How Does Elizabeth's Prejudice Affect Relationships In Pride And Prejudice Essay

Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen about the social constructs in the late 18th century. The book is based off of the tumultuous relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Elizabeth is raised in a family of five girls: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine, and Lydia. Elizabeth shows prejudice to many of her friends. She allows her perceived opinion, which is not based on actual experience to cloud her perception of individuals. She formulates her thoughts on people that are not founded. She refuses to believe that she could be wrong until she is shown differently, even then she is slow to accept the obvious reality. Elizabeth’s prejudice causes harm to her relationships. One way in which Elizabeth’s prejudice causes

Elizabeth’s prejudice against Charlotte permanently damages her relationship. Growing up in England, Elizabeth and Charlotte were best friends. They were very close and spent a lot of their time together. As we find out their views on marriage differ greatly. Charlotte believes that knowing the husband before marriage is not terribly important. She even goes as far as to say that the less you know about your spouse the better. Elizabeth believes that marriage should be for someone you truly love and want to spend the rest of your life with. Mr. Collins, a cousin of the Bennet family, proposes to Elizabeth. He is rejected and soon after Charlotte plans a scheme to have Collins propose to her. This plan is successful and Collins

At this ball Darcy not only coldly told Miss Bennet that Elizabeth was not handsome enough to tempt him, but she also refused to dance with anyone that was not from his party. Darcy went against the social norms of the time. When women were at a ball the men were expected to dance with them. Off of this impression Elizabeth began to fully formulate her opinion on Darcy. When Elizabeth first met Wickham, a young man in the British army, she willingly accepted his side of the story in dealing with Darcy. She believed Wickham was wrongfully treated and “honoured him for such feelings, and thought him handsomer than ever as he expressed them.” (p. 69) and did not consider there being two sides to the story. The believed that Darcy was inhumane, malicious, and unjust. (p. 69) Elizabeth took Wickham’s story of Darcy, and because of her prior experience believed it. As time went on Charlotte and Collins moved to Lady Catherine De Bourgh’s manor. Elizabeth came to visit and saw Darcy there. Darcy, expecting to be readily accepted, proposed to Liz during her stay. Liz declined her proposal and began berating him “And of your infliction . . . you have withheld the advantage . . . you have deprived the best years of his life . . .” (p. 165) for his supposed poor treatment of Wickham. Liz later received a letter from Darcy explaining what really transpired between him and Wickham. After Liz heard that Wickham tried to seduce Darcy’s