Pride and Prejudice

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THE TITLE can be centered around the relationship of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. As stated by Joann Morse in her afterword to the novel, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth move past the roles fixed for them to become full human beings with insight and understanding rather than flat figures of pride and prejudice. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy do still experience some pride and some prejudice, but unlike others, they are able to overcome that with some insight and understanding.

ELIZABETH is described as having a defect to "willfully misunderstand everybody" (prejudice). When she mentions Mr. Darcy, she says, "it would be great misfortune... to find a man agreeable whom one is determined to hate" (prejudice). Darcy states that he hopes that he will never allow himself to be blinded by such prejudice. After Mr. Darcy's proposal, Elizabeth rejects him only because his honest hurt her pride. She seems to have a strong prejudice against any explanation of Mr. Darcy's.

AS TIME goes on, Elizabeth begins to realize that Mr. Darcy's pride might not be so bad after all. She later states that she has been "blind, partial, prejudiced, absurd..." She now begins to realize her false pride. As Elizabeth recognizes her mistakes, and confesses to Jane that she "meant to be so uncommonly clever in taking so decided a dislike to him (Darcy) without any reason" (prejudice). In addition, Elizabeth admits her mistake in accusing Mr. Darcy of being too proud. As the novel ends, Mrs. Bennet expresses her delighted pride in the marriage of her "two most deserving daughters."

THE TITLE exemplifies the focus of the novel and defines the themes presented in the novel. Through their experiences of both pride and prejudice, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy learn to grow and to become human beings with the ability to understand each other.