Austen's Pride And Prejudice example essay topic

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Jane Austen presents many themes in her novel Pride and Prejudice. Some of these themes are relevant to today's society but none so much as the main themes pride and prejudice. There are two main themes because one usually leads to another. Coincidentally these two themes make up the title of the novel. Pride is something everybody should have. But not everybody should have too much.

The amount of pride that one has in himself / herself is one of the first things one is characterized by. When Elizabeth first met Mr. Darcy and for some time after, she perceived him to be conceited, as did everyone else of her family. Mr. Darcy was not well liked too well by the Bennets for this reason. Too much pride in one's self is; too, present at the in today's society.

This is usually linked to the wealth of a person. People who are wealthy tend to have an over abundant amount pride. They like to brag about their riches and show off what they have. Why do they do this? They do this to rub it in to the faces of lower class society. Overwhelming pride is just not seen in Hollywood or big cities; it is everywhere.

Most commonly it is in schools. Some students tend to think it is fun to gloat about what they have, but this may lead to them being disliked by others. Nobody wants to listen to a spoiled kid! Pride can be a good thing and it should be but it may lead to some cases of the second theme of the novel, prejudice. Prejudice is viewed in all places and in all forms. In Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy's pride leads to the Bennet's, especially Elizabeth's, prejudice toward him.

This is because Mr. Darcy is so much wealthier than the Bennets and he lets them know. He shows much prejudice against people of lower societies. Elizabeth thinks of him as a handsome, but a too good, conceited, 'I'm too good for anybody,' male. Even though she is attracted to him, she refuses his proposal due to her prejudice toward him. He does not help in her saying 'yes' when he tells her how he sees her and her family; poor and unworthy.

He even states that this proposal should probably not even be taking place due to these feelings. In the 1990's, prejudice based on social status is most abundant. It is almost exactly the same as in Jane Austen's novel. The only miniscule difference in present times is that it tends to get violent.

People do not like to be looked down upon and they will fend for themselves. Parents are also major contributors of prejudice. Mixed social status marriages of the novel's time and biracial marriages of present time can easily be compared. These are so comparable due to the ignorance of parents.

In Austen's time, it is against the rules for a wealthy man / woman to marry someone of opposite social status. The parents would force their sons, in particular, to marry into more wealth. This is a reason Elizabeth did not accept Mr. Darcy's marriage proposal. Even if their son felt he has met the woman of his dreams, caring nothing of her wealth, the parents would butt in and do everything in their powers and capabilities to dismantle the couple.

They showed no compassion toward the son and his love. This shows nothing but parental prejudice. Biracial marriages of today bring out the number one prejudice of parents. Many parents believe that there should only be marriages consisting of white and white couples or black and black couples, never black and white couples.

This shows absolute stupidity. Why can't people see that color is only skin deep? These prejudice parents will do anything, even disown their child, to break up a biracial marriage. They have already lived their lives, don't ruin their children's lives by living it for them. Both pride and prejudice have been around since the beginning of man and will continue to be here until the end of man.

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice illustrates how times have not changed but mutated slightly. Pride and Prejudice can be compared to any time in history and be relevant to that time in terms of pride and prejudice.