Comparison Of Social Classes In Pride And Prejudice By Jane Austen

In Pride and Prejudice, social classes divided the country of England into wealthy and poor, and each class was to abide by certain social rules. Usually, the poor and the wealthy were not meant to intertwine in marriage but they could speak and dance at balls that were hosted. In the famous English romance novel by Jane Austen, five girls must marry off before their father dies and lose their house to their cousin, Mr. Collins. The plot of the novel is set between the second-born daughter, Elizabeth Bennet and a wealthy man by the name of Mr. Darcy. Both of them come off as prejudicial to each other at the beginning, with Mr. Darcy telling Mr. Bingley that he won’t dance with a woman that has been eyed by another man. The social classes managed to make a first impression, reputation, and wealth.

Darcy first arrived at Netherfield, he and Mr. Bingley gave off a first impression in Meryton, Hertfordshire, England. Mr. Bingley came off as a nice man in search of a good time and a woman and Mr. Darcy came off as a proud man that did not want to be there. These first impression gave way for the middle-class Bennet girls to speculate on how good the men of the upper-class were and their first impressions were that they only cared about their pride and not about love. These impressions set off the stage for the characters’ relationship and their growth. Jane Austen originally wanted to name the novel First Impressions before setting for Pride and Prejudice, which just goes to show that the first time they saw each other was just as important as their thoughts as well as the reputation and wealth that her admirer had. Jane Austen writes these characters with flaws that they themselves don’t realize until the very ending of the novel. But in the world of Pride and Prejudice, first impressions aren’t the only thing dividing classes, as reputation plays a major role as