Pride and Prejudice

Course Work on Pride And Prejudice

How does Jane Austen create negative feelings towards the character of Mr. Darcy in the first six chapters of the novel Pride and Prejudice?

In the novel Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy is a very rich character and uncommonly shy. He does not like to talk to anyone except the people he knows well. He also detested dancing and would not want to be introduced to someone new. This is all because of his shyness. When his behavior in public is like this, the public is bound to think of him as a very arrogant and a very disagreeable man because, usually, rich people are thought to be either as open or arrogant by the public, they are not thought of to be shy, but he is not open and so, is thought of to be an arrogant and a reserved man. The trends also supported their thoughts as, the trends in that time were to dance and if a person would not dance, then he or she would be called either arrogant or shy.

The first instance of Mr. Darcy being shown in a negative light by Jane Austen is when the Bennet sisters see him for the first time, in the Meryton ball. When Mr. Darcy entered the hall, he was praised and within minutes he gained a lot of attention. He was called a fine figure of a man by the men and a much more handsome man than Mr. Bingley by the women in the room. But, after the first-half of the ball, Mr. Darcy danced only two dances, one with Mrs. Hurst and the other with Miss Bingley and for the rest of the time he was either talking to people of his own party or walking to and fro about the room. He declined being introduced to anyone new and he was sitting for two dances even though people wanted to dance with him. Even if he had danced with someone whom he did not know, he would at least be introduced to someone not from his party and would not be looked upon as different or awkward. In those times, it was socially awkward not to dance and not to be introduced to anyone new. Though the people who were close to him knew that he did this as he was shy, the people who did not know him thought of it as arrogance. Elizabeth overheard a conversation between Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley. Mr. Darcy said that Mr. Bingley was dancing with the most beautiful girl in the room and he also said (talking about Elizabeth) “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me;” When Elizabeth heard this, she was furious and judged him as to be the most disagreeable man and she remained not having very cordial feelings towards Mr. Darcy.

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Jane Austen gives Elizabeth Bennet’s and Mrs. Bennet’s characters the ability to judge very fast. So, in their eyes, the first impression is the last impression because of which, they do not even give poor Darcy a chance to prove himself right. Jane Bennet, on the other side is one who does not instantly judge a person, she judges a person over a period of time because of which Jane Austen does not use Jane Bennet to comment on Mr. Darcy’s character. Jane Austen uses Mrs. Bennet and Elizabeth to create negative feelings towards Mr. Darcy. While talking about Mr. Darcy, Mrs. Bennet says “Lizzy does not lose much by not suiting his fancy; for he is a most disagreeable, horrid man, not at all worth pleasing.” and she also said “Not handsome enough to dance with!” She said all these words but did not mean them. She knew that he was handsome enough to dance with, agreeable, and worth pleasuring but, she just wanted to show her anger for him. She also wanted to get her husband on her side, against Darcy. Mr. Bennet is like Jane, he is a person who will not judge a person immediately, but will judge a person over time. He let his wife speak but never listened to her. Jane Austen makes certain characters say such words and phrases that fills our minds with poison about Mr. Darcy and then she introduces the turn in the book. Jane Austen made Elizabeth say things about Mr. Darcy and then made her only fall in love with him. This is what makes this story very interesting even for people who don’t like reading books.

After reading the book, a reader would feel that Mr. Darcy’s character is not an arrogant character but actually a very shy and helpful character. He is portrayed in a negative light throughout the whole book by Jane Austen so, his good side is hidden because of which, the reader becomes very interested in the book. He is first shown by Austen as arrogant but then in the letter lays the turning point. It becomes even more interesting after that. Mr. Darcy’s richness and shyness combined with the first impressions of Mrs. Bennet and Elizabeth Bennet make up the story. Jane Austen uses a lot of wit and sarcasm in many of her books of which Pride and Prejudice is one. Austen uses letters as turning points in this book as well as many of her other books. She does not make characters bad, but makes characters look bad in this book. She makes them look bad with the help of words and phrases from other characters. She is a very good author and her style of writing is loved by many people all over the world.

Total no. of words in quotes: 39 words

Total no. of words with quotes: 914 words.

Total no. of words without quotes: 875 words.

Bibliography:

Jane Austen (1813) Pride and Prejudice, Whitehall, T. Egerton.