Pride and Prejudice is a novel that applies to many literary audiences across many centuries. This novel, in many ways, is a social commentary on good manners. The emotion “pride” is one of the greatest themes of this nineteenth-century novel. Austen uses pride in this novel to demonstrate how this emotion can cloud people's judgment causing them not to see the truth. The main characters Elizabeth and Darcy both display a pride throughout the novel that delays their true love for each other. In terms of the novel's reception, the responses to Austen from both the public and critics of the Romantic period were phenomenal. However, could these ideas in the novel apply to early Renaissance audiences? More likely. This period was notable for its reinvention in the realms of philosophy, religion, and education. Also known as the “Early Modern Period,” texts from this period aimed to make readers understand what it meant to achieve and maintain social and educational power. While audiences of the Romantic period were challenged, yet fascinated by the pride that once plagued and possessed both Elizabeth and Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, this novel's theme that pride is a negative human emotion could be easily identifiable as well with early Renaissance audiences. plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Although Pride and Prejudice is a story originally published during the Romantic period, the story is actually not an actual representation of Romantic literature. For the purposes of this essay, it is imperative to study the publication period of this novel as it helped launch Pride and Prejudice to fame. This story was published in 1813 during the Romantic period from 1785 to 1832 (Lynch & Stillinger). His novel is a conglomerate of numerous narrative genre conventions all involving pride. In some respects, Austen's realist novel contains elements of a comedy, bildungsroman, or romance. Lucy Sheehan states that “the realist novel, defined by its supposedly objective narrator, psychologically developed characters, and meticulous description of the realities of domestic life […] would come to dominate the literary scene in England throughout the rest of the nineteenth century. " (Sheehan) thus stating that this novel has significant historical significance for its time period. The presence of pride in the story helped establish these famous characters throughout Romantic society and serve its purpose. Everett Zimmerman states that " the title is a reference to Darcy's pride, which leads him to reject Elizabeth and her family" (Zimmerman 64) and this helps make the connection that pride is a motif in the novel. The Romantic audience is then reminded that pride is a bad quality to possess as it drove away some of the main characters in the story Eventually the Romantic period hosted this novel which illustrated proud people in a troubling light. Examining the instances of pride in the plot of the story can help demonstrate the theme of pride simultaneously within the romantic and early renaissance audiences Darcy and Elizabeth are the two main characters who show the most pride in the novel. Depictions of their pride demonstrate to the audience how pride can deceive people and even make them act in ways they shouldn't be. Keith Oatley states that pride is a great foundation of this story as “Both areinvolved in their own pride, and from their 'first impressions' both are involved in prejudice about the other" and these two emotions give rise to the title of the story. (Oatley). Austen's definition of pride conveys a deep satisfaction with one's achievements Darcy displays pride towards his wealth and social rank which makes him despise people he is not familiar with Meanwhile, Elizabeth is so proud to analyze/judge others as she is unable to reevaluate his initial opinions towards them. by Darcy. Mary provides a powerful commentary and acknowledges the presence of pride in history and society when she states: “Pride… is a very common failure, I think, from everything I have read, I am convinced that it really is very common; that human nature is peculiarly prone to it, and that there are very few among us who do not cherish a feeling of self-satisfaction regarding this or that quality, real or imaginary.” (Austen 58). Mary's speech is a significant part of the novel because it reveals how human emotions of pride are somehow inevitable, yet common. Austen wants the audience to understand that no one is ever free from pride, but infers that if anyone can be raised with good manners, proud actions will be few. Austen's negative depictions of pride ultimately serve as a symbol of human flaws in Romantic and early Renaissance societies. The period in which Pride and Prejudice was written was known for the reform of social mobility and technical industries. In the Romantic period many social systems depended on the success of the Enlightenment period. Many of the works from this period include characters ascending in terms of social mobility (White). Elizabeth is a perfect example because her marriage to Darcy helps re-establish the Bennet surname among the people of her community. The Early Renaissance period has some similarities to the Romantic period. First, the two periods valorize social mobility as a key component of society. Both periods value self-improvement as the course of a story progresses. To better understand the qualities that make up the Early Renaissance period, it is necessary now to further examine information from that time period dating back to the 14th century to further demonstrate the idea that pride would be considered a bad quality to possess. .The (Early) Renaissance has been coined as a period of “rebirth”. This revival of classical ideas began in Italy around the 14th century and spread to northern Europe by the mid-17th century, around the same time that the Romantic spirit was born. Two major themes of this period included the philosophy of humanism and the Protestant Reformation. People of this time emulated famous ancient philosophers, similar to how the Romantics appreciated the Enlightenment. Katherine Cleland stated that this early modern period strove to "improve humanity through its own actions" (Cleland). This time period also had technological innovations that led them to better understand the human body, the solar system, and the printing press. The Great Reformation led humans to appreciate the ideas of human pleasure and the belief that humans are intrinsically good (Cleland). Knowing this, it justifies the statement made earlier that pride is a negative human emotion because good people do not possess pride. Some of the respectable texts from the early Renaissance include The Prince, The Courtier, and Utopia. What all these works have in common with each other is the idea of ​​how a person can contribute to society and create the best version ofitself. Professor Cleland also stated that the works of this period were "intellectual exercises" that made audiences think long and hard (Cleland). This literary purpose in this time frame is similar to how the Romantics made literature include intellect and perception to convince audiences to use the voice of reason. Having the voice of reason can be helpful when analyzing and understanding the pride of Pride and Prejudice. All in all, the Early Renaissance period was a time when humans wanted to test their cognitive abilities. This newfound knowledge achieved by the men of the Early Renaissance would be applied to further literary periods up until the Romantic period. Early Renaissance audiences valued logic and reasoning when writing and reading texts. Therefore, these values ​​could apply to reading Jane Austen's famous novel. For example, when Darcy boasts of being a man of distinction and good taste when he says, “A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and modern languages, to deserve speech; and in addition to all this, he must possess a certain something in his air and manner of walk, tone of voice, manner of speaking and expressions, otherwise the word will be only half deserved. (Austen 76). Darcy wanted his ideal woman to be educated in all aspects of life. He wants his wife to possess an early Renaissance quality called “sprezzatura” which originates from the Book of the Courtier of Castiglione. Sprezzatura is the act of making difficult things seem easy (“Castiglione sulla Sprezzatura”). While early Renaissance audiences would have praised Austen for using this Castiglione term, they would have criticized Austen for Darcy's obsession with unspiritual love. Sarah Emsely agrees with Darcy's obnoxious behavior when she states, "Darcy's manner, on the other hand, convinces many that he was guilty of pride, conceit, and perhaps even short temper" (Emsely). In humanist philosophy (during the Renaissance) men would aspire to spiritual love in view of his marriage proposal and his change of behavior, the excessive confidence shown by Darcy in the story would also be criticized by the premiere audience. modern age because he believed that overconfidence was associated with Machiavelli's Prince and that it was a controversial text. For Elizabeth, she and her sister Jane are favored by Mr. Bennet because they are already intelligent people (Knapp). , Elizabeth realizes that she is capable of judging people by her first impression. However, her pride compromises her judgment when she befriends Wickham and develops her own bad opinions about Darcy based on what he has told her. After Darcy's proposal, in which Elizabeth attacks his pride, she begins to realize that she has accused him of this crime she also committed. Once Elizabeth begins to reread Darcy's letter more and more, she has a change of heart and a revelation of character. Elizabeth finally begins to understand the light of her ways as she exclaims, “How despicably I have behaved! I, who boasted of my discernment! I valued myself for my abilities! that I have often disdained my sister's generous candour, and gratified my vanity with useless or blameworthy distrust! How humbling this discovery is! I had never known myself until this moment." (Austen 226-227). Elizabeth would have been seen as a woman who uses herself as a “vessel of admiration” due to her Neoplatonist-like actions. Submitting to love, early Renaissance audiences would have admired her because. 2016.