"Pride & Prejudice" by Jane Austen - THEMES

*** Themes are the Fundamental and often Universal ideas explored in a literary work.

*** LOVE

• One of the most cherished love stories in English Literature.
• The courtship between Darcy and Elizabeth.
• Lovers had to overcome numerous stumbling blocks, beginning with the tensions caused by the lovers own personal qualities.
• Elizabeth's prejudice makes her misjudge Darcy.
• Darcy's pride against Elizabeth's poor social standing blinds him.
• Elizabeth is guilty of prejudice and Darcy of pride.
• Jane Austen poses smaller obstacles in the realization of the love between Elizabeth and Darcy.
• Austen does sound some more realist notes about love.
• Charlotte Lucas, who marries Mr. Collins for his money - "heart does not always dictate marriage.
• True Love - a force separate from society - one that can conquer even the most difficult of circumstances.

*** REPUTATION

• Depicts a society in which a woman's reputation is of the utmost importance.
• Stepping outside the social norms makes her vulnerable to ostracism.
• Elizabeth walks to Netherfield and arrives with muddy skirts - shock of the reputation - conscious Ms. Bingley and her friends.
• Ridiculous behavior of Mrs. Bennet gives her a bad reputation with the more refined Darcys and Bingleys.
• When Lydia elopes with Wickham and lives with him out of wedlock, the author treats reputation as a very serious matter - her disgrace threatens the entire family.
• The happy ending of Pride & Prejudice is certainly emotionally satisfying, but in many ways it leaves the theme of reputation, and the importance placed on reputation, unexplored.

*** CLASS

• The strictly regimented nature of life for the middle and upper classes in Regency English Society.
• The lines of class are strictly drawn.
• Bennets - middle class/ Bingleys, Darceys - upper class.
• Austen satirizes this kind of class-conscious, particularly in the character of Mr. Collins, who spends most of his time adhearing to his upper class patron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
• Through the Darcy-Elizabeth and Bingly-Jane marriages, Austen shows the power of love and happiness to overcome class boundaries and prejudices, thereby implying that such prejudices are unproductive.