The Importance Of Wisdom In Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice

Wisdom is a necessary quality in one’s character to overcome challenges in a mature and sensible way. Rational judgement is key to identifying what a person is really like and acting accordingly. Austen emphasizes the importance of wisdom through Elizabeth, who faces the challenge of overcoming her prejudiced judgement to reach maturity and recognize the man she loves.

In the novel Pride and Prejudice, Austen shows how a lack of wisdom and maturity leads Elizabeth to give way to prejudiced judgment. She bases her opinion of Mr. Darcy solely on her first impression. Early in the novel, Mr. Darcy insults Elizabeth at the ball saying that she is tolerable, but not pretty enough to tempt him, offended by this Elizabeth is

5) This demonstrates how Elizabeth’s ego plays a large role in how she perceives others. Because Mr. Darcy offends Elizabeth when they first meet, she is led to believe that he cannot be anything but what she already perceives him to be, an insolent and prideful man. Later, the reader is made aware of Mr. Darcy’s growing attraction and attention toward Elizabeth, however, Elizabeth continues to believe that Mr. Darcy is “the only man who made himself agreeable nowhere, and who had not thought her handsome enough…” (Ch. 6)Elizabeth’s view of Mr. Darcy demonstrates her close-mindedness to reasonable thinking; while Mr. Darcy’s opinion of Elizabeth is changing, she is prejudice against him, basing her viewpoint on how he acts and his offence against her; she cannot get past her first impression of Mr. Darcy. After Mr. Darcy unexpectedly asks Elizabeth to dance, she speaks with Charlotte about the prospect of dancing with him. When Charlotte tries to console her by suggesting that he may not be as bad as she thinks,

Wickham. Upon being introduced to Mr. Wickham by Denny, Elizabeth is immediately impressed by him. She praises that he has “the best part of beauty, a fine countenance, a good figure…very pleasing address and a happy readiness of conversation, …” (Ch. 15) Elizabeths high opinion of Wickham demonstrates her prejudice already beginning to form, she is basing how she perceives him on his appearance alone without attempting to see beyond it. The contrast between Elizabeths meeting of Wickham, and Darcy also shows Elizabeth’s reliance on first impressions to judge character. During dinner at Mr. and Mrs. Phillips, “Elizabeth was the happy woman by whom he [Mr. Wickham] finally seated himself…”, (Ch. 16) this shows how Elizabeth has become infatuated with Wickham in a short amount of time, she is flattered by his attention to her, and therefore, is inclined to think highly of him. When Wickham tells Elizabeth about how he knows Mr. Darcy, and what wrongs had been done to him by Darcy, “Elizabeth honoured him for such feelings,” she even “thought him handsomer…” (Ch. 16) for expressing them in such a way. Elizabeth never thinks to doubt Mr. Wickham 's story, this is because Elizabeth’s prejudice leads her to believe that Mr. Darcy is a bad person, and Wickham is not, thus she was more likely to trust what Mr. Wickham says because she already believed Darcy to be guilty of faults.