Pride and Prejudice

“Pride” and “Prejudice” Throughout her writing, Jane Austen portrays the social pressures and limitations that women were faced with in the early 1800’s. Austen can fit in with some of the struggles and characteristics of the characters in Pride and Prejudice. She sees herself in Elizabeth and that is the reason that Elizabeth is Austen’s favorite character. There are many different traits that are displayed in the novel. The traits “pride” and “prejudice” are the most portrayed throughout the entire book. Pride is one of the major traits throughout the whole book. A persons pride in themselves is very important their whole life. Elizabeth said, “and I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine” (page 16). Once someone’s pride is ruined then no one will look at that person the same way. Also, when someone gets their pride ruined their life could be forever changed. When word gets around about the incident that ruined their pride, some people may no longer want to associate with them. Jane Austen illustrates pride and how important it is in many different ways.
The main character that pride is conveyed through is Elizabeth. Elizabeth is a very prideful person. She is very intelligent and cares what others think about her. Unlike some women in the 1800’s, she only wants to get married if she is truly in love. The narrator states, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” (page 1). Women got married because they wanted security and did not want to be controlled by their brothers. Elizabeth waits until the time is right to get married. It takes her some time to fall in love with Darcy, but eventually she knows that he is the right man for her and they get married. Prejudice is also a major trait in the novel. Many people throughout the world are prejudice. "Nothing is more deceitful," said Darcy, "than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of