Pride And Prejudice By Jane Austen

Characters such as Jane and Mr. Bingley express a natural kindness and share many similarities with each other, making their relationship have the potential to comfortably fall in love with each other. The obstacles in the way of their happiness are not caused by Jane or Mr. Bingley themselves, but by the people around them. Whereas Jane and Bingley’s relationship is built on inherent love for one another, the bond between Elizabeth and Darcy revolves around status and wealth.

The ball at Meryton is important because it is the first time the two couples, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth and Mr. Bingley and Jane, are together. When Mr. Bingley is conversing with Mr. Darcy about the Bennets, Mr. Bingley states that Jane was “the most beautiful creature
[he] ever beheld!” (Pg8), While Jane expressed to Elizabeth that Mr. Bingley was “what a young man ought to be"(Pg10). This relative effortlessness love in which Mr. Bingley and Jane establish almost instantaneously is representative of their easy going nature. Unlike Jane and Mr. Bingley's ‘love at first sight’, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth’s first impression of each other are very pessimistic and superficial. Mr. Darcy thinks of elizabeth as "tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me”(Pg8). This statement to Mr. Bingley expresses how Mr. Darcy thinks himself higher than Elizabeth, and she won’t tempt him into marrying down to a lower class. Even Mrs. Bennet dislikes Mr. Darcy’s self-righteous behavior. “I wish you had been there, my dear, to have given him one of your set-downs. I quite detest the man"(Pg10). Even though Mrs Bennet wants to marry her daughters off to wealthy men, she disapproves of Mr. Darcy's pride and sense of social superiority.
Mr.
Bingley and Mr. Darcy are both higher up in society than Jane and Elizabeth. It was highly frowned upon in the The Georgian Era to marry down a social status. After the ball, Miss Lucas states to Elizabeth and Jane that Darcy was a “very fine a young man, with family, fortune, everything in his favour, should think highly of himself. If I may so express it, he has a right to be proud."(Pg15). She believes that he has the right to think himself higher than everyone else because he is socially higher than everyone. Elizabeth responds that she could have forgiven him for his sense of pride, if he hadn’t mortified hers. Austen notifies the readers that Mr. Darcy secretly admired Elizabeth, “ But no sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she hardly had a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes”(Pg16). He let no one know about his secret admiration for if he did, it would be highly disapproved since Mr. Darcy was of a higher social status than Elizabeth. This sense of social superiority doesn’t stop Mr. Bingley from telling everyone that he adored Jane. "Yes; but he seemed to like his second better...Oh! you mean Jane, I suppose, because he danced with her twice.” Miss Lucas responded. As they are talking about the ball, everyone realizes that Mr. Bingley and Jane are made for each other. “Your sweetness and disinterestedness are really angelic” Elizabeth explains
“All the world are good and agreeable in your eyes. I never heard you speak ill of a human being in your life."(Pg11). These are all examples of Jane being friendly, and good natured.
Jane and Mr. Bingley are both open minded and good natured, making each other perfect for each other and falling in love immediately. While Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth are superficial and think highly of themselves. Darcy and Elizabeth judge each other by their first impression. With their first impression of each other being inadequate and rude, they had many barriers to pass before admiring each other as equals. Elizabeth stated that she “spent four days in the same house with him, and I think him very disagreeable."(Pg66).