Reflection： Pride and Prejudice

As Jane is invited to Mr. Bingley’s home, she is caught by rain, which is Mrs. Bennet’s plan. Then, she gets a severe cold, and then Mr. Bingley has to take care of her and keep her stay in his house. As soon as Elizabeth hears of that bad news, she can not ride so she walks to Mr. Bingley’s house in order to visit his sister. It takes three miles to his house, which is as long as one and a half laps of The National Palace Museum. It shows that her affection for Jane is more than other siblings to Jane. When their mom only cares a lot about whether Mr. Bingley has a crush on Jane, the merely sick is not a big deal. As I have mentioned before, nothing is more important than the marriage of her daughters.

While Elizabeth is living in Mr. Bingley’s house, she gets to know more about Mr.  Darcy who finds her more attractive than others. After reading to Chapter 13, I have perceived that Elizabeth is a girl who likes to straight talk without disguise and is full of critical thinking and humor from the conversation between Mr. Darcy and her. Although she thinks Mr. Darcy dislikes her, she is willing to understand him and also forgive and forget him. I think this is how a fine woman should act with great wisdom and art. Besides, she never shows off about herself, no matter how well-learned she is. Instead, she is humble and persevering.

On the other hand, Mr. Darcy is strangling his feelings to her, while Miss. Bingley is jealous of Elizabeth since she has a crush on Mr. Darcy. Is not it the way how Mr. Darcy protects Elizabeth from being teased by Miss Bingley? He even says something that complies with Miss. Bennet to avoid any resentment for Elizabeth. It depicts that actually Mr. Darcy is well-observed and can see people through perfectly rather than be indifferent and apathetic. Is it his pride to behave this way? However, the pride here may be inconsistent with what I have known. As Mr. Darcy has said “Where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good regulation.”, Elizabeth turns away to hide a smile and said, “I am perfectly convinced by it that Mr. Darcy has no defect. He owns it himself without disguise.”. What Mr. Darcy means may be that if there is a pearl of true wisdom in one’s mind, the pride is reasonable to be under it. I think it is another way of expressing the number of people who have read and are informed is little in that time so people with that ability may well feel proud. But he does admit that it is one of the weaknesses in humanity. Thus, in my opinion, the honesty to face himself and his authentic personality make him become flawless. Since he knows himself very well, he acts and behaves without pretense.

Their conversation makes me feel that being proud is not a bad thing if you are being true to yourself and being aware of your disadvantages in personality. Once you notice them, you won’t expose them with unconsciousness as Mr. Darcy says “But it has been the study of my life to avoid that weakness which often exposes a strong understanding to ridicule.”. This has gradually subverted my ideas and I can not wait to see what will happen between them.