pride and prejudice :: essays research papers

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Jane Austen presents many themes in her novel Pride and Prejudice. Some of these themes are relevant to today's society but none so much as the main themes pride and prejudice. There are two main themes because one usually leads to another. Coincidentally these two themes make up the title of the novel. Pride is something everybody should have. But not everybody should have too much. The amount of pride that one has in himself/herself is one of the first things one is characterized by. When Elizabeth first met Mr. Darcy and for some time after, she perceived him to be conceited, as did everyone else of her family. Mr. Darcy was not well liked too well by the Bennets for this reason. Too much pride in one's self is; too, present at the in today's society. This is usually linked to the wealth of a person. People who are wealthy tend to have an over abundant amount pride. They like to brag about their riches and show off what they have. Why do they do this? They do this to rub it in to the faces of lower class society. Overwhelming pride is just not seen in Hollywood or big cities; it is everywhere. Most commonly it is in schools. Some students tend to think it is fun to gloat about what they have, but this may lead to them being disliked by others. Nobody wants to listen to a spoiled kid! Pride can be a good thing and it should be but it may lead to some cases of the second theme of the novel, prejudice. Prejudice is viewed in all places and in all forms. In Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy's pride leads to the Bennet's, especially Elizabeth's, prejudice toward him. This is because Mr. Darcy is so much wealthier than the Bennets and he lets them know. He shows much prejudice against people of lower societies. Elizabeth thinks of him as a handsome, but a too good, conceited, "I'm too good for anybody," male. Even though she is attracted to him, she refuses his proposal due to her prejudice toward him. He does not help in her saying "yes" when he tells her how he sees her and her family; poor and unworthy. He even states that this proposal should probably not even be taking place due to these feelings.