入圍決選獎
姓  名 陳思穎 學  校 國立彰化女子高級中學 年  級 二 年 十三 班

 

 

What I learn from Pride and prejudice

《Pride and Prejudice》, Jane Austen’s classic novel, represents the life in England at the end of the eighteenth century. Through the story line and characters, we could realize people’s values about the marriage and the social class in that era.

The leading role in this story, Elizabeth Bennet, lived in a middle-class family. She was an intelligent and humorous person, but unfortunately she had some ridiculous families. Her mother was immodest and often showed her ignorance. Her youngest sister, Lydia, was silly and always thought of parties and regiments. The only one Elizabeth liked to talk with was her agreeable elder sister, Jane.

One day at a ball, Elizabeth met Mr. Darcy and considered him a conceited upper-class person. After that, Mr. Wickham told her that Mr. Darcy ruined his dream to become a clergyman. In addition, Elizabeth found that it was Mr. Darcy that dissuaded Mr. Bingley, a well-mannered upper-class gentleman, from getting engage to Jane. Elizabeth was sure that Mr. Darcy only cared the rank and her dislike for him was deep-rooted.

To clarify what Elizabeth accused him of, Mr. Darcy wrote a letter and it changed her opinion. Elizabeth started to think differently about Mr. Darcy. Gradually, she saw his transformation and discovered his politeness and kindness. She felt sorry and was ashamed about her misjudgment. At the end of the story, they resolved the misunderstanding and got married.

In this novel, we can see different viewpoints about marriage. Elizabeth’s friends, Charlotte, thought marriage is a guarantee of material life, and happiness in marriage is a matter of luck. She married Mr. Collins, who was a clergyman but not sensible. Though she wouldn’t worry about their daily necessities, she had to stand her ignorant husband. Elizabeth’s sister, Lydia, considered marriage not very important. She eloped with Mr. Wickham, who was handsome but greedy, and didn’t feel any regret about this disgrace. Instead of being practical, she was still childish and romantic, constantly showing off her marriage. Compared to Charlotte and Lydia, Elizabeth didn’t go so extreme. She knew that marriage was based on love, so she wouldn’t marry a man because of his wealth. Also, she knew love wasn’t the only thing in marriage. She wouldn’t completely fall into love and leave material life out of consideration. I think that attitudes from different people molded diverse marriages, and it needs both material life and love to run a happy marriage, the most important thing for women in that era.

Besides, we can see the social class limitation in this novel. The Bennet family was middle-class, so it’s hard for their children to marry an upper-class person. Though Jane was handsome and good tempered, Mr. Bingley’s sisters still laughed at her because of her low social class. Though Elizabeth was sensible and clever, Mr. Darcy’s aunt against the marriage between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy because of her low birth. How cruel it is to judge a woman only by her rank! The social class only shows whether she is rich, but it doesn’t mean she is inferior when she has low birth. A woman’s personality and ability are more important than her rank and fortune. I admire Mr. Darcy’s determination to go against others’ wishes and marry a woman he loved. Because of love, he realized his defects, and Elizabeth also discovered her flaws. They were a perfect match, just like a puzzle, which is broken into pieces, but turn into a beautiful pattern when being put together. Choosing not to focus on the social status, Mr. Darcy eventually found his true love.

In 《Pride and Prejudice》, Mr. Darcy seems to represent the pride and Elizabeth seems to stand for the prejudice. But after reading this story multiple times, I have a different perspective on it. Not only was Mr. Darcy proud of himself, but the others showed their prides in some situations. Even Elizabeth had prided herself on her understanding of character. Likewise, all the characters in the story had some prejudice. Pride and Prejudice existed in every role, and maybe in everyone.