192 Austen, Jane
whose friends and family very much abhor a con-
nection with the Bennet family.
On the other hand, Austen seems to argue for
the importance of a certain kind of love over even
money. This kind of love, it seems, is visible to dis-
cerning observers. When Jane doubts the nature of
Bingley’s regard for her, Lizzy insists, “No one who
has ever seen [them] together, can doubt his affec-
tion.” Further, when Lady Catherine de Bourgh
mentions her daughter, Anne, long expected to
marry Mr. Darcy, in his presence, Elizabeth can
discern no “symptom of love” in him. Finally, Mr.
and Mrs. Gardiner, when they direct their observa-
tion toward Lizzy and Darcy, see that Darcy does,
indeed, love her, a fact that readers already know to
be true. The sincere love that grows between Jane
and Bingley, and between Lizzy and Darcy, cannot
be hidden or suppressed, and it endures regardless
of money, family, or other obstacles. When Bingley
finally proposes to Jane, “Elizabeth really believed all
his expectations of felicity, to be rationally founded.”
This love is reasonable, in part because it grows
gradually, and it is built on sturdier foundations
than lust or infatuation, which, incidentally, forms
the basis of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s largely unhappy
and loveless marriage. Unlike silly, romantic, or
erotic attachments, the rational love between the
two eldest Bennet sisters and their husbands will
last because of all it has endured; and in it, love, mar-
riage, and happiness can all be had in one.
Laura L. Guggenheim
pride in Pride and Prejudice
In Pride and Prejudice, every character who abhors
pride in others possesses it themselves in spades. For
example, Mrs. Bennet despises Mr. Darcy for his
pride, and yet she is one of the proudest characters
in the novel. On the other hand, those who have
little pride do not seem to mind its existence in
others. The modest Charlotte Lucas, in fact, allows
that Mr. Darcy has the right to be proud, young,
handsome, and rich as he is, and she goes on to
marry the ridiculously proud Mr. Collins. Charlotte
recognizes her husband’s flaws, but her pride can-
not be wounded by the knowledge that she has a
silly husband because she is not proud. Pride blinds
characters to the true natures of others, leading to
misplaced trust or, more often, prejudice. It is only
when their own pride is removed that characters are
able to judge others rightly.
While Mr. Darcy offends all of Hertfordshire
society, “Amongst the most violent against him was
Mrs. Bennet, whose dislike of his general behav-
iour was sharpened into particular resentment, by
his having slighted one of her daughters.” In other
words, Mrs. Bennet does not care for Mr. Darcy,
but because he offends her pride by rejecting her
daughter, her dislike grows into something stronger.
In regard to the same incident, Elizabeth tells Char-
lotte, “I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not
mortified mine” (original emphasis). In other words,
Elizabeth’s feelings began much like her mother’s,
and likewise, her prejudice against Darcy begins
when he wounds her pride by refusing her as a
dance partner. In this way does Darcy’s pride wound
Elizabeth’s, provoking her prejudice against him and
beginning the central conflict of the novel.
After this, nothing Darcy does can persuade
Elizabeth that her impression of him is wrong; his
meaningful looks, compliments, attentions, even
his professions of love—none of it helps her to see
that her prejudice is misplaced. When she notices
him noticing her, she assumes it is because he
thinks there is something wrong with her, and she
is unconcerned: “She liked him too little to care for
his approbation.” When Wickham tells his story
of Darcy’s pride, it is all too easy for Elizabeth to
believe him because her pride has already been
wounded and her prejudice against Darcy has been
established.
Furthermore, it is Darcy’s pride that prevents
Elizabeth from considering his feelings in her rejec-
tion of his marriage proposal, and it is Elizabeth’s
wounded pride that prevents her from seriously con-
sidering the proposal at all. Darcy begins by telling
her how he tried and failed to overcome his love for
her because of the social inferiority of her family. In
his mind, he believes it to be a compliment that his
feelings for her overwhelm his family pride, but such
expressions only wound her further. Even Darcy’s
subsequent letter to her is “all pride and insolence”
and expresses nothing of sorrow or regret for his
behavior toward Jane, initially increasing Elizabeth’s
prejudice against him. It is not until Elizabeth seri-