On the surface, Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice tells the story of how three of five daughters in a family living in early England 19th century get engaged to get married. The story's underlying themes, however, reveal a message about growing up and people's judgments based on outward appearances, behavior, or second-hand information from another person. The title of the novel proves extremely apt, as Elizabeth, the main protagonist, learns that too much pride, along with many unwarranted prejudices, ends up ignoring who a person really is and makes them incapable of finding true love. .Elizabeth is introduced as the second eldest and prettiest of the five Bennet girls. Near the beginning of the novel, the Bennet girls attend a ball in Netherfield in the hopes of finding a man whom they might perhaps end up marrying. At this ball, Elizabeth is briefly introduced to a man named Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy is a rich and proud man who is misunderstood by the main characters for most of the novel. After getting acquainted, Elizabeth uses her first impressions and opinions gleaned from others to form her own opinion of Mr. Darcy as a proud, pretentious snob with whom she wants nothing to do. Elizabeth cites his arrogance as Mr. Darcy's major flaw after others influence his opinions. One of Elizabeth's closest friends said of Darcy: “Please don't put it into Lizzy's head to be upset by such ill treatment; for he is such an unpleasant man that it would be quite a misfortune to be loved by him” (p. 18). This statement shows that Elizabeth was influenced by others to have negative opinions about Darcy, without taking the time to know him herself. One of...... middle of paper...... A person can be proud without being conceited. Pride has more to do with our opinion of ourselves, vanity has more to do with what we would like others to think of us” (p. 19). At the end of the novel, Elizabeth learns that having these prejudices against Darcy for a simple character trait, vanity (in which she contained herself ironically) was wrong, especially since it was not based on direct experience. Through Elizabeth, Austen conveys the message that first impressions and judgments can quickly form false prejudices and uses the title Pride and Prejudice to support this message. Work Cited Austen, Jane Pride and Prejudice Ed. Donald Norton Critical Editions., 2002.