by Alex Storey

Created on: January 08, 2011

Elizabeth Bennet grows up in the society of landed gentry of 19th century England with four sisters in Pride and Prejudice.

The opening line of Pride and Prejudice is one of the most famous in English literature: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." This is typical Austen, who makes thought-provoking statements tinged with humour.

Mrs Bennet is worried that when her husband dies her daughters will be poor so she is desperately trying to find husbands for them.

Elizabeth judges on appearance and first impressions and is selective on which evidence she uses to form her opinion, thus she is guilty of PREJUDICE with the people she meets. In fact the novel was originally entitled First Impressions.

Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy is a wealthy, tall, intelligent, family friend of the Bennets. Elizabeth is the protagonist and falls for Mr Darcy, a man of great PRIDE, dignity and self importance. Both characters display enough pride in their nobility and enough prejudice in the way they judge others, to last a lifetime.

Elizabeth finally agrees to marry Mr Darcy in what has become one of the most famous couples anywhere in literature. All of Jane Austen’s novels were published anonymously and her father like Mr Bennet had a great library which she evidently used well.

In Regency England the lines of class were strictly drawn. The Bennets are middle class and they socialize with the Bingleys and the Darcy's who are upper-class though the Bennets are treated like they are socially inferior. Darcy is full of his status but through his marriage to Elizabeth, who is just a middle class girl, Jane Austen shows how the power of love outranks class.

This of course suggests what of course is true and that this prejudgement of people with relation to class is hollow and perhaps arranged marriages which were popular in Victorian times were simply for convenience and not true love.

Pemberley is Darcy's estate and a geographic symbol of Darcy himself. Elizabeth is enchanted by its beauty and charm and setting in the lovely countryside like she is by her gifts from its owner, Mr Darcy.

When Elizabeth sees Darcy at Pemberley she is crossing a small bridge which alludes to the gap in class or prejudice that lies between them as he is upper class of course. The bridge, bridges this gap which their love will build across it.

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