Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, published in 1813 is a novel that is acknowledged as a masterpiece. The opening sentence of Pride and Prejudice is famously ironic, “it is universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”, this sentence is completely against Jane Austen’s characteristics; it states an opinion like it was fact; it’s a stereotype and an exaggeration, and is ironic as Jane Austen was known to be a rationalist.
The novel itself was fashionable but not respected, as a woman wrote it. Jane Austen’s main characters are Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, both of which are very similar and fail to realise this, they are proud, ironic and judgmental, a perfect match? Elizabeth and Mr.
Darcy are introduced to the reader in the first few chapters, their introduction and their opinions towards each other are very particular, this essay will analyze how Jane Austen introduces the reader to Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet in the opening scenes.Elizabeth is one of five Bennet sisters. Contrary to the stereotype of many main characters Elizabeth is not the prettiest, but what she lacks in beauty, she makes up for with wittiness and intelligence. The result is the reader does not expect Elizabeth to be the novels heroine, as she does not possess the Disney fairytale qualities.
When the reader is first introduced to Mr. Darcy, it is stated that he makes an absurd amount of money, he is very handsome, and is easily the most rude person in the room. He speaks with Mr. Bingley, who is one of his friends and is similar to him except Bingley is very nice. Bingley asks him why he will not dance with any of the girls at the ball they are attending, and Darcy replies that he does not find any of the women attractive and that he only dances with women he knows personally. Most characters in the beginning of the book can’t stand Mr.
Darcy, Mrs. Bennet most of all. Mr.
Darcy is first portrayed through indirect speech as a handsome and rich gentleman who is destined to marry, that is until the reader meets Mr. Darcy, the reader is deceived into thinking Mr. Darcy is a pompous rich over-proud gentlemen, as they mold prejudice opinions towards him. The 18th century and today’s era vary in similarity as women and men still marry and some women are deemed as housewives.
Jane Austen’s has radical ideas for both time elapses; as it is portrayed that women are normally in need of rescue from a handsome prince, but in Austen’s novel Elizabeth Bennet is not like that, in fact she is quite opposite, because of this Elizabeth is radical.Elizabeth Bennet is not a typical heroine because she is in no need of rescue. Jane Austen is using this theme to show women in particular that there is no law to marry, and that women are equal to men. Jane Austen increases her impact on the reader as Elizabeth wants to marry for love and with no other selfish gain, which was unprecedented in the 18th century; women were to marry for social status and economic reasons. When the reader is introduced to Mr. Wickham the reader is shocked by how affectionate Elizabeth is towards him shown through nerves and exaggeration about Mr. Darcy, “he is not at all liked in Hertfordshire.
Everybody is disgusted with his pride. You will not find him more favorably spoken of by anyone”, Elizabeth is normally composed and clear minded, but when she is talking to Mr. Wickham she exaggerates and seems bemused, this shows the trap in how people fall into love. This is interesting because it shows that Elizabeth is definitely an 18th century women; as she still wants a husband and will escalate the truth using indirect speech, but it is a bit suspicious because Elizabeth is ironic, and does not normally exaggerate, the reader wonders if Jane Austen is speaking or Elizabeth as she lived in life of a single women, it shows that love is still important. Jane Austen uses various techniques to make Pride and Prejudice’s plot exciting. Jane Austen’s style of writing is very unique; she put her emotions into her writing creating a real image and a believable plot, she uses irony in a very witty and funny way – “Mr. Darcy is all politeness” said Elizabeth, which is ironic as it is after Mr.
Darcy has been rude about her. Jane Austen has a very precise and exact style when she writes, all the vocabulary she uses fit Pride and Prejudice perfectly as it contains a balance use of complex and simple sentence structures, with a range of sophisticated language.Mr. Darcy is not what you would call a protagonist but at the same time does not qualify as an antagonist. He is Introduced to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice as a tall, handsome, self-absorbed aristocrat, Darcy experiences a change in personality and character.
In order to dispose of his existent views on money and marriage, Darcy needed to feel something, to fall in love. Although he was well mannered, he did not know how to treat women with respect, especially those of a lesser economic status. The love of Elizabeth Bennet, however, changed his behavior.The reader is first acquainted with Mr. Darcy’s arrogance at the Meryton Ball. Speaking of Elizabeth Bennet, he so snobbishly says that she was, “?tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me.”These words spoken in such admiration of Elizabeth display the vastness of his change to something that seemed so important to him from the first introduction of his character.
Although Darcy’s words revealed a large metamorphism in his disposition, his actions are more evident and show his true ability to change. At Mr. Darcy’s introduction to the novel he is immediately described as “?haughty, reserved, and fastidious, and his manners, though well bred, were not inviting”Austen introduces Darcy with all of his pretentious nature. Following the Meryton ball, Austen continues to display that unattractive nature of Darcy by comparing him to Bingley. “Darcy, on the contrary, had seen a collection of people in whom there was little beauty and no fashion, for none of whom he had felt the smallest interest, and from none received either attention or pleasure.” This statement reinforces the idea that Mr. Darcy is only concerned with talented women of great importance.
It is Elizabeth, however, who wins his heart with her liveliness and witty remarks.Falling in love with Miss Bennet caused Darcy to soften his actions and sweeten his personality. One example is the letter he wrote to Elizabeth to explain his reasoning for his separating Elizabeth’s older sister, Jane, and Mr. Bingley. Never, before Lizzy, would Darcy admit to his mistakes or apologize to someone, especially someone who he felt was not of his personal standard.Love changes Mr. Darcy.
It is because of this strong emotion that he was willing to place aside prior notions that a woman must come from a wealthy family to even be looked upon. Because of Elizabeth’s strong will and amiable personality she caught the eye and heart of Darcy, and after falling in love with her he did not hesitate to get rid of his old standards in order to let in the love of his life, the least expected. Pride and Prejudice is an interesting tale, as it does not seem to follow the usual style of novel writing.
Where a standard novel would have bits of dialogue scattered throughout action scenes and dedicated conversations, Jane Austen takes a different approach and commits most of the book to dialogue and hides the action throughout. Two characters that are an important part of the story are Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, better known as Mr Darcy. These two characters both have similar tendencies but also have very different qualities as well.Darcy is an arrogant, quite selfish, and very handsome man. Elizabeth, or Lizzy, is an independent woman, who feels that the standards are not to be followed, and there are more things to life than settling down and marrying a rich man While they end up married in the end of the story, in the beginning they could have not been less interested in each other.
The title itself is a representation of the two lovers, with Mr. Darcy being pride, and Elizabeth being prejudice
