Abandoning our Pride and Prejudice

張貼日期：May 11, 2014 1:39:50 PM

Anna Peng

Pride and Prejudice is one of the best-known works in the world, and it’s the reason why I chose the book. It has been adapted into many movies because it is meaningful and thought-provoking. The author, Jane Austen, is one of the few great woman writers in the history of English literature. Most of her works were based on middle-class families whose life feature is cultured, clever and having reasonable expectations of their life.

Pride and Prejudice is about a family in English countryside, Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet with their five daughters, Elizabeth, Jane, Mary, Catherine and Lydia. They all want to marry a rich man and have a high position in society as well. The protagonist, Elizabeth, is witty, intelligent and kind; she also gets more love from her father. One day, a rich unmarried man, Bingley, moves to a high-class residence nearby; the Bennet’s are all excited about this, especially their snobbish mom. Jane falls in love with Bingley at first sight, and Elizabeth has an aversion to Darcy at first, then Darcy’s French leave and George’s false accusation make the prejudice of Elizabeth get worst. After many twists and turns, they meet again, and Elizabeth refuses the marriage proposal from Darcy.

The refusal of Elizabeth is a big setback to Darcy’s pride, so he decides to tell her the truth. After realizing the truth of George, Elizabeth feels ashamed about her prejudice. Finally, Elizabeth and Darcy fall in love because of Darcy’s help to her family. There is a proverb, “Prejudice is an opinion without judgment.” Many people have this problem because everyone has their own pride and prejudice, and one way to prevent this situation is being humble and treating everyone fairly. Respecting others and communicating more is also a good way to know others.

We always judge people by first impressions and also want to make a good first impression, but first impressions are often entirely wrong. Prejudice would cause many misunderstandings and we can't judge the essence of a thing just by its outward appearance. Pride is a bad personality trait but confidence is fine; there is only a gleam of separation between pride and confidence. No one likes a person who is proud, so we should never be proud even when we are at our best.

Pride and Prejudice is really a meaningful work. Although many characters in the story have faulty personalities, most of them defeat the difficulties and misunderstandings finally, and the story has a sweet ending. After reading Pride and Prejudice, I learn to be more objective and humble.