Andy Medina
AP English
Mr. George
Pride and Prejudice Essay
4/14/09
First Impressions vs. Pride and Prejudice
First impressions can be everything. They are a major factor in how a person will be remembered. In the novel Pride and Prejudice, first interactions between people are key to their future relationship. In this novel there are many times when these first impressions turn out to be inaccurate. First impressions in this novel are major factors in how the story plays out, and that is why the original title of First Impressions is more appropriate for this novel. This title relates more to the characters than the title Pride and Prejudice, and is more fitting for the story.
Making a good first impression is hard, and the novel it proves this. Many characters struggle with making good first impressions. Jane is a good example of a character that makes a bad first impression which is very different from her true personality. Mr. Darcy is close friends with Mr. Bingley who has seemingly fallen in love with Jane Bennet. Mr. Darcy examines Jane at a ball, and the first impression she gives him is not good. Mr. Darcy says that Jane’s “look and manners were open, cheerful, and engaging as ever, but without any symptom of peculiar regard” (Austen 195). Mr. Darcy went on to say that Jane “received [Bingley’s] attentions with pleasure, [but] she did not invite them by any participation of sentiment” (195). He thinks he is looking out for Mr. Bingley’s best interests and breaks up the intended marriage that Jane and the rest of the Bennet family were hoping for. Mr. Darcy’s first impression of Jane was that she was not fully interested in Bingley, but in reality she loved him. This event leads to Mr. Darcy stopping the marriage, for the time being, of Jane and Mr. Bingley. This is not the only case of misleading first impressions in this novel as similar situations arise as the plot plays on.
Mr. Darcy himself does not avoid a bad first impression. He comes off as a proud, as many note: “‘His pride,’ said Miss Lucas, ‘does not offend me so much as pride often does, because there is an excuse for it. […] he has a right to be proud’” (21). Mr. Darcy’s place at the top of the societal ladder makes him come off as haughty to those who are below his status, and this hurts his relationships with many, especially Elizabeth Bennet. Elizabeth is told, by Mr. Wickham, that Mr. Darcy is an overcome with pride. Mr. Wickham says these things about Mr. Darcy just a few minutes after he says that “It gives [him] pain to speak ill of a Darcy” (82). Elizabeth already had been having ill feelings toward Mr. Darcy, and this created a prejudice against him. Elizabeth believed that Mr. Darcy was an abominable man, but Mr. Darcy is far from that, he is almost perfect.
Mr. Darcy is truly a kindhearted man, willing to give up a variety of things for Elizabeth, but she was blinded by the prejudice that was created by the bad impressions that Darcy had left with her. This prejudice would lead to her rejecting his marriage proposal because she thought that he was such a debauched individual who cared for no one but himself. Her prejudice blinded her to all the good deeds that Mr. Darcy had done and when the truth is revealed to her through Mr. Darcy’s letter she is humiliated and says, “Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind” (205). The first impression of Mr. Darcy led Elizabeth to believe the worst about him, but luckily his love for her was not deterred by the cruel things that she said to him. They are eventually married, but the poor first impression and the prejudice created from that, almost stopped that from happening.
In some cases, first impressions are not always bad. In Mr. Wickham’s case his first impression is very beneficial to his public image. He is a man who goes after girls for money and is in debt in many cities, but his strong first impressions make people believe that he is a respectable man. Mr. Wickham is described as the “happy man towards whom almost every female eye was turned” (77). Elizabeth is attracted to him and she was the “happy woman by whom he finally seated himself” (77). Mr. Wickham shows interest in Elizabeth out of mercenary needs only. Elizabeth is unaware of this, and it is not until Mr. Darcy’s letter to Elizabeth that the truth about Mr. Wickham is revealed. Mr. Darcy told Elizabeth that Mr. Wickham had taken the money that Mr. Darcy had given him, wasted it, and then came back for more. When Mr. Darcy refused, Mr. Wickham tries to elope with Georgiana Darcy to get her money, but he fails. Elizabeth is humiliated that she was deceived: “She grew absolutely ashamed of herself. Of neither Darcy nor Wickham could she think, without feeling that she had been blind, partial, prejudice, absurd” (204). Impressions can blind a person with prejudice, and decisions should not always be based on those feelings.
Pride and Prejudice is an appropriate title for this novel. Pride and Prejudice is an exclusive title to the book and only is relevant to two characters, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. The title First Impressions relates to more characters and the different relationships between them. The prejudice amongst the characters is hard to avoid and is derived from the first impressions that people make. The prejudices created from these initial meetings are important throughout the novel and are an integral part to the development of the relationship between the characters. These impressions can be misleading, but in the end the true nature of the characters are unveiled, and things are made right. The first meetings between characters in the story are important and are major factors in the novel, and that is why First Impressions would be the more appropriate title. As everyone knows you can never have a second chance at making a first impression, so make it a good one, but do not let it misconstrue who you really are.
Works Cited
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice New York: Barnes & Noble Books 2004
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