Character growth of Elizabeth and Darcy in ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen
The story Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is outstanding in that it shows how pride and prejudice in the main characters changes as the novel progresses. The plot of the story follows how Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy the main characters overcome their pride and prejudice to find one another, but they first recognize their faults and change their characters. The story trails the growth of Elizabeth’s and Darcy’s bond observing how they change their characters for them to astound their own egotisms and have the ability to love one another.
Mr. Darcy for one is at the beginning of the story presented as a proud and vain man who wants everything to go his way. His pride is presented in the way that his family permits him to follow his doctrines ‘in pride and conceit’ (Austen, 310). Darcy is greatly prejudiced against the people from lower social status than his and this greatly contributes to his pride. As soon as Elizabeth meets Darcy, she concludes that he is an in despicable man who is much too unexpected and arrogant that could not be liked by any person.
Darcy was viewed as the fine figure of a man in the society and all the ladies perceived him to be the ideal gentleman much finer than Mr Bingley till his manners betrayed him and it turned the tide of his popularity (Austen, 58). His pride is seen in the way that he chooses not to interact with other ladies at the Meryton ball except for his friend’s sisters arguing that all the other ladies were not worthy enough to dance with him. He says ‘"There is not another woman in the room, whom it would not be a punishment for me to stand up with" (Austen, 8). It is this pride that results in Darcy’s alienation from the other people including Elizabeth who judge him as a proud man not worthy of marriage because he did not portray any other qualities apart from wealth.
His pride and prejudice is further strengthened by much more serious criticisms in the story, like the manner in which he treats Elizabeth at the Rosings Park. After she angrily confront him causing the break up between her sister Jane and Mr. Bingley, he shouted at Elizabeth and accused her family as lacking propriety. Further accusations by Mr. Wickham who illustrates that Darcy had deprived him from a position that was promised to him by Darcy’s late father, made Darcy to seem like a really mean and selfish character (Austen, 46).
Darcy’s proud character is further worsened when it is discovered by Elizabeth that Darcy is the one that persuaded Mr. Bingley not to marry Jane Bennet, all because he felt that the family did not meet the high standards that he considered himself to hold. As the novel progresses however, Darcy character changes as he realizes the perception that people have of him in the society (Austen, 87). He becomes more and more acceptive of the Bennet family and he even becomes fond of Elizabeth whom he considers to be a clever, straightforward girl that he falls in love with and wants to marry. Darcy explains to Elizabeth the story behind Mr Wickham who is a slander and this helps to show that Darcy did not in any way harass him and he did everything that Mr. Wickham asked of him.
His good character is shown in the way that he did not seek revenge for the elopement with his fifteen year sister, Georgina. When it comes to the Jane and Bingley affair, Darcy was just looking out for his friend, even though he let his pride control his thinking and it shows that he is a loving and concerned friend. As the novel come to an end, the affectionate character of Darcy is brought out when he explains his side of the story to Elizabeth whom he has come to love despite the fact that she comes from a low social status family. This shows his changed proud character, which is further strengthened by his apology to Elizabeth on his behaviour and also his free use of money to help Wickham and Lydia (Austen, 107).
As for Elizabeth, she is presented as a prejudiced person; she constantly shares her capacity for irony through her conversations with the people around her which greatly help to show her judgemental character. She judged Darcy immediately after she met him, even before he talked to him just because of a comment that he made and his outward behaviour towards other people. She is quick to judge Darcy when she is told stories about him by Mr. Wickham without considering even for a moment that the stories could be made up (Austen, 53).
An appealing character of Elizabeth is her independent streak and this is presented when she stands firms about her decision not to marry Mr. Collins (Austen, 67). This shows that she is capable of judging things for herself and actually make her own decisions. Her emotional side is reflected with her great affection for her sisters especially when Jane was sick and she walked three miles to check on her (Austen, 14). Her main fault is that of prejudice and she can be defined as the prejudice of the novel’s title. Her main prejudice targets are Darcy and Wickham; she dislikes Darcy right from the beginning without any specific reason with only an offensive comment as her defence (Austen, 8). She is later on presented in the novel as taking pleasure in provoking him which is one of the reasons that she turned down his proposal. This is also why she readily believes the accusations made against him by Mr. Wickham even though she had doubts about the truth of the accusations.
Her change in character is seen after she reads the letters by Darcy explaining his side of the story (Austen, 150). She realizes how prejudiced she has been and actually realized that she was guilty of the same pride that she so gracefully accused Darcy of. The letters helped Elizabeth to realize that she had considered herself to be superior to others and her believe that she can never be wrong. This was the moment that she realized her faults and this helped her change her character. She then from this point begins to look at things much more clearly and even admits her faults to Jane (Austen, 236). Elizabeth confronts Wickham about the truth and changes her attitude towards Darcy, which makes her the heroine of the story. Elizabeth at the end of the novel becomes a mature adult that is neither controlled by pride nor prejudice.
Her views on love and marriage change; she at the beginning despises courtship and does not have interests in marriage, she viewed charlottes engagement as incompetent. But at the end of the novel, her views on marriage and relationships completely change. She comes to learn that financial as well as social considerations are important in marriage and hence her acceptance of Darcy’s proposal (Austen, 278). Her acceptance to marry Darcy helps her overcome her own family prejudice against Darcy which shows a truly independent adult.
These two characters, Elizabeth and Darcy are forced to overcome their faults in order to become better people in the society and in the end find happiness. Pride is something that Darcy was brought up and almost trained to which is what led him to behave wrongly on the three occasions. At the end of the novel Darcy is able to conquer his pride by admitting to his wrong doing and he is grateful for Elizabeth for humbling him. Elizabeth on her side, is brought up in a family of low social status which could be the reason she was so judgmental on the wealthy families like that of Darcy without taking the chance to truly learn about them. She is at the end of the novel able to conquer her prejudice as well as pride by admitting to her faults. The two characters can be defined as the true model union in the novel. Darcy is good for Elizabeth, his pride helps her learn of her prejudiced character and he helps control her uncontrolled emotions with his controlled rationality.
Works cited
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice Thrift Study Edition. Dover Publications, 2012. Internet
resource.
