It was nice to have a happy ending.

Jane and Darcy lose their pride and their prejudice, and are happy because of each other. Truly loving another is the only way anyone overcomes the obstacles of society at that time. Mr. Bennet loves Elizabeth, and he is happy when he is with her and away from his dreadful wife. His wife might not be capable of true love. She is perfectly content with money and a high social status, but she probably will never be happy like Elizabeth and Jane.

Austen continues to mock the flawed characters of the novel. Mr. Bennet advises Collins to "stand by the nephew. He has more to give" (287). Collins' "parading and obsequious civility" after receiving this letter shows he took the advice. After an entire novel of his grovelling at Lady Catherine's feet, he switches in a second to give all his praise to another person of higher rank, as soon as he has the chance. Despite his excessive sucking-up, everyone hates him. Elizabeth, who was honest and defied the social hierarchy, ended up happier than anyone. I think Austen wants to make a point that social class should not matter. Pride, however is necessarily not a bad thing. Look at Lydia and Wickham. They are about as far from living in a situation that anyone would remotely desire as Charlotte Lucas.

Charlotte Lucas's character confuses me. She accepted Mr. Collins solely because of his money and connections, so it is not surprising that she did end up happily. The reason her character is interesting to me though is that while her acceptance of Collins seems stupid, she probably did not have any better options. I think Charlotte represents the most pessimistic side to an otherwise very optimistic novel. No one better than Mr. Collins would probably have ever proposed to Charlotte, so what should she have done? Elizabeth turned down Collins, but she was not as desperate as Charlotte. However, Elizabeth would not have known that there would be a man like Darcy who would look beyond her social class and love her for her personality, so maybe she was in a similar situation to Charlotte's.

I think another interesting aspect of Pride and Prejudice is the importance of family. Mrs. Bennet wants only to marry her daughters off so she might rise in social class. Mr. Bennet loves Elizabeth because she is "has something more of quickness than her sisters," but he does not especially love anyone else in his family (2). Lady Catherine only has a strong relationship with Darcy because he is in a high social class. She wants Darcy to marry her daughter so that her social class can improve. It seems that the only way to have a strong family is to have parents that love each other, but I am not sure of that because no one who actually loved each other in the story had kids.

I liked this book.

Caustic Candor Compounds Confrontation

Lady Catherine's attempt to intimidate Elizabeth gave me a lot to add to a paper based either on humor or love. Lady Catherine is entirely incapable of intimidating Elizabeth to "promise [Lady Catherine] never to enter into...an engagement" with Mr. Darcy" (267). Elizabeth bluntly replies to Catherine's request that " she will make no promise of the kind" (267). Lady Catherine repeatedly tries to make Elizabeth give her the "assurance" she requires "upon having such a report universally contradicted" (265,267). Elizabeth "certainly never shall give it" (267). Lady Catherine is confident her intimidation through social superiority will be successful. Elizabeth's concise, defiant remarks to Catherine's ridiculous requests are hilarious.

Lady Catherine tries to convince Elizabeth that Elizabeth cannot marry Darcy because she lacks "family, connections, [and] fortune," and marrying him would defy "the claims of duty, honour, and gratitude" (267-268). Elizabeth says that none of these "have any claim on" her (268). Elizabeth overturns the concept of social class. The importance of love takes precedent over social class, wealth, and the feelings of any besides the two experiencing the love. I think this is important to Pride and Prejudice, but I think the idea that love transcends pride and prejudice might be too obvious for a paper. As far as humor, I am not sure how I could write a paper on the topic. "The book is funny. The End." Maybe I could write the book on Austen's use sarcasm. The majority of the funny characters use sarcasm, so maybe the use of sarcasm signifies intelligence.

Where is the symbolism?

At the beginning of the novel, Mary describes "pride" as "our opinion of ourselves" (14). Elizabeth, however, is now "proud that in a cause of compassion and honour, [Darcy] had been able to get the better of himself" (243-244). I think "pride" in another is different than the "pride" that Mary describes. Pride in another has a positive connotation, but pride in oneself has a negative connotation. I think the difference is the reason for the pride. One would probably not be proud of someone else for his or her high social class. I think that pride in oneself and prejudice often go hand in hand, while pride in another and prejudice do not. I am trying to decide if Elizabeth is either proud, prejudiced, or both. I could argue that her prejudice against Darcy's higher social class created her dislike of him. On the other hand, her pride prevented her from marrying Darcy and Mr. Collins.

For my paper: Darcy treated the Gardiners with respect, which he might not have done before he fell in love Elizabeth. Love transcends both pride in one's own social class and prejudice against others in lower classes. I have been trying to look for symbols throughout Pride and Prejudice, but I just cannot find any. I cannot think of any recurring objects besides a horse and carriage and the estates. My only idea is that people's estates could reflect the people that own them. Darcy is a great person, and he has a grea house. The Bennet's have a crappy house, but Mr. Bennet is not really a crappy person. Also, Lady Catherine has a magnificent house, but her personality is terrible. Elizabeth did comment that Darcy's furniture was neither "gaudy nor uselessly fine," implying that Lady Catherine's furniture was both. Maybe her personality is "gaudy." Lady Catherine is not as great as she appears.

Austen does a great job creating emotions in the reader, or at least in me. Mrs. Bennet greets Bingley with a "degree of civility which made her daughters ashamed" (250). Elizabeth is "in such misery of shame" that the "first wish of [her] heart...is never more to be in company with" her mother (251-252). I was actually getting annoyed with Mrs. Bennet as I read about her overzealous treatment of Mr. Bingley. Does she think she is helping Jane's relationship by acting so obnoxiously? Probably, but she drives me crazy.

I am getting into a chick-flick

I was thinking about writing my paper on a topic dealing with Austen's satire and humor. I need to think about what she satirizes. Probably society during the early nineteenth century, vanity, and naivety. The characters I would focus on would be Mr. Collins, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, and Elizabeth and Darcy. As I was reading this weekend, there was a line on Page 201 that literally made me laugh out loud. Miss Bingley repeatedly mocks Elizabeth "from a determination of making [Darcy] speak" (201). Ms. Bingley perceives "air altogether" as "intolerable," and says, "'She a beauty!--I should as soon call her mother a wit. But...I believe you thought her rather pretty at one time'" (200-201). Darcy replies, "But that was only when I first knew her, for it is many months since I have considered her as one of the handsomest women of my acquaintance" (201). I actually laughed. My man Darcy totally burned Ms. Bingley. The best part is how sarcastic Austen is towards Ms. Bingley: "Miss Bingley was left to all the satisfaction of having forced him to say what gave no one pain but herself" (201). I feel like the problem with the topic of "satire" is that I am not entirely sure what Austen satirizes, or even what exactly "satire" is. But the book is really funny.

Another concept that I am considering is the idea of love. Darcy's letter talks describes Bingley and Jane's feelings towards each other, and Elizabeth had never "so honestly felt that she could have loved him as now, when all love must be vain" (205). The magnitude of "change in a man of so much pride excited not only astonishment but gratitude--for to love, ardent love, it must be attributed" (197). I think this is a very important quotation because it deals with pride, change, and love. I think these are three critical themes in Pride and Prejudice. Darcy is proud, but he is not, at least anymore, prejudiced against lower-class people due to his love for Elizabeth. Love is the key, and it can change people, it is more important than the pride or prejudice that anyone may have. I am not sure if this is true, because Darcy was right about Wickham, and he was right in assessing Jane's lack of love for Bingley. Despite this, I think he was much more arrogant and prejudiced in the beginning of the story. I think his love for Elizabeth has allowed him to overcome those two previous character traits.

Turning Point

Mr. Darcy's letter completely altered my idea of him and of Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth "had been blind, partial, prejudiced,absurd" (156). This whole time I thought that Mr. Darcy was prejudiced because of his pride, but he was actually able to see that Jane was not truly in love with Mr. Bingley, she did not "invite [his attentions] with any participation of sentiment" (148). Despite Mr. Darcy's pride in his social class, which aprehended him from proposing to Elizabeth, he did propose to her. He stopped Bingley's marriage with Jane solely for the well-being of his friend. Darcy was not selfish or prejudiced. He was undoubtedly proud, but this pride did not stop him from proposing to Elizabeth, it merely gave him a "sense of her inferiority" (142).

Elizabeth was actually prejudiced against Mr. Darcy because of his higher social class. She thought he would be like the majority of people with high-ranking positions in society, but he was not. Both Elizabeth and Darcy are exceptions to the typical person in the story, who respects those above their social rank, and looks down on those below their social rank. I think that by exposing us to this unexpected unveiling of Darcy's true personality, Austen completely changes the themes of Pride and Prejudice. Darcy now seems to me like a very good person, despite the arrogance he still probably possesses. For this reason, I do not understand why Elizabeth "could not approve him; nor could she for a moment repent her refusal" (159). I would think she would be feeling sorry that she rejected a man who had perfectly good explanations for the offences of which she accused him.

The movie Pride and Prejudice does a good job of capturing Darcy and Elizabeth's emotions during their confrontation folloing his proposal. The scene takes place in the rain, which was very fitting to the frustration they both felt. Darcy seems confused at her refusal, and "not master enough of [himself] to know what could or ought to be revealed" (152). Elizabeth is pissed. I think it is very imopressive how well Austen creates a mood for the characters in the book. I was pretty much able to picture the movie's scene in my head before I watched it.

Power and the Lack Thereof

Lady Catherine, Mr. Darcy, and pretty much everyone else all want power. Lady Catherine is used to having power over everyone she meets. She went to Mr. and Mrs. Collins' house, "looked at their work, and advised them to do it differently; found fault with the arrangement of the furniture, or detected the housemaid in negligence" (127). Why the Collins' furniture arrangement would make any difference to Lady Catherine is beyond me. I think she only wanted to criticize them to impose her power. In Charlotte's "opinion it admitted not of a doubt that all [Elizabeth's] dislike would vanish, if she could suppose [Mr. Darcy] within her power" (136). Charlotte thinks Elizabeth would desire Mr. Darcy if she thought herself capable of obtaining his love. I think power concerns Elizabeth less than any character in the book, and that a lack of power over him would not prevent her from liking him. Most people in the story however, would like Mr. Darcy if they thought they had a shot with him. I strongly believe Mrs. Bennet's "dislike would vanish, if she could suppose [Mr. Darcy] to be in her [daughter's] power." Charlotte considers a lack of power to be the reason behind Elizabeth's dislike of Darcy because anyone else would marry Darcy if he were in her "power." Elizabeth does "not know anybody who seems more to enjoy the power of doing what he likes than Mr. Darcy" (137). Darcy does seem to to get what he wants, and he could probably make most women fall in "love" with him (or his money), but not Elizabeth. I think Darcy like Elizabeth because she does not let him have power over her. Elizabeth is independent, and a woman's personality is more important to Darcy than connections or wealth. At least, Elizabeth is making personality more important.

Elizabeth keeps meeting apparently nice men like Mr. Wickham and Colonel Fitzwilliam, but their "habits of expense" prevent them from marrying "without some attention to money" (138). Characters prioritize money above love. Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy are the two male characters who do not do this, but they already have all the money they or their wives will need. I think this is a societal flaw Austen points out in Pride and Prejudice.

Boys are the Devil

Jane seems to have ended her relationship whith Bingley, and Elizabeth definitely seems to have ended any chance of a relationship between her and Wickham. Both are much happier. Jane was in a constant state of worry about Bingley, and Elizabeth unfortunately had to consider whether or not Wickham's personality would make up for his lack of money. Every "expectation from [Mr. Bingley is] now absolutely over," and this is upsetting to Jane at first (112). Jane is so upset that her mother "can have no idea of the pain she gives [Jane] by her continual reflections on [Mr. Bingley]" (101). After all "expectation" leaves Jane, she becomes much happier. Elizabeth sees "her sister looking so well as to banish all fear for her health" (116). A similiar situation occurs with Elizabeth. Mr. Wickham is "now the admirer of someone else" whose "sudden acquisition of ten thousand pounds [is her] most remarkable charm" (112). Elizabeth finds she had "no love in" Mr. Wickham at all, and she forgets him immediately when "the prospect of her northern tour [becomes] a constant source of delight" (113,116).

Austen juxtaposes Jane and Elizabeth's happiness after the "loss" of a man with Charlotte's pain in marriage. Actually, Charlotte does not show pain, she manages to retain "composure in bearing with her husband," but she is by no means ecstatic towards or in love with Mr. Collins (118). Charlotte is, however, "extremely well pleased...to have the opportunity of showing [her house] without her husband's help" (118). Elizabeth sees "Charlotte's evident enjoyment" of her house "when Mr. Collins could be forgotten" (118).

Jane's mood quickly improves when she lets go of Mr. Bingley and Elizabeth is fine with Mr. Wickham becoming a gold-digger. Charlotte is much happier whenever Mr. Collins is not around her. The men are bringing everyone down.