Contemporary Relevance Marina Section 1

First impressions are the first thing people see in a person. They are very important however one impression leads to another and it soon becomes judgements. Why do we, as human beings, feel the need to create an assumption of those that we don’t even know? As our human nature we are full of pride, prejudice and judgment and we chose to lose control of it.

                Pride was major theme in this book because it prevented characters from achieving happiness. Pride was the main reason why Darcy and Elizabeth relationship was difficult. Darcy had a lot of pride in his position of society and Elizabeth had pride in her life as well. However in the end of the novel both characters learn to not to have so much pride in themselves and not let it get in the way of their true feelings for each other.

                Prejudice is another major and quiet important theme in the novel because prejudice is what affected many different relationships between the characters, not only with Elizabeth and Darcy but others as well. Darcy had to overcome all the stereotypes that society says about social classes just to be aware of his true feelings for Elizabeth. Since I started to read the novel, I realized that Elizabeth thinks her prejudice against Darcy is with good intentions; however I believe that she was equally as guilty. The overcoming of their prejudice in this book is slowly revealed through many different situations and is later taken over by the power of love.

                The reason why I discussed both of these themes is because they play a huge rule in our society today. They are perfect examples of how many of us act towards one another. We all feel the need to judge or put down others just to make ourselves feel better. We may not do it out of bad intentions but rather because we have pride or a certain prejudice. An example of this would be not talking to a certain individual or thinking they are not ‘normal’ because they are different than you; whether it is in the 18th century or the 21st century. Regardless of our careers, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, the colour of our skin or racial ethnicity, we are all the same. We are all equal and we should not let our pride and prejudice blind us from viewing our fellow humans as our equal, they are not above us or below us. Until we learn to move past our pride and prejudices we will never see the good in others or in life, we will never find the true happiness of life.