1.

Verbal Irony:This occurs when a character says one thing but suggests or intends the
opposite. For example, in Julius Caesar, Mark Antony says “and Brutus is an honorable man,”
when he really means that Brutus is dishonorable because he has betrayed Caesar.Very similar to
sarcasm, although sarcasm is harsh and direct while verbal irony is implied. 2.
Dramatic Irony: This is the contrast between what the character thinks to be true and
what we (the reader) know to be true. Dramatic irony occurs when the meaning intended by a
character’s words or actions is opposite of the true situation. Further, the character cannot see
or understand the contrast, but the audience or reader can. For example, in Othello, dramatic
irony occurs when Othello refers to Iago as “honest Iago.” Unknown to Othello, Iago is a villain
who deceives him into thinking that Desdemona (Othello’s wife) has been unfaithful. For this,
Othello unjustly kills his wife, believing the whole time in Iago’s honesty.Note the difference in
examples for verbal and dramatic irony: Antony calls Brutus “honorable” and knows he is not
honorable, while Othello calls Iago “honest” and does not know of Iago’s deceit.
3. Situational Irony: It is the contrast between what happens and what was expected (or
what would seem appropriate). This type of irony emerges from the events and circumstances
of a story. When we see situational irony, we might think circumstances are unfair or
unfortunate – for example, if a greedy millionaire were to buy a lottery ticket and win additional
millions. Because people cannot explain the unfairness, it causes them to question whether or
not the world makes sense.

Themes
In this novel, the title describes the underlying theme to the book. Pride and prejudice were
both influences on the characters and their relationships. Darcy alienated himself from the
others at first because of his intense pride. His prejudice against the Bennet’s because of their
poverty was also something that he would have to overcome.For Elizabeth, her prejudice against
Darcy came from his snobbery. It caused her to not see his feelings for her and to believe
whatever Wickman said. Darcy’s fierce pride often alienated him from others. For example, he
acted so snobby and superior at the first ball with the Bennet’s that they were all turned off by
him. His eventual love, Elizabeth, was disgusted at his behavior and formed a prejudice against
him. Even after he fell in love with her and proposed to Elizabeth, he completely debased her
family. Darcy realized eventually that he was going to have to change. He tried to look at his
behavior and analyze why he acted as he did. In the end, he fought his intense pride so that he
and Elizabeth could be happy together.Prejudice was also an issue for Darcy in that he disliked
Elizabeth in the beginning because of her low social status, poverty, and socially inept family.
Darcy was forced to deal with his prejudice when he fell in love with Elizabeth. This was not easy
for him to do but it was necessary. His snobbery was countered by his love for Elizabeth. In the
end, he overcame his pride and gave in to his feelings by marrying her in spite of her and her
family’s shortcomings.Elizabeth had her own issues with prejudice with which to deal. Darcy’s
cold arrogance and snobbery prejudiced her from him from the beginning and it took Elizabeth a
lot longer time to overcome her prejudices than it did Darcy. This was because Elizabeth was a
very caring person and did not like the things that Darcy had said about her and her family.
When given the chance, Elizabeth loved to hear about how awful Darcy was, such as when she
met Wickman, who was eager to slander Darcy. However, Elizabeth gradually came around and
began to fall in love with Darcy, but it was difficult for her to overcome the prejudices that had
been imposed on her by both herself and Darcy.This novel’s theme was tied up in the title of the
book, Pride and Prejudice. The pride that Darcy felt and his initial prejudice against all of the
Bennet family was eventually overwhelmed by his love for Elizabeth. For Elizabeth, she needed
to overcome her prejudices about Darcy and see through his snobbery. In the end, all the pride
and prejudice was dealt with and Darcy and Elizabeth were left in love.
1. Introduction
In chapter 14 of Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Collins is asked by the Bennets to read a passage from a
book to the family. The book the Bennet sisters choose, however, raises little delight on Mr.
Collins’ part. The girls choose a novel, and, of course, he never reads novels. Instead, he decides
to read a chapter from Fordyce’s Sermons to Young Women to the ladies, since he agrees with
Fordyce’s impression that “there seem to be very few, in the style of a Novel, that you can read
with safety, and yet fewer that you can read with advantage.”[1] In Jane Austen’s time, the late
18th and the beginning of the 19th century, most Englishman shared Mr. Collins’ and James
Fordyce’s opinion. Novels were regarded as useless pieces of literature. They posed a risk to the
virtuousness and decorum according to which the members of the English society, especially the
female ones, were expected to behave.Writing a novel was regarded as an even worse thing to
do than reading one. Hence, in particular the female writers of Austen’s time stressed the
educational character of their novels, thus meeting the society’s expectations. The consequence
of this was that most of the novels were riddled with didactic comments and attempts at moral
indoctrination, lucidly expressing the religious and virtuous end of their pieces of literature.In
contrast to the obtrusive morality of the majority of novels at that time, Austen’s pieces of work
are strongly marked by an ironic tone, a subtle humour and highly ambivalent statements. This
ambivalence and high use of irony makes it, even today, difficult to determine Austen’s attitudes
towards society and the question whether her novels are to be interpreted as conservative,
modern or feministic pieces of literature. Romantic novel, Bildungsroman, comedy of manners
and comedy of character are some examples for the various terms Austen’s novels have been
labeled.In particular in Pride and Prejudice, an ironic tone is predominant throughout the novel.
As Klingel Ray states, Austen is “first and foremost a satirist. And for a satirist, irony is the major
tool of language.”[4] In order to analyse the novel thoroughly and adequately, it is thus of
paramount importance to study Austen’s use of irony and her intentions and motives behind the
ironic statements and events in the book.This essay seeks to investigate Austen’s use of irony in
Pride and Prejudice. After discussing the definition of irony that should be applied when studying
Austen’s works, including an explanation of the different motives behind her use of irony, the
author’s treatment of irony in the structure of the plot and her narrative strategy will be
illustrated. An analysis of the two most ironic characters in Pride and Prejudice will then follow,
and their relative contribution to the ironic tone of the novel will be depicted with the aid of
several examples. Finally, two exceptions from the prevailing ironic tone in Pride and Prejudice
will be stated and explained.
2. The Appropriate Definition of Irony for the Purpose of this Essay
Before analysing the use and effects of irony in Pride and Prejudice, it is necessary to determine
an appropriate definition of the term. It is certainly not difficult to find definitions for irony, since
it is a well-known and often used word. However, it is exactly this omnipresence of the word
irony that makes it so hard to determine its true meaning. There are simply too many definitions.
For the purpose of this essay, it is appropriate to regard irony the way Austen herself did. One is
only able to interpret and examine her pieces of work adequately when keeping her view on
irony in mind.First and foremost, Austen uses irony as a tool for unveiling and describing “all the
incongruities between form and fact, all the delusions intrinsic to conventional art and
conventional society.”[5] When one reads the letters she wrote to her sister, it becomes
apparent that Austen was greatly sensitive to such incongruities, especially to those of social
behavior, and that she found pleasure in detecting and then relating them to people around her:
“Charles Powlett gave a dance on Thursday, to the great disturbance of all his neighbours, of
course, who, you know, take a most lively interest in the state of his finances, and live in hopes of
his being soon ruined.”[6] The immediate effect of Austen’s ironic statement here, which is
representative for her writing style in her letters as well as her novels, is that it makes people
laugh. Both Austen herself and her audience, be it her sister or the readers of her novels, are
entertained by her comments on the discrepancy between what people pretend to be and what
they really are.Does this mean that Austen was solely a comic artist, whose only intention it was
to make her readers laugh? This question could only be answered positively if we lived in a world
where the aforementioned incongruities served exclusively as material for comedies without
having any consequences on the society.[7] This, however, is not the case, and thus one has to
take these consequences into account when studying Austen's use of irony.Pride and Prejudice
is, at first glance, simply an amusing depiction of England's social conventions of the late
eighteenth- and the beginning of the nineteenth-century, particularly those of the gentry. A
second look reveals the deeper meaning of the novel. By employing a subtle ironic style, Austen
indirectly criticises certain political, economical and sociological circumstances of her time.A
major aspect of the conventions of her time which Austen criticises is the fact that some people
were “simple reproductions of their social type”[9] and had too plain a personality to be able to
think for themselves. They perform the role society has given them and are thus colourless
figures. Characters in Pride and Prejudice that belong to this category are, for example, Mrs.
Bennet or Elizabeth's sister Lydia. For distinguishing these plain characters from those who have
their own will and an outstanding personality, those who actually make decisions instead of
being led, Austen uses irony as an instrument. While the clever and multifaceted protagonist,
Elizabeth, is often ironic in her statements and thoughts, flat characters, such as Mrs. Bennet,
neither understand nor are able to use irony. Ironically, according to D. W. Harding, Austen's
“books are, as she meant them to be, read and enjoyed by precisely the sort of people whom
she disliked; she is a literary classic of the society which attitudes like hers […] would
undermine.”[10] Her criticism is thus read by exactly those people she caricatures in Pride and
Prejudice, and there is a chance that it also reaches and encourages them to reflect on their own
character . 3 . Irony in the Structure of the Plot
and the Narrator’s Use of Rhetorical Irony
The ironic tone of Pride and Prejudice is set with the very beginning of the novel. Its first
sentence, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good
fortune must be in want of a wife”[11], foreshadows the humorous tone of the novel. It is ironic
in different ways and serves as a prime example for Austen's wit and skilfulness.First of all, the
statement is ironic in the respect that, in the late 18th century, women were much more
dependent on their husbands than vice versa. Especially women who had no families who could
provide for them were hardly able to earn their own living in the prevailing patriarchal society.
Thus, it was usually the woman who was in want of a husband with a good fortune and not the
man desperately looking for a wife. Secondly, calling the latter half of the sentence a universal
truth is obviously a massive exaggeration which attributes an improper magnitude to a rather
trivial subject. Reading on, the reader learns that the narrator is by no means concerned with
the wider world; he is concerned with a neighbourhood:However little known the feelings or
views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in
the minds of the surrounding families that he is considered as the rightful property of some one
or other of their daughters.This rather bathetic opening draws the attentive reader's attention to
the ironic treatment that the narrator will give to his subject matter.After the first two sentences
which not only determine the tone of the novel but also subtly criticise the view of marriage as a
business, a conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet follows. They are the first married couple
the reader is confronted with in a novel in which marriage is one of the major topics. Mrs.
Bennet, loud, loquacious and dominant, tells her husband, Mr. Bennet, who is calm, reserved
and often cynical, about Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy. While her only intentions in life are finding a
husband for her daughters and gossiping, Mr. Bennet's personality is much more complex. Their
differing characters are emphasised by the relative narrative technique that is used to present
them. While Mrs. Bennet's statements are demonstrated in direct speech, her husband's
answers, if he answers at all, are displayed in indirect speech, which sums up their diverging
personalities fittingly: while Mrs. Bennet is straightforward, hence a very direct person, Mr.
Bennet is more subtle and often uses irony. Thus, he is his way of expressing his thoughts and
opinion is indirect. Additionally, a short description of their characters by the narrator follows,
ensuring that the differences between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are firmly anchored in the reader's
head.
Critical Evaluation:
In 1813, her thirty-eighth year, Jane Austen published her second novel Pride and Prejudice. She
had begun this work in 1796, when she was twenty-one years old, calling it “First Impressions.” It
had so delighted her family that her father had tried, without success, to have it published.
Eventually, Austen put it aside, probably not to return to it until her first published novel, Sense
and Sensibility, appeared in 1811. “First Impressions” is no longer extant, but it was presumably
radically rewritten, because Pride and Prejudice is in no way an apprenticeship novel but a
completely mature work. Pride and Prejudice continues to be the author’s most popular novel,
perhaps because readers share Darcy’s admiration for the “liveliness” of Elizabeth Bennet’s
mind.

The original title, “First Impressions,” focuses on the initial errors of judgment out of which the
story develops, whereas the title Pride and Prejudice, besides suggesting the kind of antithetical
topic that delighted rationalistic eighteenth century readers, indicates the central conflicts that
characterized the relationships between Elizabeth and Darcy, and between Jane Bennet and
Bingley.As in all of Austen’s novels, individual conflicts are defined and resolved within a rigidly
delimited social context, in which relationships are determined by wealth and rank. The oft-
quoted opening sentence establishes the societal values that underlie the main conflict: “It is a
truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in
want of a wife.” Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s opening dialogue concerning the eligible Bingley explores
this truth. Devoid of individuality, Mrs. Bennet is nevertheless well attuned to society’s edicts.
Mr. Bennet, an individualist to the point of eccentricity, represents neither personal conviction
nor social conviction, and he views with equal indifference Bingley’s right to his own reason for
settling there and society’s right to see him primarily as a potential husband. Having repudiated
society, Mr. Bennet cannot take seriously either the claims of the individual or the social order.
As the central character, Elizabeth, her father’s favorite and her mother’s least favorite child,
must come to terms with the conflicting values implicit in her parents’ antithetical characters.
She is like her father in her scorn of society’s conventional judgments, but she champions the
concept of individual merit independent of money and rank. She is, indeed, prejudiced against
the prejudices of society. From this premise, she attacks Darcy’s pride, assuming that it derives
from the causes that Charlotte Lucas identifies: “with family, fortune, everything in his favour . . .
he has a right to be proud.”Flaunting her contempt for money, Elizabeth indignantly spurns
Charlotte’s advice that Jane ought to make a calculated play for Bingley’s affections. She loftily
argues, while under the spell of Wickham’s charm, that young people who are truly in love
should be unconcerned about financial standing. As a champion of the individual, Elizabeth
prides herself on her discriminating judgment and boasts that she is a student of character.
Significantly, it is Darcy who warns her against prejudiced conclusions, reminding her that her
experience is quite limited. Darcy is not simply the representative of a society that primarily
values wealth and consequence—as Elizabeth initially views him—but also a citizen of a larger
society than the village to which Elizabeth has been confined by circumstance. Consequently, it is
only when she begins to move into Darcy’s world that she can judge with true discrimination
both individual merit and the dictates of the society that she has rejected. Fundamentally
honest, she revises her conclusions as new experiences warrant, and in the case of Darcy and
Wickham she ends up radically altering her opinion.More significant than the obviously ironic
reversals, however, is the growing revelation of Elizabeth’s unconscious commitment to society.
Her original condemnation of Darcy’s pride coincides with the verdict of Meryton society.
Moreover, she shares society’s regard for wealth. Even while denying the importance of
Wickham’s poverty, she countenances his pursuit of the ugly Miss King’s fortune, discerning her
own inconsistency only after she learns of his bad character. Most revealing, when Lydia Bennet
runs off with Wickham, Elizabeth instinctively understands the judgment of society when she
laments that Wickham would never marry a woman without money.Almost unconsciously,
Elizabeth acknowledges a connection between wealth and human values at the crucial moment
when she first looks upon Pemberley, the Darcy estate. She is not entirely joking when she tells
Jane that her love for Darcy began when she first saw his beautiful estate. Elizabeth’s
experiences, especially her discoveries of the well-ordered Pemberley and Darcy’s tactful
generosity to Lydia and Wickham, lead her to differentiate between Charlotte’s theory that
family and fortune bestow a “right to be proud” and Darcy’s position that the intelligent person
does not indulge in false pride. Darcy’s pride is real, but it is regulated by responsibility. Unlike
his aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who relishes the distinction of rank, he disapproves less of
the Bennets’ undistinguished family and fortune than of the lack of propriety displayed by most
of the family. Therefore, Elizabeth scarcely overstates her case when, at the end, she assures her
father that Darcy has no improper pride.Elizabeth begins by rejecting the values and restraints of
society as they are represented by such people as her mother, the Lucases, Miss Bingley, and
Lady Catherine. Instead, she initially upholds the claims of the individual, which are elsewhere
represented only by her whimsical father. By the end of the novel, the heart of her conflict
appears in the contrast between her father and Darcy. She loves her father and has tried to
overlook his lack of decorum in conjugal matters, but she has been forced to see that his
freedom is really irresponsibility, the essential cause of Jane’s misery as well as Lydia’s amorality.
The implicit comparison between Mr. Bennet’s and Darcy’s approach to matrimony illustrates
their different methods of dealing with society’s restraints. Unrestrained by society, having been
captivated by the inferior Mrs. Bennet’s youth and beauty, Mr. Bennet consulted only his
personal desires and made a disastrous marriage. Darcy, in contrast, defies society only when he
has made certain that Elizabeth is a woman worthy of his love and lifetime devotion.When
Elizabeth confronts Lady Catherine, her words are declarative not of absolute defiance of society
but of the selective freedom that is her compromise and very similar to Darcy’s: “I am only
resolved to act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without
reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected with me.” Austen does not falsify the
compromise. If Elizabeth dares with impunity to defy the society of Rosings, Longbourne, and
Meryton, she does so only because Darcy is exactly the man for her and, further, because she
can anticipate “with delight . . . the time when they should be removed from society so little
pleasing to either, to all the comfort and elegance . . . at Pemberley.” In a sense, her marriage to
Darcy is a triumph of the individual over society; but, paradoxically, Elizabeth achieves her most
genuine conquest of pride and prejudice only after she accepts the full social value of her
judgment that “to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!”Granting the full force of the
snobbery, the exploitation, the inhumanity of all the evils that diminish the human spirit and are
inherent in a materialistic society, the novel clearly confirms the cynical “truth” of the opening
sentence. At the same time, without evading the degree of Elizabeth’s capitulation to society, it
affirms the vitality and the independent life that is possible, at least to an Elizabeth Bennet. Pride
and Prejudice, like its title, offers deceptively simple antitheses that yield up the complexity of
life itself.
Discuss the significance of the title, 'Pride and Prejudice'.
Introduction Discuss
the significance of the title, 'Pride and Prejudice' The majority of the characters in Jane Austen's
novel, 'Pride and Prejudice' suffer from pride or prejudice in certain ways. Each character,
however, experiences these traits in diverse situations and each handle them in numerous ways.
They exhibit these traits (or lack of them in some cases) by conducting their behaviour
differently. I will explore these traits in many of the characters and present them in my essay, on
a character-by-character basis making links throughout. I considered Mrs Bennet an extremely
good starting point for my essay. She is a woman of 'mean understanding, little information and
uncertain temper' (Chapter1, page7). She immediately sets a prejudice against Darcy because of
his 'pride' from the very first meeting of him, 'he is such a disagreeable man that it would be
quite a misfortune to be liked by him.' and she never lets this image of him go until it is secured
that Elizabeth will marry him. In Chapter 59 Mrs Bennet apologises to Elizabeth for leaving her to
walk alone with Darcy, however, after she learns that Elizabeth has accepted him, it is but a
moment for her to change her mind and prejudice about the man she has hitherto found so
disagreeable, 'What pin-money, what jewels, what carriages you will have!' .
Middle
Mr Collins is the outstanding grotesque of Pride and Prejudice and, suitably, he echoes the title
of the novel at every turn of speech and behaviour. Further emphasis on Mr Collins's conceit and
shallowness of nature is proved in Chapter 15, he is expressed as a, 'mixture of pride and
obsequiousness, self-importance and humility.' And, of course, by Lady Catherine's wishes one of
the main reasons as to the visit to Longbourne was to find himself a wife, 'Mr Collins had only to
change from Jane to Elizabeth and it was soon done- done while Mrs Bennet was stirring the
fire.' Additionally, in Chapter 19, Mr Collins's proposal to Elizabeth, 'in form' is masterly in its
pomposity, self-conceit, condescension and crawling subjection to Lady Catherine. Mr Collins
blindly attributes Elizabeth's reaction to the 'usual practice of elegant females' His arrogance will
not let him allow a refusal. There is no puncturing the caricature of this man; his image of
himself is never ruined! My final criticism of Mr Collins comes in Chapter 48. He writes a letter of
'sympathy' about Lydia's elopement to Mr Bennet. It is a letter written by a Christian clergyman
which reflects a totally unchristian attitude, and the quote, 'the death of your daughter would
have been a blessing in comparison to this,' is the key to Mr Collins's character, he must only be
associated with what is highly respectable. Conclusion
Elizabeth's pride and prejudice control the way she handles Darcy's marriage proposal. Her pride
forbids her to accept after he has displayed how he thinks she is beneath him, her prejudice
playing an important role due to the Wickham affair. In the following chapter Elizabeth receives
Darcy's letter. Although she disbelieves Darcy on the subject of Jane, she is forced to consider
carefully the statement which relates to Wickham. Her second reading, Wickham's own
indiscretion in talking so much to her, the knowledge that Darcy's criticism of her family are
justified, force her to see how clearly prejudiced she has been. She also appreciates that her own
family has brought about Jane's unhappiness. By far the most moving part of Chapter 50 is
Elizabeth's awakening recognition of her family's lack of merit and of Darcy's particular marks of
worth. It leads her to be humbled and grieved. And as Darcy was stripped of his pride and
prejudice in Chapter 58, Elizabeth is likewise, 'all her former prejudices had been removed.' In
conclusion, I note that Jane Austen has used the two main characters to explain the relevance of
the title. Jane Austen, by the end of the novel, has achieved the perfect marriage state, Elizabeth
and Darcy complement each other entirely now that each has overcome the strength of first
impressions and their own pride and prejudice.

Pride and Prejudice was first written in 1797 under the title “First
Impressions”. It was later revised and published under the title“Pride and
Prejudice” in 1813.
In the novel, first impressions do play an important part: Elizabeth is misled in her judgment and
estimation of both Darcy and Wickham. Her regard and sympathy for Wickham and her hostility
and prejudice against Darcy are due to the first impressions. But when we study the novel deeply
andseriously we can easily see that the title “Pride and Prejudice” is more apt and more befitting
to it. The first impressions which the character gets of each other take up only the first few
chapters. The novel is more about the pride of Darcy and the prejudice of Elizabeth and the
change of attitude in Darcy and Elizabeth’s correction of her first impression.At the apparent
level, we see that Darcy embodies pride – he is possessed by family pride. As Wickham tells
Elizabeth that he has a “filial pride”, in his “father and brotherly pride in his sister Georgiana”
Darcy himself says that his pride consists in caring for none beyond his own family circle, thinking
mean of all the rest of the world.There is no doubt that Darcy is a proud man. Nothing can
excuse his remark about Elizabeth,“… tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt me”nor,
indeed, the statement that“my good opinion once lost is lost for ever”.His first appearance is
insolent and we tend to agree with Mrs. Bennet’s complaint that “He walked here and he
walked there, fancying himself so very great”.The set-down comes at Hansford personage,
which is the climax of Darcy’s pride and Elizabeth’s prejudice. In this scene, Darcy lays his proud
heart at her feet and learns what she thinks of him. He admits that he remained blind to the
faults of Lady Catherine and Miss Bingley and was thinking mean of those beneath him in social
standing.Elizabeth feels that Darcy is all pride. Having been prejudiced against him by his refusal
to dance with her, she willfully misinterprets all his utterances, all his actions. Her prejudice
clouds her usually clear judgment and she listens to Wickham’s biased account of Darcy with
complete belief and declares Darcy to be ‘abominable’ (thoroughly unpleasant). Blinded by
prejudice she rejects his proposal.It is at Rosings that their process of self-discovery starts. At
Netherfield Park,Elizabeth’s family – her mother and her sisters have seemed vulgar and ill-bred.
At Rosings, Darcy is embarrassed by the vulgarity of his aunt Lady Catharine and realizes that
refinement of manners is not the monopoly of the elite. His lesson is complete by Elizabeth’s
rejection of his proposal and her rejection makes him realize his misplaced pride. This excessive
love for Elizabeth forces him to write an explanatory letter to Elizabeth.Elizabeth’s moment of
self-awakening comes on receiving of Darcy’s letter. Learning the truth about Wickham, she
realizes her own blindness and prejudice in judging Darcy and Wickham on mere fist
impressions. Now she is also able to see the validity of some of his objections to Jane and
Bingley marriage. At Pemberely, she learns about Darcy’s austerity of manner. Now the Lydia-
Wickham episode brings the final reconciliation. This overwhelms Elizabeth and she recognizes
that Darcy is exactly the man who, in disposition and talents, will most suit her.However, to say
that Darcy is proud and Elizabeth is prejudiced is to tell but half the story. The fact is both Darcy
and Elizabeth are proud as well as prejudiced. The novel makes clear the fact that Darcy’s pride
leads to prejudice and Elizabeth’s prejudice stems superiority and refinement and this leads him
to have a general prejudice against people beneath him in he social hierarchy. Elizabeth’s
prejudice on the other hand stems from his pride. Both suffer from the faults of pride ad
prejudice, but they are also the necessary defects of desirable merits: self-respect and
intelligence.It is true that Jane and Bingley are not the part of the theme of Pride and Prejudice
but their love is an important link in the novel and without it the story cannot be complete. Jane
is the specimen of faultless beauty and she is free from willing to see good in everyone. Similarly
Bingley is easy going and friendly. Both Jane and Bingley are simple characters and are not
sufficiently profound. It is the intricate characters of Darcy and Elizabeth that hold our interest
and exemplify the title of the novel, “Pride and Prejudice”.Darcy and Elizabeth are of course, the
pivotal characters but the subsidiary characters also tend to demonstrate further aspects of the
main themes. Lady Catherine de Bourgh is a hilarious caricature (extremely funny) of the same
faults of pride and prejudice. Mr. Collins is a mixture of obsequiousness and pride. He is a
sycophant, and out and out flatterer of Lady Catherine. Mrs. Bennet has a pride in her daughters
and in her stupidity develops a prejudice against Darcy. Miss Bingley herself and her sister Mrs.
Hurst are the mixture of pride and impertinence.The title Pride and Prejudice is thus, very apt
and points to the theme of the novel. The novel goes beyond a mere statement of first
impressions and explores in depth the abstract qualities of pride and prejudice. This theme is
worked out not only through the characters of Darcy and Elizabeth but also through various
minor characters. It is a title which does complete justice to the theme and subject of the novel.