Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice is a world famous novel over a long time. Where does its magic lie?
Different people may have different ideas. As far as I am concerned, there is a wonderful world beneath its humorous and interesting language. Take the title for example: the word pride refers to the disadvantage in the characteristic of the chief actor Mr. Darcy, while the word prejudice refers to the heroine Elizabeth’s. The author used Pride and Prejudice as the title instead of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth that may also be tolerable, and the effect is totally different. Pride and Prejudice imply that it is a novel concerning two disadvantages in human being’s nature. And it highly summarized the content of the whole novel. What’s more, there is alliteration in it, which makes it pleasant to hear.
The story took place in the 18 th century in England. At that time, the most important thing in women’s life was marriage, in which money was a decisive factor. A woman then would marry a rich man without considering his characteristic or temperament. Whether she loved him or not was also concluded in consideration. It is in this kind of social environment that the story took place.
Different from the other four daughters in her family and also many women at that time, Elizabeth regarded money as unimportant in marriage. She once said that a marriage without love would not bring us permanent felicity. This is her view of marriage, with which she sought for her own love and marriage.
Ⅰ . Love in the marriages
There are four marriages in the novel including Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth’s. The leading roles’ marriage seems perfect compared with two of the others, Wickham and Lydia’s and Collins and
Lucas’s. The former one is the product of sensibility while the latter one proceeds from impulse.
Collins married for convenience. As his word revealed, “my reasons for marring you are, first, that I think it a right thing … Secondly…; and thirdly…it is the particular advice and recommendation of the very noble lady I have the honor of calling patroness… ”, he considered marriage as a meant by which he and his wife could both get benefits. Unfortunately for him,
Elizabeth’s view of marriage didn’t coincide with his. These are her word to refuse him: “You could not make me happy, and I am convinced that I am the last woman in the world who would make you so.” It is obvious that she cherished happiness more in marriage. But Lucas accepted
Collins’s proposal although she didn’t like Collins and they had met only for a short period of time.
It is obvious then that she would not be happy in this kind of marriage although they led a desirable material life. These are some sentences taken from the novel – it was the only honorable provision for well-educated young woman of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want. At that time, women didn’t have the status they have nowadays. It was important then to have a roof over their head. The only choice they had was to marry. That was the only way that they could survive and better themselves.
By Lucas’s marriage the author provided us with the misfortune of women at that time.
If the marriage of Collins and Lucas was due to the social environment, the marriage of
Wickham and Lydia was the result of their own temporary passion. Although the love Lydia bore for Wickham did exist, it originated from impulse instead of careful consideration and would not last for long,
After reflecting on the three marriages I reach the conclusion that love is the basis of marriage.
The couple should be acquainted with each other. And they should love each other strongly. Only
1

Pride and Prejudice in this way can they obtain a happy marriage. Falling in love at first sight is romantic, but much more is involved in a successful marriage. Nowadays many people married lightly and divorced lightly. I think we should pay more attention to what is needed in a marriage.
Now I’d like to focus on Darcy and Elizabeth. They are two of the literature’s most loved romantic characters.
Elizabeth was a sensible, beautiful and strong-willed girl from a family in the middle class. She didn’t want a quiet or an ordinary life like other women’s at her time. She would question all the time. She was rather different from the women at that time. When Collins who would own the house of the Bennet’s proposed to her, she refused him straightly. And when Darcy made his first proposal to her, she also refused him not considering how great his fortune was. Money was nothing to her.
But when she discovered the true nature of Darcy, she was brave enough to show her affection.
At the end of the novel, it is her that started the conversation during which they engaged. She started with: “Mr. Darcy, I am a very selfish creature, for the sake of giving relief to my own feelings, care not how much I may be wounding yours…”It is hard for a person to confess his/her mistake, but she did. Her braveness brought her happiness.
Quite similar to Elizabeth, Darcy was also a plain guy. He once said that: “… disguise of every sort is my abhorrence. Nor am I ashamed of the feelings I related…” And when he realized how strongly he had fallen in love with Elizabeth, he just proposed to her. Actually, it was hard for a man in his rank to do that, as Colonel Fitzwilliam, Darcy’s cousin, once said: “our habit of expense makes us too dependant, and there are not many in my rank of life who can afford to marry without some attentive to money.” Even Elizabeth thought of the proposal in this way: “he
(Darcy) should have been in love with me so many months! So much in love as to wish to marry me in spite of all the objections which had made him prevent his friend’s marring Jane. ”
It seems that Darcy and Elizabeth had been designed for each other.
And in my view, their marriage which was bound by deep love would last until the last minute.
Ⅱ .Love in the family
Beside the love between Darcy and Elizabeth, the Bennet’s may also catch our attention. The
Bennet’s family was at the heart of Pride and Prejudice and it is a typical one in the 18 th century.
Mrs. Bennet was a terribly funny role in the novel. What she said often made great expression on us like “nobody feels for my poor nerves”. And the most important thing in her life seems to be making her five daughters married. Although she was imprudent and ignorant, I think she is a great mother. She did love her daughters. I can still remember when Lydia parted with her. Mrs.
Bennet said that there is nothing so bad as parting with one’s children. It is the love of them drove her on; it is the love of them gave her endless energy.
Mr. Bennet appeared indifferent to what was going on in his family. However, he did have a great deal of affection for his family. At the very beginning of the novel, he secretly waited on Mr.
Bingley giving the other family members a surprise; when Lydia ran away with Wickham, he searched for her in a hurry. These all shows his love for his family. He was always backing her daughters, and fully respecting them. When Mrs. Bennet urged Elizabeth to marry Collins, he stood on Lizzy’s side, respecting her own option. As it refers to Mrs. Bennet, making fun of Mrs.
Bennet was his unique way of getting along with her. For example, once when Mrs. Bennet said:
“have you no compassion for my poor nerves”, he replied with an interesting sentence—you mistake me, my dear. I have the highest respect for them. They’ve been my constant companions
2

Pride and Prejudice over these twenty years.
Lydia was another outstanding role in the family. Her focus was pure, like ribbons and soldiers, without considering about other things including civility. She lived in the now and in the present.
Jane was the eldest daughter; as a result, she had a lot of responsibility bringing up the young girls. She must have learnt how to take care of others when she was young. I guess that was the reason why she cared more about others than herself.
Although the family members owned different characters, the Bennet was a close family indeed.
They were a real family behind the closed door. They argued and talked with each other. But then when anyone else came to their door, they would immediately unite.
I really appreciate the love among the family members. It is warm. Maybe it is the ideal kind of family in Jane Austen’s mind. It is said that the relationship between Jane Austen and her sister
Cassandra is mirrored in Elizabeth and Jane.
Undoubtedly Jane Austen is a great writer. She was honest and wrote completely from the heart.
It is agreed on that one of the reasons for Jane Austen’s enduring success is that she wrote about a world she knew and thoroughly understood. The scene described in her novel is actual scene of daily life. However, under her close observation it became lively. Jane Austen herself must be a true love seeker, for it is showed that she cherished pure love a lot. For instance, under such a social environment, Darcy and Elizabeth’s emotion just caught up with their mind. And she put her wishes for marriage, family and even life into the novel. When we are reading it, we feel like we are having a dream, a beautiful dream, which based on reality. For this reason, it gives us great hope. I heard someone once saying: “Jane Austen was not writing for any worthy reason. She wrote because she wanted to, and because she wanted to entertain people. That is the whole point about her book. They are there to give people fulfillment and happiness. ” I can’t agree more.
All in all, Pride and Prejudice is a novel about marriage, family and love. I enjoy it a lot and have learnt a great deal from it. Love is a forever –lasting topic, and Pride and Prejudice would always be an invaluable reference for those who want to obtain the true love.
3