The novel “Pride and Prejudice” has made the most significant contribution to history and literature of the whole world, not only in England, where it comes from. The heroes of this creation have become prototypes in many films, books about psychology, and even comedy headlines. It is not surprising that students are given the topic of an essay on “Pride and Prejudice” because this book can be used to arrange endless discussions and reserve the right to novelty in opinion.
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Writing an essay is not easy, even on the most practical topics that do not require deep and sometimes philosophical reflections. A Pride and Prejudice essay allows teachers to understand students from the other side and learn their academic level and a holistic view of the principles of goodness. Of course, it happens when students do not have enough time, energy, and desire to describe such a complex topic on their own, so they turn to custom paper writing services that can help them. Even if you write an essay on your own, you can find tips on professional blogs and use them to make writing an article easier for yourself.
What you need to know about “Pride and Prejudice”
To write good Pride and Prejudice essays, a student should ideally be well-informed about the principles of the novel, its characters, and of course, the author who wrote it. Why is this needed? Writing an essay and explaining your views on marriage, goodness, truth, etc., will be very difficult without reading this book. So what do you need to know about romance?
First of all, you need to know that Jane Austen wrote the novel “Pride and Prejudice” in 1813. Jane Austen is an English writer who brought enlightenment through her books, and in her creation, she touched on topics not only related to marriage but also relationships between people. But also the importance of education, financial literacy, and the principles of the time when England was in the Regency era. And when writing your essays on Pride and Prejudice, it is essential to remember that Jane Austen wrote the book light and humorous, which helped her attract a considerable number of readers and convey her message to thousands of citizens of the United Kingdom. And it may also come in handy when writing your paper that the book’s first title was “First Impression,” which miraculously depicted one of the primary ambassadors of the novel. Jane Austen wanted to make it clear that first impressions can be deceiving.
Briefly about what is happening in the novel
The novel’s events take place in England outside of major cities, where the main character Elizabeth Bennet lives with her family. There were five children in her family, or five dissimilar daughters whose names sounded like this: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine, and Lydia. From the first pages, the reader notices that the main goal or anxiety of the girls’ mother was the desire to marry off her daughters to suitable men. Why did she have such an obsessive thought? You may already know from other books, films, or history that in 19th century England, there was a law that forbade the inheritance of property for women. After the death of the girls’ father, all the property of the Bennet family would have passed to William Collins.
According to the eldest woman of the Bennet family, everything began to go smoothly when the news came from Meryton that there would soon be a ball where a lot of single and promising suitors would be present. It was also crucial that Mr. Darcy and his friend Mr. Bingley, who had a considerable inheritance, should have been present at this event. Jane, the eldest of the Bennet girls, liked Charles Bingley, but the meeting between Darcy and Elizabeth would not be called pleasant.
The writer did not forget to write about how much both main characters of the novel, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, are interested in each other. Still, Darcy’s arrogance and pride and Elizabeth’s prejudice against his snobbery come to the fore in their communication. You will need to reveal this idea in your Pride and Prejudice literary analysis essay. Despite her daughters’ wishes, Mrs. Bennet continued to force Elizabeth to marry their cousin Collins, who was soon to come to them. The bottom line is that the elder sister Jane liked the wealthy heir of the Bingley name, and therefore, they wanted to pass off the next oldest daughter as a cousin.
It is easy to guess that Elizabeth would refuse her mother’s suggestion. After the rejection, Collin decided to marry Elizabeth’s best friend, Charlotte Lucas. Their union is called the most unpleasant of Austen’s creations. She showed how terrible society’s attitude towards women was. Charlotte did not love and did not consider her husband a good person and agreed to marry him because of the money and the absence of other suitors. She was six years older than Elizabeth, and in her opinion, this was the best way out.
Further, Mr. Darcy still falls in love with Elizabeth, who despises him, and her new friend Wickham only fuels this contempt. Therefore, Darcy persuades Mr. Bingley, who was already in love with Jane and wanted to marry her, to return to London. Yet later, Darcy proposes to Elizabeth, but she rejects him because he deprived her sister of happiness. A few months later, Lydia, the youngest Bennet, runs away with Wickham. Mr. Darcy saves the Bennets from disgrace, forcing Wickham to marry Lydia. Grateful, Elizabeth looks at Darcy from the other side and accepts his proposals a second time. In your assignment, you will need to reveal exactly how, in the end, Mr. Darcy’s pride and Elizabeth’s prejudice were nevertheless overcome at the end of the novel and thus describe the marriage in Pride and Prejudice essay.
Topics that can be covered in an essay on Pride and Prejudice
A Pride and Prejudice literary analysis essay should be done in any case, no matter what topic you want to cover, especially if you need to cover everything. Only a few main ones dominate the Jane Austen novel, and each of them is worthy of attention and reflection. If you are allowed to choose the topic that you will need to cover in your essay, you need to know what you will be able to explain in the best way.
Pride. Pride is a fundamental theme of the novel on which the storyline is based because the main characters’ every step was burdened with pride that hindered their happiness. To understand this more accurately, recall at least the moment Darcy proposed to Elizabeth for the first time, and he could not resist speaking about her family. Even at the most critical moments of their lives, the heroes could not leave their pride behind.
Prejudice. Prejudice is the next obstacle in the love story of the protagonists; for example, love was not so important when it came to status. That is why the Bingley sisters did not want him to marry Jane and forget about his passion. That is why Darcy did not back down from his attempts to show his superiority, even if it happens to the woman he loves.
Family. The theme of the family is always at the very center of events. How is it shown? According to their mother, the daughters of the Bennet family are in great need of their separate families. In addition, the characters are almost always connected by family ties, as Mr. Collins’ boss is Mr. Darcy’s aunt. Despite this, in your Pride and Prejudice analysis essay, you can describe how society underestimates family ties, which can be understood even by the inheritance law, which prevented the Bennet daughters from living in their home.
Women. In this novel, it is imperative to notice what role is assigned to women in the family and society. In the 19th century, it was unbearably difficult for women to influence their future and, in general, make any decisions. Women did not even have the right to own property, although they may remain homeless in this case. And it didn’t matter what family you were from; if you had only women left, you were in danger. Elizabeth was fortunate that her father allowed her not to marry Collins.
Marriage and lovе. Even though there were many descriptions of actions committed out of love in the novel, as well as love itself, there were quite a few in the families of the 19th century. For example, 27-year-old Charlotte married the nasty Collins, without hope that she should no longer hope for something better in her supposedly old years. And Lydia is forced to marry the evil drunkard Wickham to save the family from shame. In that era, love was not obligatory but more often rare in marriage, which is still found today.
Сlass in society. When Jane Austen wrote the book, nothing was unburdened with class. Using the example of the sisters of future husbands Elizabeth and Jane, you can see how they resisted being related to the poor and lower status Bennet family. They did not want to fall in their social status because of the simple daughters-in-law of their family. Still, on the contrary, they tried with all their might to communicate with topics that were higher in position because it was even more pleasant to be near them. And Lydia’s act would have stained the whole family, and her sisters would not have been able to marry their loved ones because society would not have accepted this.
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Easy writing tips for Pride and Prejudice essays
To make it easier for you to cope with the essay, you can use a few simple tips that make it easier for you to study.
- You should select the topic that interests you the most; for example, if you can’t stand proud people, be assertive and reveal it. The thing is that when we talk about what we like or care about, it is much easier for us to formulate our thoughts and turn them into a worthy thesis.
- Do not be distracted by other activities while busy with an essay.
- Do not stretch yourself; give yourself an exact amount of time, and then you will do it much faster.
- Focus on one thought and give it the proper amount of time; everything cannot be described in the length of an essay.
- Let the writing rest for a while, and then look at it again with fresh eyes.
If you cannot write an essay about “Pride and Prejudice” on your own right now, delegate it to a professional – perhaps this is the most critical piece of advice. When you don’t have the opportunity to write on your own, for your own reasons, you will be much more successful in the end if you delegate on time.
Write an essay on Pride and Prejudice by studying an example
Writing Pride and Prejudice essays is not so difficult if you have an example in front of you that you can look up to and even borrow an idea from that’s worth developing. Outstanding help in writing an essay means getting a sample from a professional author who has written papers on various topics more than once and knows exactly what will look decent and bring success. It is essential if you choose to follow suit to keep in mind the principles of job uniqueness. It is always easier to master writing if you look at the clues that an expert writer has left and get inspired by them.
Marriage in Pride and Prejudice
Victorian society imposed many restrictions on morality and human behavior. It was especially evident for women, whose moral image was the most critical aspect of their lives. As a result, women tried to correspond to the expectations of 19th-century English culture for a neutral attitude toward their surroundings, and marriage was one of the ways to satisfy social expectations. Jane Austen describes several marriages in Pride and Prejudice, which allows her to show different aspects of life in 19th-century society. The descriptions of marriage in Austen’s novel reflect popular perspectives on women’s position in Victorian society, class division, and views on the family as the social institution.
The topics of marriage in 19th-century England and social classes are interconnected. Belonging to a particular social class determined the appropriate conduct of the person, as well as life opportunities and interactions within the community. For instance, in the story, Mr. Darcy thinks that Elizabeth Bennet does not belong to his social class, making her the wrong person to marry even though he falls in love with her. Austen describes several times in the novel Elizabeth Bennet’s “fine eyes,” which is a part of why Mr. Darcy admires her regardless of his attempts to reject it. There is an conflict between Mr. Darcy’s desires and his actual actions due to the social inequality between him and Elizabeth.
The novel shows the courtship that precedes marriage, reflecting the assumptions surrounding marriage as a social institution in Victorian culture. In the 19th century, parents were obsessed with the need to find husbands for their daughters that would belong to a higher social and economic class or at least would be equal to them. A successful marriage was regarded as the most vital thing in a woman’s life; the emphasis was not on the happiness of spouses but on improving the position in society, status, and prosperity (Giles 76). The marriage between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet illustrates these principles, which is evident from the description of communication between them. There are no descriptions of passion or love in this couple. Instead, there are references to parents’ duty towards their daughters and spouses’ responsibilities towards each other (Austen). This example shows that people perceived marriage as an opportunity to improve their economic and social status, and rational concerns were more important than emotions.
The public attitudes to marriage in 19th-century England represent the views on the role of women in society. For example, Charlotte Lucas was not afraid to remain with an old maid even though she was 27 years old. When she received a marriage proposition from the man she did not love, she was satisfied and happy because it marked a new stage in her life and improved her social status (Moe 1075). It was not acceptable to be a single woman without a family in Victorian society, and all women had to fulfill their duty as wives and mothers.
Austen describes marriage as a rational decision in Pride and Prejudice. Marriages aggravated class division in Victorian society and made the gap between the aristocracy, middle-class people, and workers significant. Moreover, the author emphasizes the priority of reason over feelings in arranging marriages and perceiving the responsibilities of spouses. Even though Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth are in love with each other, their emotions are secondary in marriage descriptions and the ways people perceive families.
Works Cited
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Project Gutenberg, 1998. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1342/1342-h/1342-h.htm. Accessed 16 April 2022.
Giles, Heidi. “Resolving the Institution of Marriage in Eighteenth-Century Courtship Novels.” Rocky Mountain Review, vol. 66, no. 1, 2012, pp. 76–82.
Moe, Melina. “Charlotte and Elizabeth: Multiple Modernities in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.” ELH, vol. 83, no. 4, 2016, pp. 1075–103.
