Justify the Title of the Novel “Pride and Prejudice”

Answer

Do you think the story of the novel Pride and Prejudice matches with the title? Justify your answer.

Jane Austen’s (1775-1817) “Pride and Prejudice” (1813) is among the world’s most celebrated novels. It is one of the anti-romantic novels of the Romantic period (1798-1832). The story is about Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Both have to overcome their personal faults, pride, and prejudice to find love and happiness. The title shows the main problem in the story. It shows us why the characters face problems and how they change.

Pride in Mr. Darcy’s Character: At the beginning of the story, Mr. Darcy is proud of his wealth, family, and social rank. He thinks he is better than others who have less money or a lower social status. When Mr. Bingley calls him to dance with Elizabeth, he says, 

“She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me.” 

This shows his pride. This hurts Elizabeth and others. Darcy’s pride stops him from showing his true feelings early. But later, Darcy learns humility. Darcy’s pride stops him first, but then he changes for love.

Elizabeth’s Prejudice Against Darcy:  Elizabeth is smart, but has prejudice. She judges Darcy too quickly based on his proud manners and Wickham’s lies. She believes Darcy is rude and unkind. Later, in the letter, Darcy explains the truth about Mr. Wickham and why he stopped Bingley from marrying Jane. Wickham had once received £3,000 from his (Darcy’s) father to study law, but Wickham wasted it on drinking. Again, Darcy thought Jane didn’t love Bingley because she was too quiet. So, he told Bingley to stay away from her. Elizabeth understands her mistake and says, 

“Till this moment I never knew myself.” 

She realizes she judged too fast without knowing the truth.

Pride and Prejudice Create Conflict in the Story: The title shows the main problem between Elizabeth and Darcy. His pride and her prejudice create many conflicts. Darcy is proud, so he does