The Themes Of Pride And Prejudice In Jane Austen’S Novel
'Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud' (Proverbs 16:18-19). As humans, our powers and abilities are limited no matter how much we feel we have accomplished with them (“Unity Worldwide Ministries”). Sometimes, we develop pride of our accomplishments and this can lead to mistakes. Prejudice is often the counterpart to pride: proud people often develop prejudices that inhibit their relations with others. The themes of pride and prejudice from the book Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen are revealed in the central characters Darcy and Elizabeth.
The book, Pride and Prejudice, merely revolves around the themes intellectual pride and prejudice. Intellectual pride is implied through the first sentence of the book, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife,” indicating that it is a women’s job to find a husband with her prejudice opinion of the man’s intellectual pride (Austen 1).
Also, intellectual pride is shown through the ball scene as Darcy’s pride takes over, causing him to distance himself from any type of interaction with the other guests. Thus, causing him to lose his opportunity of gaining any companionship from the guests. Darcy especially shows off his pride through his actions of superiority towards Elizabeth, sadly resulting in her long lasting disgust of him (“Themes in the Novel”). Darcy’s pride is exactly what lead to his long troublesome road of numerous attempts of winning his true love, Elizabeth, back. That circumstance is what slapped Darcy in the face, making him realize that he would have to change his values if he ever wanted to be with Elizabeth. One quote from Mary Bennet in chapter 5 page 27 that hits home on the effects of pride is, “Pride relates more to our opinions of ourselves; vanity to what we would have others think of us.” Indicating that a person must be aware of the image they hold of themselves before worrying about others views of us.
In modern society, it is no longer a woman’s job to find a husband with her prejudice opinion of the man’s intellectual pride. Today, the majority of married couples go through a relationship state while discovering each other’s inner qualities. Just like animals, men show their intellectual pride over their mate. The behavior of an alpha male monkey provides an example of the tendency to use intense violence to “have access to the females in the group with whom they want to have sex,” (“Humans and Monkeys”). Human males have a similar tendency to hold power over their female mates. The typical cause of divorce in America is getting into the marriage for the wrong reason of money (“Reasons People Get Divorced”). Money may satisfy wants for a little while, but eventually people will need the aspects of the marriage that money can not buy. This relates exactly to Pride and Prejudice because the whole demaner that a women looked for while finding a spouse, back in the 1800s, was who had the most money.
Pride and Prejudice displays the theme of prejudice continuously throughout the book by people underestimating others all based on their educational and economic status. One such example is shown through Darcy’s initial prejudice against Elizabeth upon their first encounter at the ball (“Pride and Prejudice Themes”). Darcy refused to dance with Elizabeth since he lived by the standard of downgrading anyone outside of his social circle. Elizabeth’s prejudice takes over her character as well, as shown through her “immediate prejudice of Mr. Darcy because of his dismissal of her at the ball,” (“How 'Pride and Prejudice' Satirizes Love”). First impression is everything, as displayed by Elizabeth no longer wanting anything to do with Darcy. Yet, as he started to realize the beautiful future that could take place between him and his beloved Elizabeth, he began to overcome his prejudice so that he could redeem himself to her. Luckily, toward the end of the book they finally conquer their prejudice towards each other and fall in love (“Pride and Prejudice Themes”).
In today’s society, 9 times out of 10, people judge others based primarily on their prejudice view. People determine what type of person someone is before even meeting them solely based on their appearance. For example, after 9-11, “anyone who looked Middle Eastern was looked at suspiciously and was often the victim of prejudice,” (“Examples of Prejudice”). That type of judgement was majorly unethical. Another prime example of prejudice would be sex-based prejudice. Sex-based prejudice is shown through a divorce court case where women normally get custody of the child, making it unfair to the father of the child (“Examples of Prejudice”). Who knows, the child may have a much better life with the father but the sex-based prejudice judge prevented that from happening.
All in all, an overabundance of pride and prejudice can ruin a person’s character. A person with too much pride will take for granted the small moments in life that may one day turn out to be a big life changing moment. Sometimes, we need to take a step back and look at the circumstance at hand before letting our pride speak for us. If a person has too much prejudice, they are highly unlikely to ever find their perfect companion. Just as the famous quote says: “You can’t judge a book by its cover when you haven’t even read the pages inside.” Simply judging whether to interact with a person solely based on their outward appearance while not even knowing their true color will more often than not leave you as a victim of your own prejudice.
