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Themes are the big ideas that run through the entire novel. AQA expects you to track these themes across the text and connect them to context. This lesson covers three closely linked themes: pride, prejudice, and first impressions.
Pride is one of the novel's two title themes, and Austen presents it as a complex, multifaceted quality — not simply a vice.
| Character | Type of pride | How it manifests |
|---|---|---|
| Darcy | Social pride / class consciousness | His insulting first proposal; his aloofness at the ball |
| Elizabeth | Pride in her own judgement | Her refusal to reconsider her opinion of Darcy |
| Lady Catherine | Pride of rank | Her demand that Elizabeth refuse Darcy |
| Mr Collins | Reflected pride (from Lady Catherine) | His constant boasting about his patroness |
| Mrs Bennet | Maternal pride | Her boasting about her daughters' marriages |
| Lydia | Self-centred pride | Her refusal to feel shame after the elopement |
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