Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice

In a nutshell

Jane Austen was an English novelist from the 18th century known primarily for writing novels related to the marriage market, love, sensitivity, social standing, and economic security. Her most emblematic novels are Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma.

The Author's Life

Born in 1775 in a small town in Hampshire, Jane Austen was the daughter of an Anglican rector of the local church. She was the seventh of eight children, and she had a great relationship with her sister Cassandra. This strong connection will later provide the foundations for her many novels where she illustrates the bond among sisters. Austen was mainly educated at home and she lived with her parents her whole life. Neither Cassandra nor Jane Austen ever got married.

Austen showed interest in writing while being very young. By the age of 25, she had already written three novels of which her first published novel Sense and Sensibility was released in 1811. Two years later, her second novel Pride and Prejudice was published and was tremendously popular. Her next work Mansfield Park was not so well-liked, followed by Emma, which was the last novel published before her death. Most of her work was published anonymously though her identity was later revealed by one of her brothers.

After her father's death, Austen and her family settled in Chawton where she spent her last years. In poor health, she wrote her last novel Persuasion published posthumously in 1818. Jane Austen died in Winchester in 1817 presumably of Addison's disease. After her death, Austen's reputation as a novelist was often perceived as successful.

Main Topics

Austen wrote about themes such as love, marriage, social standing, and personal judgment. Though, her predominant topics were love and marriage.

MARRIAGE

Austen's novels take place in old-fashioned England where property, social status, money, and decorum revolve around marriage as a business. This was the foundation of her plots that allowed her to develop troubles like gossip, seduction, maturity, flirtations, unscrupulous relatives, and social climbers.

LOVE

Austen's work deals with serious matters such as parenthood, marriage, and love from a perspective of conduct and character. A spontaneous feeling of romantic love was usually treated with control, common sense and moral principles, hence the usual happy ending element.

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​​Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is a novel written in 1813 that portrays with irony the relationship between the human being and society. Other topics are also treated such as love, courtship, the divergence between imagination, and reason, the use of individual freedom, and marriage. This novel was written during the era of the Napoleonic wars and the start of the Industrial Revolution. So, themes such as economics, society, social mobility, and bourgeoisie played a significant role in Austen's work.

THE PLOT

Pride and Prejudice sets in Hertfordshire. It starts with the news that a rich gentleman called Mr. Bingley has rented Netherfield Park, a large house with big grounds. Mrs. Bennet hopes one of her five daughters (Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine, and Lydia) can marry him.

After a series of balls and parties, Mr. Bingley falls in love with Jane and Mr. Darcy starts feeling attracted to Elizabeth. However, she does not like him at all at the beginning, she thinks he is proud, cold, and disagreeable. So, when Mr. Darcy declares his love for her, he cannot avoid showing contempt for her inferior social class. As a result, Elizabeth rejects his proposal. Moreover, she accuses him of the misfortune of George Wickham (a young officer who was the son of Darcy's former steward) and of separating her sister and Bingley.

So, Darcy writes a letter explaining the situation related to Bingley and Wickham, proving that he was innocent of wrongdoing. Meanwhile, Wickham escapes with Lydia. Darcy traces them and organizes their marriage, saving Bennet's sisters' reputation and showing Elizabeth that her 'prejudice' was unjustified. She accepts Mr. Darcy's second proposal despite the opposition of Lady Catherine De Bourgh (Darcy's arrogant aunt), and Bingley returns and gets engaged to Jane, so Pride and Prejudice ends with the marriage of two happy couples. 

ELIZABETH AND DARCY

Elizabeth is the second child in the Bennet family. She is virtuous, intelligent, and honest, however, she is very judgmental. As a woman, she is an icon of independence and individualism. The character of Elizabeth shows the difficulty of a woman trying to fit in the conservative social status of marriage. 

On the other hand, there is Darcy, a clever gentleman who is way too proud of his wealth and social status. His character illustrates the way that reputation and social class influence how people perceive others.

Both Elizabeth and Darcy have an imperfect understanding of each other. He accuses her of prejudice and she accuses him of pride. So, they go through a rejected marriage proposal, a dysfunctional family, and several snobbish. But in the end, Darcy proves himself worthy of Elizabeth by showing humility, in this way Elizabeth realizes her initial error of judging him too quickly.

MORE THAN A LOVE STORY

The marriage between Elizabeth and Darcy illustrates real characteristics to make a marriage successful, which are opposite to the traditional idea of marriage as a symbol of property or social reputation. Austen portrays that feeling cannot be established by appearance and must gradually develop while the two people get to know each other. The message of the novel seems to be the balance through the change of perception and personality of the characters that will lead to a reconciliation of the themes they represent.