustice, such inhumanity as this” (Austen 71). Austen even used Wickham’s response as one of the reasons
Elizabeth gave Darcy as to why she rejected his first proposal. A second person of influence