Appearance vs. Reality in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

Appearance vs. Reality in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, the theme of appearance versus reality is recurrent. Austen seeks to prove that often one’s appearance hides one’s true character.

This thematic concept is clearly evident in the case of Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham and how they appear to Elizabeth Bennett. From her first impressions of both Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham, Elizabeth comes to misguided conclusions about their true character.

Elizabeth spends most of the novel reevaluating her stance regarding both of these characters. She later comes to realize that her respective judgements of Mr.Darcy and Mr. Wickham are profoundly inaccurate and incorrect. In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Austen demonstrates that an individual’s true character can often be hidden by appearances.

Elizabeth’s first impressions of Mr. Darcy are based on an appearance of his character rather that a realistic assessment of his decorum, background, and history. The very first time Elizabeth meets Mr. Darcy she becomes prejudiced toward him. Elizabeth is introduced to Darcy at the Meryton Assembly and although the general impression is that he is quite handsome, her opinion suddenly changes to an unfavorable disposition towards him. She perceives his behavior as cold and uninterested in her friends and family.

Along with the rest of the people in Hertfordshire, she decides that he is “ the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world” (41). His air of superiority does not impress Elizabeth and she observes that he does not converse with anyone who is outside his party. She grows particularity hostile towards Darcy when she overhears him say,“ She [Elizabeth] is tolerable, but not handsome enough ...

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...shallow, superficial, and greedy soul, while Darcy’s awkward behavior hides a generous, caring heart. Elizabeth learns many lessons from her interaction with these two men. She learns the possible dangers of jumping to a conclusion based on an individual’s character and looks that may be deceiving. Through Elizabeth’s realizations, Jane Austen offers a universal theme that can be related to any society in that premature judgements are more often than not a misconception of someone’s true personality. In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen effectively exhibits that reality can often be hidden by appearance.

Work Cited

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Ed. Donald Gray. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996.

Work Consulted

Rubinstein, E., ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Pride and Prejudice. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1969.