Pride and Prejudice

Austen displays pride and prejudice in the male and female protagonists, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Elizabeth is the second eldest sister of the Bennet family, a poor family living in England in the early 19th century. Mr. Darcy on the otherhand is the wealthy own of Pemberly, a famous family estate in Derbyshire. These two are continuously forced to be around each other, their personalities and pride and prejudices clashing.

The modern day typical reasons to marry, such as love, happiness, completion, etc, were all overshadowed by the desire to marry into a higher social status. This trend embodies every character of the book, except Mr. Bennet, who accepts his daughter Elizabeth's decision to deny Mr. Collins's proposal, even though marrying him would have brought the family finanicial stability. Even if one were comfortable with their current social status, they were not to marry anyone inferior to them. This is reinforced by Mr. Darcy's aunt, Lady Catherine, who when she hears of her nephew's intentions to marry Elizabeth, tells Elizabeth that Mr. Darcy is to marry someone of more value.

Mr. Darcy's first impression on Elizabeth repelled her; she saw him as an overly proud and cruel man. Further into the story Mr. Wickham, who has known Mr. Darcy since they were children, falsley accuses Mr. Darcy of wrong doings, only adding to Elizabeth's prejudices.

When Mr. Darcy proposes to Elizabeth, he goes as far as to insult the woman he loves, just so that she is aware of her inferiority, and how hard it is for him to marry someone so much lower than he. He even expects her to accept, suspecting she'll feel lucky that someone like him wants to marry her.

In the end, Mr. Darcy chooses love over social acceptance, over coming his pride in his wealth and himself, and Elizabeth overcomes her prejudice towards him, allowing her to fall in love with him. However, at one point, Elizabeth accuses Elizabeth of prejudice, and Mr. Darcy accuses Elizabeth of having too much pride, ironic because it's known to be the other way around. They both are once guilty of pride and prejudice, but they both overcome it, and they together overcome the pressures of society.