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When crafting a piece of art, the creator must go through the long and strenuous process of molding his or her artwork to form a masterpiece; writers struggle with creating the perfect plot for a novel while musical composers tirelessly try to put together a random assortment of notes to concoct one well-balanced sound. Although the most difficult part of creating a masterpiece is the actual process of writing or composing it, one highly overlooked difficulty of the job of the creator is the development of a suitable title. In just a few words, an effective title gives the audience a basic idea of what they are about to get involved with. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is an example of a novel with such a title that is very significant in the development of the story.
As the reader proceeds through the book, the significance of the title becomes more obvious. Using only three words, Austen is able to tie together the main components of the novel, such as character descriptions and a basic plot summary. The title Pride and Prejudice is effective in narrowing down all words used to describe any of the characters to two traits. Pride and Prejudice is such an appropriate title because a majority of the characters display pride, prejudice, or both. Early in the novel, the character Mary Bennet gives Jane Austen's explanation of pride when she says, Prices a very common failing human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or other (19). What Austen is saying is that pride is a feeling of self-respect, sometimes reasonable or justified; although pride can be justified, she gives it an overall negative connotation when she refers to it is a failing or fault.
Her definition of pride is displayed constantly throughout the book in the nature of her characters. The most obviously proud character is Mr. Darcy, who, understandably, shows pride in his high status in society. Although it is reasonable that he is proud of his wealth, he verifies the truth in Austen's negative connotation of pride by looking down upon others. If Mr. Darcy had not used his pride in condescending others, he would have been more accepted among the characters.
Pride alone is not a terrible problem, but when it turns to vanity it presents an issue. Other proud characters include Mr. Collins, Lady Catherine, Miss Bingley, and Elizabeth Bennet. Mr.
Collins, Lady Catherine, and Miss Bingley are similar to Mr. Darcy in their degree of pride. They too have excessive pride in their social status and belittle others in their actions and words. Elizabeth fits into Austen's definition of a proud person because she has a high level of respect for herself and her dignity. The negative side to Elizabeth's pride is that her self-respect causes her to be prejudiced against anyone who devastates it. Looking at just these few characters alone, it is obvious, as Mary says, that pride is a very common fault in society.
Along with pride, many of the characters also display prejudice towards others. Through character development, Austen seems to define prejudice as an unfavorable opinion formed without fair reason or sufficient knowledge of a situation. Elizabeth, who clearly shows prejudice towards Mr. Darcy, fits into Austen's description of a prejudiced person well. She forms an unjust opinion of Darcy based on only one meeting with him.
Later when Mr. Wickham gives her a hostile account of Mr. Darcy's character, her bias against him increases even though she still does not know enough true information about him to form an opinion. When Darcy gives her the letter explaining all that she accuses him of she is already persuaded that he could have no explanation to give with a strong prejudice against anything he might say (172). Her opinion of him is so strong that she does not even have an open mind when he tries to explain himself.
Several other characters display prejudices throughout the novel. The entire Bennet family and other members of the neighborhood form opinions similar to Elizabeth's regarding Darcy, all based on the same meager truths that they know about him. Characters such as Darcy, Miss Bingley, and Lady Catherine, all of who have tremendous pride in their prosperity, are prejudiced against lesser, more ordinary people such as the Bennet family. They judge Elizabeth based on her family's actions; since she comes from an unattractive family line, they assume that she is like her family members and is not worthy to be talked to as an equal.
Like pride, it is clear that prejudice is an extremely common fault among the characters. Not only does the title Pride and Prejudice give a description of a large portion of the characters, it also gives the reader insight into what the novel is about. The more the reader reads, the more he or she will see what pride and prejudice have to do with the plot of the story. These two character traits are the primary obstacles keeping the main characters, Elizabeth and Mr.
Darcy, apart. Darcy's pride is the first thing that gets in the way of a possible relationship between the two. His constant referrals to the low status of Elizabeth's family and the fact that his proposal is degrading to him trigger the formation of her prejudiced opinions of him. Because of these inaccurate judgments of his character, she builds a wall, blocking out anything that might change her opinion about him. As Darcy continues to judge Elizabeth's family, she develops even more self-respect and dignity in order to fight back. Although pride and prejudice are the problems keeping Elizabeth and Darcy apart, it is the intertwining and mingling of these two characteristics that make the two characters realize their faults.
It is when Elizabeth viciously rejects Darcy's first proposal that he finally recognizes his pride. He never expects to be rejected, so when he is turned down he begins to reexamine himself. Then after he gets over his pride and changes his ways for Elizabeth, she finally sees the truth about him. She realizes that he has the right to be proud of his accomplishments and that he was right about the distastefulness of her family.
It is then when she acknowledges that her judgments of Darcy were too hasty and based on insignificant details. After reading the novel Pride and Prejudice, it becomes clear why Jane Austen chose this title. These three words, possibly the most important words of the novel, are responsible for the development of the entire plot. Using just these words the basic traits of many of the characters can be summarized. The way that the characters handle their pride and / or prejudice either builds up more conflicts between characters or solves existing ones.
This title is suitable for the novel because of the way the entire novel (character development, conflict, climax, resolution, etc) revolves around these words. Not often is the title of a book so significant in its success.
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Research essay sample on Pride And Prejudice Jane Austen
