Pride and Prejudice Essay: First Impressions

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First Impressions in Pride and Prejudice

First impressions are very important in Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice. As the story develops, we discover how the prejudices and first impressions of each of the main characters change. The primary focus is on the character of Elizabeth Bennet.

Elizabeth's judgments about other characters' dispositions are accurate about half of the time. While she is correct about Mr. Collins and how absurdly self-serving he is and about Lady Catherine de Bourgh and how proud and snobbish she is, her first impressions of Wickham and Darcy steer her incorrectly. Wickham is first thought to be a gentleman by all. His good looks and his easy manner fool almost everyone, and Elizabeth believes without question all that he tells her of Darcy. Elizabeth's first impressions of him are contradicted when she realizes that he has lied about Darcy.

Elizabeth and many of the other characters se...

... middle of paper ...

... her married daughters with pride, and Elizabeth is said to be proud of Darcy because of what he had done for Lydia. First impressions can be discussed of many of the other characters than those discussed here, and prejudice is illustrated not only in Elizabeth's behavior, but in Darcy's and Lady Catherine's reactions to the status of Elizabeth's family as well

Work Cited:

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. 1813. Ed. Donald Gray. New York: Norton and Co., 1993.

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