The Triumph of Love in Pride and Prejudice
The Triumph of Love in Pride and Prejudice "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife" (Austen 1). This line illustrates great foreshadowing of the central theme of Pride and Prejudice. It is a tale of love overcoming the obstacles of pride and prejudice. The story revolves around Elizabeth Bennet, the second of five Bennet daughters. Elizabeth is charming and clever, although she is quick to judge others. She represents prejudice throughout the novel. She is her father's favorite, and from him inherits her sharp wit. Despite her mother's wishes, Elizabeth is interested in finding a husband with a compatible personality, rather than one with great wealth. Pride is represented by Elizabeth's counterpart, Fitzwilliam Darcy. The first of many marriage proposals in the novel is that of Mr. Collins to Elizabeth. His original intentions are to marry Jane, but Mrs. Bennet tells him that Jane is soon to be engaged to Charles Bingley. He shifts his vision to Elizabeth. She rejects him promptly. It is a selfish proposition. He seems to be looking to make things better only for himself. Among his reasons for marriage, he states that as a clergyman it is his responsibility to set an example, it will make him happy, and that he is acting on the advice of his patroness, Lady Catherine de Brough. He also mentions that he will inherit the Bennet estate when Mr. Bennet passes away. He tells Elizabeth that he feels a certain responsibility to the daughters to make one of them his wife. Other than living in their house, he makes no other mention of any advantages acquired by the woman who will become his wife. When Elizabeth rejects him he is not discouraged. His arrogance forces him to believe that she will eventually say yes. He tells her that he is sure she is just saying no when in reality she means yes. He is
confused as to why she would play this game with him, but he is not upset over not being with her. Their unification would be one of convenience, not love. Elizabeth cannot see herself being happy in a loveless marriage with such a man, even though she would be well provided for. She finds his personality intolerable. She will not enter into a marriage of convenience. For this reason she refuses his proposal. When Mrs. Bennet finds out that Elizabeth has turned down Mr. Collins, she is furious. She tells Elizabeth that unless she agrees to Mr. Collins's proposal she ...
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confused as to why she would play this game with him, but he is not upset over not being with her. Their unification would be one of convenience, not love. Elizabeth cannot see herself being happy in a loveless marriage with such a man, even though she would be well provided for. She finds his personality intolerable. She will not enter into a marriage of convenience. For this reason she refuses his proposal. When Mrs. Bennet finds out that Elizabeth has turned down Mr. Collins, she is furious. She tells Elizabeth that unless she agrees to Mr. Collins's proposal she will never see her daughter again. She tries to persuade Mr. Bennet to insist that Elizabeth amend her refusal, but he will have no part of it. In fact, he tells her that if she does accept the proposal, he will refuse to see her again. Elizabeth is Mr. Bennet's favorite daughter and he wants her to be happy. He knows that she has enough sense to choose a good husband without Mrs. Bennet's meddling. He wants all of his daughters to marry for love rather than practicality. Mrs. Bennet then pleads with Elizabeth's best friend, Charlotte Lucas, to entice Elizabeth to accept Mr. Collins' offer. Charlotte has her own plans. From the moment she meets him, she knows that he is the man she shall marry. Sure enough, three days later Mr. Collins proposes to Charlotte. She willingly accepts the proposal, not out of love for Mr. Collins, but for his assets. She knows that he will provide a comfortable living for her and that is her main concern. She is a plain quiet girl, who knows she will not receive a better offer. Elizabeth is upset that her friend would be so foolish. Elizabeth has occasion to refuse another proposal, that of Fitzwilliam Darcy. She rejects his first proposal based mostly on his pride and condescension. When Elizabeth and Darcy first meet at the ball in Meryton, he insults her by saying, "...she is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me..." (Austen 7). Elizabeth overhears this conversation between Darcy and Bingley and is quite insulted. The statement goes far to show Darcy's fundamental feelings of superiority. Elizabeth's tendency to judge others quickly causes this first impression of Darcy to last for nearly half of the novel. She views him as having too much pride and very bad manners. He sees himself as being above the other guests at the ball. Elizabeth is also concerned with what Wickham has told her about Darcy. Wickham is immature and irresponsible. He twists the facts to make Darcy look bad. In addition, she is troubled by the idea that Darcy may have interfered with Jane and Bingley's relationship. However, his arrogance dwindles over time, due to his love for Elizabeth. He learns to open up and enjoy life, rather than be stuck dealing with formalities. Elizabeth goes with her aunt and uncle, the Gardiners, to visit Pemberley, Darcy's estate. She goes knowing that Darcy will not be there. While there, she comes to accept some of her own faults and shortcomings. Darcy unexpectedly shows up early and is quite cordial to Elizabeth. Her previous rejection has humbled him. Elizabeth leaves suddenly when she discovers that Lydia has eloped with Wickham. Even after Elizabeth's dismissal, Darcy does not give up. He does not behave immaturely as Collins does. He backs down to give Elizabeth time to think. He continues to behave maturely and subtlety helps Elizabeth and her family deal with unpleasant circumstances. This is exemplified when he pays Wickham to marry Lydia. He does this to spare Elizabeth and her family the embarrassment of having association with a young woman living out of wedlock. He and Elizabeth both feel guilty for not divulging Wickham's bad character to the family and they share a sense of responsibility for Lydia`s actions. They believe that if they had informed her properly, Lydia would not have run away with Wickham. Lydia is the weak link in the Bennet family. Her shameful marriage to Wickham illuminates some interesting points. First, Mrs. Bennet is overjoyed that one of her daughters is finally married. She does not even consider the dishonorable circumstances of the union. This shows Mrs. Bennet's narrow-mindedness. Wickham agrees to marry Lydia only after he is promised an annual stipend. Mrs. Bennet experiences no shame on behalf of her daughter`s dishonorable actions, instead she is feels only with the delight she now feels having a wedded daughter. The second point the marriage brings about is Elizabeth's dismay. She finally realizes her true feelings for Darcy and has decided that if he were to propose a second time she would accept. Now she believes that he will never ask her again. She ultimately recognizes the low status her family occupies and her pride begins to diminish. The scandal between Lydia and Wickham and the fact that a character like Wickham is now a part of her family add to that low status. Nevertheless, this actually brings Darcy and Elizabeth closer together. They were both aware of Wickam's irresponsible ways, but neither one informed the rest of the Bennet family. They now share a common bond. When Darcy pays Wickham it proves to Elizabeth that he does have altruistic qualities. A few weeks after Lydia`s elopement, Bingley and Darcy visit the Bennets for dinner. Darcy sits so far away from Elizabeth that she is sure that he no longer has any feelings for her. Bingley proposes to Jane and she accepts. This shows that both Bingley and Darcy have overcome their objections to marrying into a lower class. This foreshadows Darcy's forthcoming proposal to Elizabeth. Soon after, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Darcy's aunt, pays a visit to Elizabeth. She tells Elizabeth that she has heard rumors of her impending engagement to her nephew. Lady Catherine is adamantly against their marriage because Elizabeth comes from such a lower rank in life. Lady Catherine tries (to no avail) to dissuade her from accepting such a proposal, but Elizabeth promises nothing to her. Elizabeth's reaction to the conversation makes Darcy suspect that she would say yes if he were to propose a second time. A letter comes to Mr. Bennet from Mr. Collins, predicting the engagement of Darcy and Elizabeth. Mr. Bennet is happy for his daughter, especially since Darcy is so picky. Mr. Bennet proclaims that Darcy "never looks at any woman but to see a blemish" (Austen 272). At first no one in Elizabeth's family believes such an arrangement is possible. After all, Elizabeth has not spoken a kind word towards Darcy to any of them. Eventually she convinces them that she truly does love Darcy and all are in favor of the marriage. Darcy does in fact propose to Elizabeth, as Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine de Bourgh predicted. He tells her that his feelings for her have not changed. She tells him that hers have. She is now able to respect Darcy and that is very important to her. The proposal seems somewhat anticlimactic. Elizabeth is left fumbling for the words to express herself. She clumsily accepts Darcy's proposal. They are married and go to live in Pemberley. Jane and Bingley purchase a property close to them. The two oldest Bennet sisters visit each other frequently and both are very happy. Lydia and Wickham remain their foolish selves. Mrs. Bennet is delighted to have three of her five daughters married. Mr. Bennet is content that his daughters are happy. The original title of Pride and Prejudice was "First Impressions." The novel deals with the consequences of judging others too quickly. As Elizabeth learns, quick judgments are often wrong. She eventually comes to love Darcy, the man she thought insufferable when they first met. And he sees through Elizabeth's appearance and social status to realize what a wonderful woman she is. They are a good match because they are in tune to each other intellectually. Bibliography Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. New York: Bantam Books, 1981.