Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Review by Mira Palakodety, 11

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As implied in the title, Pride and Prejudice, a romance novel written by Jane Austen, exemplifies the effects of the two most common traits in humans by taking its readers through an emotional journey involving: love, character development, and the social constructs of 18th century England. 

The novel features the life of Elizabeth Bennet, a strong-willed and intelligent woman, who is quite progressive compared to others of her time. Since Elizabeth lives in a society where women can only attain wealth and social status through marriage, she, along with her four sisters Jane, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia, must uphold their family honor by marrying wealthy upper-class men. However, Elizabeth believes that there is more to life than wealth and social acceptance, as she desires to marry for love rather than from obligation. 

Elizabeth’s journey begins when a handsome Mr. Charles Bingley purchases an estate in the Bennets’ town and resides there with his best friend Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, as well as a few others. The four Bennet sisters are introduced to Bingley and Darcy at a dance and Bingley takes a liking to the eldest sister, Jane. However, when Darcy is introduced to Elizabeth, he offends her by saying that she is not socially acceptable nor worthy enough to dance with him and Elizabeth is angered by his pompous behavior. Though as months pass, Elizabeth’s intelligence, wit, progressiveness, and uniqueness from the other women of her time change Darcy’s perception of her and he begins to fall ardently in love -- despite her coldness to him and his former rudeness to her. 

Over time, Bingley and Jane also fall in love with each other and Bingley decides to tell Darcy that he wants to marry her. Setting his feelings aside for Elizabeth, Darcy opposes the marriage because of his belief that his best friend should not marry a woman of such a low social class. Darcy’s prideful beliefs drive him to convince Bingley that Jane is using him for his money. They return to their hometown leaving the star-crossed lovers and the rest of the Bennet family heartbroken. 

The novel also directs attention to a young British soldier, George Wickham, who becomes a close friend to the Bennet family. Wickham tells Elizabeth that he grew up in Darcy’s childhood home and they were quite close until Darcy’s jealousy drove him to ruin Wickham’s reputation and his chances of inheriting some of Darcy’s family’s wealth. Elizabeth wholeheartedly believes every part of Wickham’s story, convincing herself that Darcy’s pretentious behavior supports the allegations made against him. 

However, a turn of events, in which Darcy professes his love to Elizabeth, causes her to question whether she is prejudiced against Darcy by fully believing Wickham’s story without evidence. Darcy also begins to wonder whether his prideful behavior that separated Jane and Bingley is acceptable. 

This thrilling classic takes readers through a whirlwind of wild events incorporating elements of romance, suspense, and drama, all while teaching them a lesson about the consequences of pride and prejudice.