Pride and Prejudice

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Pride and Prejudice

In the novel Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen is of the opinion that social hierarchies and first impressions are the main cause of conflict and prejudice between the characters Elizabeth and Darcy. The fact of Mr. Darcy's considerably higher position on the hierarchy due to his wealth makes Elizabeth to immediately dismiss him as shallow and snobbish. Mr. Darcy also does not make it any better by constantly criticizing the manners of the Bennet family as a result of their lower social standing. She also goes on to show how experiences of pride and prejudice tend to lead to transformation later (Austen23).

Initial impressions make the characters to have preconceptions about each other according to wealth and social standing. Elizabeth's first conception of Mr. Darcy is that of pride and hard to please. Mr. Darcy's first conception of Elizabeth is also that of disdain as he says that she is not handsome enough to tempt him. Her father's lack of wealth is also a factor in his prejudice of Elizabeth. In the course of time Elizabeth's prejudice against Darcy mounts as she is oblivious of his desire for her since she reckons he would never like her. She also reckons she could never like such a proud and conceited man (Austen 44). The confusion of Darcy's true nature makes Elizabeth take the whole novel to know the truth about him, about Wickham and the reason for his parting of Jane and Bingley.

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Pride and Prejudice concerns a man who transforms into a better person whose upstanding nature finally shines through. It also concerns a woman who is transformed due to the revelation of the true nature of the man. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth come to see beyond their initial conceptions concerning each other and learn how to straighten out matters. Both of the characters act out of misjudgment, conceit, narrow-mindedness, and lack of candidness from their initial acquaintance. While both Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy possessed these flaws in character, Elizabeth experienced the greater conversion as sardonically; her conceit was greater than Mr. Darcy's renowned in the initial two volumes for his bigotry and pride. They are very similar in nature, however they both experience immense transformation.

Preconceived notions concerning each other lead to a lack of objectivity by Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. At the commencement of the story Darcy deems Elizabeth as not being handsome enough. We later on come to learn that He is not that shallow in character. He asserts that he is looking for a woman with