The Pride and Prejudice of Men and Women

Love is inconceivably the most confusing concept ever. Some love, simple, or not love at all, is easily achieved, while true-love is very hard to obtain. It is most certainly, at its best, described in Jane Austin’s “Pride and Prejudice”. One can most likely name a few ways love comes about, that is, “true-love” or the want to truly be with one, financial stability, and social acceptance. It is most desirable to seek “true-love”, but is seldom ever found, and when it is, the path in which comes before it will not be a smooth one. If one desires a smooth path, riches, and rise in social rank, one only needs to look no further than a rich man in need of a wife.

First we meet Elizabeth and Darcy, Elizabeth being from a middle-class family with disobedient siblings and a noisy mother, while Darcy is son of a wealthy, well established family. Elizabeth is the second daughter in the Bennet family, and the smartest and quick-witted. Her honesty, virtue, and lively wit enable her to rise above the stupidity that is in her class-bound society. Still though, her sharp tongue and ability to make quick judgments often become her main downfall. Elizabeth must not only deal with a mother that seems to carry no hope for her children, a father that, at times, seem to just be watching on the sidelines, two badly behaved younger sisters, and several snobbish, annoying females, she must also overcome her own mistaken impressions of Darcy. Her mistaken impression is what led her to reject his proposal of marriage. Her qualities were enough to keep him interested. As she gradually comes to recognize the nobility of Darcy’s character, she realizes the mistake and prejudice she put against him. Elizabeth’s love for Darcy took time and convincing of his true form for it to progress. She now knows that Darcy is the person she has actually always longed for. Darcy, son of a wealthy, well established family and owner of the huge Pemberley estate. Intelligent and straight to the point, he too, like Elizabeth, has the ability to judge quickly and harshly, and his high rank and wealth make him too proud and overly aware of his social status. His haughtiness makes him fault his pursuit of Elizabeth. When he proposes to her he thinks more on how unsuitable a match she is than on her intelligence, beauty, or anything else good about her. Her rejection of his advances builds a kind of humility in him. Darcy shows his continued love for Elizabeth, in spite of his distaste for her low connections, by rescuing Lydia and the entire Bennet family from disgrace. There was true love in the beginning, but because of their characters it made it very difficult for it to be seen. It took hate to manifest into love for anything to happen.

Charlotte is