Question- Do you agree with the view that the novel 'Pride and Prejudice' revolves around two themes of 'Pride and Prejudice'? Give reasons for your answer?

Answer-

Jane Austen was one of the greatest women novelist of the nineteenth century. She was a great artist in the realm of fiction. She believed in the dictum of 'Art for Art's Sake'. Her novels paint the family life of the landed aristocracy alone and paints it well with authenticity and artistic perfection.

'Pride and Prejudice' is an 1813 romantic novel by Jane Austen. The world of 'Pride and Prejudice' revolved around the relationship between its men and women. Austen made this theme obvious from the opening sentence, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." It charts the emotional development of the protagonist Elizabeth Bennet, who learns the error of making hasty judgement and comes to appreciate difference between superficial and the essential. The comedy of the writing lies in the depiction of manners, education, marriage and money during the Regency era in Britain.

The theme of 'Pride and Prejudice' is woven around the household of the Bennet family. It reflects the domestic life of the middle class families living in the English countryside. The chief constituents of the central theme of the novel are sex, love and marriage. The characters are also homely, real human being of flesh and blood. However, the treatment of the theme is dramatic. The common is made to look uncommon and the familiar, unfamiliar.

In this novel, Austen presents two main types of love - familial love and romantic love. Familial love is mainly expressed through the love of the sisters for each other, especially the love between Jane and Elizabeth. It is also expressed in Elizabeth's relationship with her father. A more prominent kind of love, which is expressed in the relationship of Lydia and Mr. Wickham, Jane and Mr. Bingley and Elizabeth and Darcy.

The protagonist Elizabeth suffers from both Pride and Prejudice. She has pride in her ability to understand human nature. She teases her sister for being two understanding and thinks. She herself sees people more honestly. For instance, she quickly discerns that Mr. Collins is both an arrogant and foolish man. However Elizabeth's pride in this ability causes her to trust it too much. Prejudice enters in Elizabeth when Darcy ignores her in the Bingley's party for dance. She becomes prejudice against him, when Mr. Wickham shows an interest, she becomes prejudice towards him. It is not until much later that she learns how wrong she was. In those climate moments, She says - "She has let her pride and prejudice mislead her."

The second protagonist, Darcy, owner of a large estate, is a very handsome man. Darcy develops pride in him. Darcy remarks about Elizabeth, 'She is tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt me'. These words hurt her. She become prejudiced against him. There is a clash of ego between the two. The conflict between Elizabeth and Darcy forms the central theme of the novel. Wickham's appearance first intensifies this conflict, and then resolves it. When Wickham poisons the ears of Elizabeth against Darcy, she becomes against him, her prejudice is intensified. But when Darcy, is exposed and wickedness is known to all, Elizabeth is reconciled. Love softens Darcy's pride. It also minimises Elizabeth's prejudice. The two come closer together, develop intimacy, arrive at reasonable understanding and begin to love each other. Darcy-Elizabeth relationship culminates in happy marriage.

At last, we can say that this novel has two themes Pride and Prejudice'. Love and marriage are the main topic of this novel. Love is presented between Darcy-Elizabeth, Jane-Bingley, Lydia-Wickham and at the end they get married with each other. Darcy is the symbol of Pride and Elizabeth is the symbol of Prejudice. Throughout the novel, Austen depicts various relationship that exhibits the two recurring themes.

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