Pride and Prejudice #2

In the last section of Pride and Prejudice Mr. Darby tells Elizabeth of his love for her, and the two struggle to deal with the revelation. It becomes clear that prejudice has complicated their relationship, and that pride has gotten in the way of the understanding of one another. In Mr. Darby's letter of explanation to Elizabeth, he reveals his reasoning for convincing Mr. Bingley to not marry Jane. He explains that he had prejudice against Jane because of her social class, and her often shameful family: "The situation of your mother's family, though objectionable, was nothing nothing in comparison to that total want of propriety so frequently, so almost uniformly betrayed by herself, by your three younger sisters, and occasionally even your father" (169). Mr. Darcy did not see Jane's familial and social standing to be fit to marry Mr. Bingley, and so he convinced his friend not to marry the beautiful girl. Mr. Darcy allowed his prejudice to cloud his judgment of Jane, and he ignored the fact that she herself was a lovely person. Because Jane was not outward and open about her fond feelings for Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy did not see an issue with convincing Bingley to give up on his relationship with Jane. In revealing his reasoning for breaking off the expected engagement of Bingley and Jane, Mr. Darcy indicates that he is greatly affected by prejudice.

In addition to Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth is greatly affected by the prejudice she has against others. Specifically, she allows her first interaction with Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Wickman's stories of the wealthy gentleman to affect her feelings towards Mr. Darcy, and she develops prejudice against him. After Elizabeth reads Mr. Darby's letter, she realizes that her opinion of him is unjust and inaccurate: "How despicably have I acted!" (177). Elizabeth has a preconceived opinion of Mr. Darby before she gets to know him, and does not allow any of his actions to change her opinion of him. She acts aggressively  towards Darby and completely rejects his love because of her prejudice, clearly displaying the affect prejudice has on her behavior.