The Role of First Impressions in Pride and Prejudice

501 Words2 Pages

The Role of First Impressions in Pride and Prejudice First impressions play a very important role in Pride and Prejudice. The narrative describes how the prejudices and first impressions (especially those dealing with pride) of the main characters change throughout the novel. From the beginning of the book in chapter 1, we see that Mrs. Bennet lives in a mercenary society where her whole life revolves around money. This shows in her eagerness to meet Bingley. She is obsessed with her daughters getting married – she does not care for their happiness. Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley are both introduced in chapter 3 at the ball. Everyone gossips about them and their wealth. Mr. Bingley is friendly and easy going whereas Mr. Darcy contradicts this. Elizabeth’s first impressions of Darcy are that he is incredibly rude and arrogant. Her opinion of Darcy changes as the book progresses although her first impressions of him prejudice Elizabeth. Elizabeth's judgments about other characters' dispositions are accurate about half of ...

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