傲慢与偏见

Pride and Prejudice is a novel written by Jane Austen. This novel describes the five daughters of the young squire Bennett, the second daughter Elizabeth is the protagonist. She met Darcy at a dancing party, and Darcy fell in love with her at the first sight. However, they had much trouble during the process of falling in love with each other and getting married for the pride and prejudice against they two.
This novel shows the different attitudes of girls from middle class families in villages and towns on marriage and love, thus reflecting the author's own view on marriage: it is wrong to marry for property, money and status; but it would be foolish to leave all this out of marriage. She stresses the importance of an ideal marriage and takes the feelings of both men and women as the cornerstone of an ideal marriage. Elizabeth, who comes from a family of small landowners, is loved by Darcy, a son of the rich. In spite of the distance between family and wealth, Darcy proposed to her but was rejected. Elizabeth's misunderstanding and prejudice against him was one reason, but mostly she hated his arrogance. Darcy’s arrogance is actually a reflection of status differences. As long as this arrogance exists, there can be no common feelings between Darcy and Elizabeth. Later, Elizabeth witnessed Darcy’s behavior and actions, especially saw that he changed his proud and arrogant demeanor. She cleared away the misunderstanding and prejudice, and married him. Elizabeth's different attitude towards Darcy’s proposals actually reflects women's pursuit of personal independence and equal rights.
This novel vividly reflects the life and customs of British towns and villages in a conservative and closed state from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century. I think we can still learn a lot of useful concept about life and marriage from this novel today.