Mr. Darcy: Part One

For this quarter, I have been reading Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and so far, I am enjoying it immensly. Although I have only finished Part One of the novel, I have found that pride is one of the main themes. It is also one of the chief character traits in many of the characters, but especially a characteristic of the male protagonist Mr. Darcy.

Mr. Darcy has every reason to be proud. He's rich, related to power, vain, educated, and well respected. All of this seems to give him a big head. His pride keeps him distant and unliked by many of the other characters. For example, he is insulted when an individual addresses him first or asks him to dance. He thinks he is too good for dancing. For instance, in the first meeting he has with Elizabeth, the female protagonist, he practically ignores her; and when he doesn't after she asks him to dance, he is unbelieveably rude and cold. Why? Because her social status is lower. (Here's where the prejudice comes in: his pride makes him prejudice to others not 'good enough' for him.) But that's just the beginning of it. Although he has judged her to be a poor, sloppy uneducated woman based on her appearance at his friend's manor, he finds that she is quite intelligent in her remarks This puts a certain fire in her eyes that he finds attractive. He cannont stand that he is falling for someone not considered worthy of him, so he, therefore, allows his pride to shine even more, and he treats her more poorly.

The other characters admit (mostly to Elizabeth) that he is a very proud and vain man whenever he comes up in conversation. However, I learned as the novel progressed that he is also very compassionate, for he is an unbelievable big brother to his sister. This compassion also continues to show when Austen narrates his thoughts about Elizabeth. One question I have for part two is if his pride will get in the way of him courting her, or will she humble him?