Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Meeting new people is inevitable in our day-to-day activities. More often than not, most people judge the new people they meet based on their first impression of them. The judgments are based on physical appearance, social status and mostly how they talk. In most cases, the way a person talks will give away his/her character because it portrays their life philosophies. These methods of determining a stranger’s character are not often effective because there is more to a person than their physical appearance, social status and talking manner. In line with Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, this article will show how deceiving first impressions can be and the importance of learning someone’s personality traits before forming a final impression.

People tend to like people of their own social class at first encounter. A trend influenced by the belief that because have similar life experiences, they have the same personalities. Elizabeth dismisses Darcy as a proud, snobbery and cold person because of his high social class. Due to the poor impression Darcy had on Elizabeth, she believes that he is a bad person and her belief is cemented by George Wickham who speaks ill of him. Elizabeth believes that Darcy is proud because he is rich (Robert C. 1952, 2). She carries on this negative attitude and she rejects Darcy’s marriage proposal. It is only after she learns his true character that she realizes how wrong she was and that Darcy is indeed an honorable man. Similarly, there are many instances where people dismiss strangers as either proud or ignorant because of their social status. This hinders them from learning each other’s true characters which takes more than just a single encounter. Learning to observe a stranger gives one the chance to know what kind of person they are at a very early stage.

The other factor that influences a first impression is physical appearance. It is assumed that what is beautiful is good and physically attractive people are treated more positively (Geneviève L., Jeremy C, and Lauren J.2010, 2). This implies that it is easy to like a beautiful or attractive person on first encounter without getting to know their personalities. Similarly, one would dismiss a physically unattractive person as bad simply because of the way they look and not because of their character. When Darcy first encounters Elizabeth, he dismisses her and terms her looks as barely tolerable. When he eventually realizes the kind of person Elizabeth is, he falls in love and asks for her hand in marriage. In other words, a person’s character cannot be defined by their physical appearance. Indeed, true beauty is in one’s personality rather that physical appearance and one can learn of another person’s true character by looking at more than their physical appearance.

A conversation with a stranger can also form a first impression. It is easy for one to say that a new person is nice or bad depending on the conversation they had. However, this is not enough for a personality impression. For instance, the conversation Elizabeth has with Wickham leads her to believe that he is a nice person who was deceived and robbed of his inheritance. His true character is unveiled when he elopes with Lydiah. He only marries her after being paid off in order to save her reputation. A person is inclined to believe a person they share similar beliefs with even when they are incorrect (Clore G. and Gasper K. 2000, 2) and this is what happened to Elizabeth. This proves that how a person talks is not enough to depict their true character.

RATIONALE

The book Pride and Prejudice brings forth many themes. I choose to use take the format of a newspaper article to portray the theme of first impressions. I pick this particular theme because of the importance it holds in the society today. Many people form false first impressions on others and this hinders them from learning their true character. There are many stereotypic beliefs that dictate how people form first impressions and thereafter conclude their character. This trend is portrayed widely in the text where many characters form false first impressions of the new people they encounter. The characters I used were the ones who were greatly affected by a false first impression. When Elizabeth first meets Darcy, she assumes that he is a snob and full of pride just because he is rich. This negative first impression is affirmed when Wickham talks ill of him and says he deceived him of his inheritance. In Elizabeth’s mindset, rich people are proud and deceitful and that is how she perceives Darcy. When she finally learns of his true character, she finds him honorable, charming and sincere which makes her fall in love with him.

In the same manner, Darcy dislikes Elizabeth at first sights because to him, her looks are barely tolerable. He does not bother to learn her personality because to him, good character is associated with beauty and appealing physical appearance. When he gets to know her real character, he falls in love with her and even proposes to her. Similarly, Elizabeth takes a liking to Wickham because their conversation. He however proves to be a deceitful person and Elizabeth only learns of his true character through Darcy’s letter. He reveals his character further when he elopes with Lydiah and putting her reputation at stake. It is only after payment that he agrees to marry Lydiah in order to save her reputation and this goes further to prove his deceitful character which is in contrast to how Elizabeth perceived him.

This article will challenge people to stop being judgmental at first encounter and the importance of being open minded when meeting new people. If the mentioned characters in Pride and Prejudice approached each other with open minds, they would have had better chances of learning their true identities. Having an open mind enables one evaluate all possibilities which reduces the chances or being deceived or forming a false impression. There is much more to people than their social class, physical appearance or how they talk. Judging a person based on those factors can be misleading. It is true that the first encounter forms an impression, but it is not enough to determine a character.