Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Title "First Impressions"
This novel was originally entitled “First Impressions”. Are first impression always true? What role do first impressions play in the story line? Which characters eventually learn from their previous prejudices and which characters don't? What first impressions did you have about the characters? Use textual evidence that supports your opinion.
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Clearly, from the plot in this novel, first impressions are not always true. For the obvious example, Elizabeth's first impression of Darcy was that he was stuck-up and too proud to have any interest in. However, her first impressions drastically oppose her sentiments towards him when she ends up falling in love with him at the end of the novel. Clearly her first impression was overtly different then he perception of him at the end of the novel.
ReplyDeleteFirst impressions play a key role in the plot because they shape the pivotal scenes in the novel. For example, again, Elizabeth can't love Mr. Darcy because of her own prejudices against him. If she would have had no prejudices in the first place, then she might have married him the first time her proposed and the plot would be something completely different.
In the case of Mr. Wickham, Elizabeth learns from her previous prejudices when she mitigated her admiration of him upon learning about his true past. Lydia, however, can never come to this conclusion. She defines a character for someone and then that is her only view of that person. She adores Wickham from the very start, and even when he doesn't seem to adore her as much as she adores him and has bad habits such as gambling, she doesn't change her opinion.
I think that more often then not, my first impressions were very similar to Elizabeth's. I thought that Mr. Darcy was very stand offish, Bingley was very outgoing and kind, Mr. Wickham was a charmer and that Mr. Collins was a total officious creep who apologized too much.
The quote I used in the first paragraph of my reply is from page 110.
ReplyDeleteIn Response to Eva:
ReplyDeleteI agree with your asessment of the relationship of Elizabeth and Darcy and their incorrect first impressions of one another, while it was evident from the beginning that despite her lack of stature he "liked her against his will", their initial thoughts of one another were quite incorrect.
However, with the case of Mr.Wickham do you believe that Lydia really did not see through him at some point and want so desperately to have a husband that she would have ignored any way that he treated her as long as it ended in nuptuals? I'm not certain but I do wonder.
In response to when Alexis said,
ReplyDelete“However, with the case of Mr.Wickham do you believe that Lydia really did not see through him at some point and want so desperately to have a husband that she would have ignored any way that he treated her as long as it ended in nuptuals? I'm not certain but I do wonder.”
I don’t think that Lydia ever saw through Wickham’s character to see that he just wants money and not marriage, or that he married her for money. Lydia is a ditz and desperately wanted to get married regardless of which man she did marry, it just happened to be Wickham. When Lydia came back to Longbourn after her marriage, she was very rude to Jane and said, “Ah! Jane, I take your place now, and you must go lower, because I am a married woman” (vol. III, IX, 300). Lydia only wanted to be the first sister married, and she did anything to achieve that goal.
And to circle back up to first impressions, I agree with what Eva said about Elizabeth’s prejudices about Darcy. If she didn’t have them then they would have been married after his first proposal; and of course that would have made for a very boring and short book.
In response to what Devon said: "Lydia is a ditz and desperately wanted to get married regardless of which man she did marry, it just happened to be Wickham."
ReplyDeleteI don't think Lydia would have married anyone just because she wanted superiority over her sisters. If Mr. Collins were to propose to her, I'm sure she would have rejected him because she's superficial and selects her love interests based on outer appearances. Wickham seemed like an ideal mate because he's cute and charming (which is basically all Lydia looks for in a guy).
However, I do agree with Devon's assumption that Lydia wanted to be the first sister married to show that she is "grown-up." Immediately, it is clear that Lydia is always trying to compensate for her young age by attempting to act mature even though it just makes her look even more immature: "'Oh!' said Lydia stoutly, 'I am not afraid; for though I am the youngest, I'm the tallest.'" (vol. I, II, 10).
Its clear that first impressions are not always true. Especially in the context of Pride and Prejudice. I can clearly see why Jane Austen wanted to title this novel First Impressions at first because they are a main feature to the story. Most of the main characters appear like someone who they are truly not the first time we meet them. Darcy appears to be the biggest snob at first, in the ball room. He seems arrogant and states that Elizabeth is mediocre at best, basically because she was a different class status. Maybe he had a change of heart or maybe he was always this way, but Darcy eventually realizes that Elizabeth is perfect for him even the difference in classes.
ReplyDeleteAnother character who's first impression is quite different from reality is Mr. Wickham. He has a very charming personality and fools most of the Bennet sisters. Wickham is man who can easily get the woman he wants but he chooses to use this ability to get at their money over love. Elizabeth's realization of Wickham's charcter shocked her as her first impression of him was quite different.
I believe that Austen's point was that although first impressions aren't true to who a character is they do clearly affect the social inturpretation of the characters in the story and how other characters interact with one another.
ReplyDeleteAlso to further reply, Kim I really don't agree with your analysis of Lydia. I think her character was meant to represent just what she was, a young, silly girl who just wanted to flirt. For her there wasn't honor yet in the world and surly nothing more important yet than her own happiness. I dont think she saw further than simply kissing a boy and had no idea as to what she wanted ten years down the road.
Pride and Prejudice is a great example of how first impressions can be completely false. This is first seen between Darcy and Elizabeth. Darcy begins by saying Elizabeth is “tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me…”(Vol.I.iii.13) and Elizabeth perceives Darcy as being overall arrogant and too proud at first glance but at the end of the book she “envied every one to whom he spoke” (Vol.III.xii.322). Clearly, these perceptions are not upheld through the rest of the book because in the end Darcy and Elizabeth end up being engaged. Darcy and Elizabeth are a great example of how first impressions are sometimes false; they are also two characters that get over their prejudices and in Darcy’s case his pride. This couple would be an example of how first impressions can be wrong but in the case of Jane and Bingley the opposite could be said. Unlike, Darcy and Elizabeth, Jane and Bingley had positive first impressions that are kept till the end of the book. I found that my first impressions matched those of the characters. Austen’s succeeded in making these first impressions realistic because they matched what the reader first thought also.
ReplyDeleteThe use of first impressions in this book causes basically the whole conflict of the story and first impressions are also a huge part of creating themes like pride and prejudice, marriage and many more. I think first impressions are what causes the book to seem like it slowly leads to a climax or end for that matter. This is because of the fact that the characters take such a long time to get past their first impressions that it causes the relationships to take a lot longer to form and fully develop therefore causing the events in the book to take a lot longer to occur.
In response to Kim's response, I do believe that Lydia would have married Wickham in order to attain superiority over her siblings and thus agree with Devon. This is apparent from her being the youngest of the Bennet daughters and because of her characteristic of being a flirt. Consider the idea for a moment why she always flirted with the young men that she encountered. More than likely, she flirted with the young eligible men because she was young and as Kim stated, "wanted to be the first sister married", but I find it to be that she wanted to be the first for a particular reason. By being the first to be married, she would receive the most adoration from her family since marriage was considered so important to be married and in doing so, she would be shunning her sisters. Therefore, she flirted with the young men in order to find a person suitable to be her husband. However, it is to Lydia's disappointment in the end considering that she, while she could move to the front of the line, she was still shunned by her family for breaking conduct. This is why I disagree with Kim because Lydia married in order become better as first perceived in the novel in how the majority of times she is mentioned she is flirting with someone and it was to find a husband to gain superiority.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Morgan. In this book, and in life, a first impression can dictate everything about the relationship between two or more people. It can make it easier or harder for the parties to see the other's good or favorable qualities (example the way Elizabeth views Darcy's personality). The same is true for their bad qualities (example the way Elizabeth views Wickham's personality).
ReplyDeleteIt is clear from the end of the novel that first impressions are not always true. Elizabeth would be the prime example of someone taken in by her first impressions and proved wrong.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth tells Darcy that he was "the last man in the world whom [she] could ever be prevailed on to marry," (II, xi, 188). This is obviously false because she ends up falling madly in love with him and they are married. Another character whom Elizabeth misjudges is Wickham. Upon first meeting him, Elizabeth finds Wickham to be a charming young fellow and immediatly believes his word over Darcy's. This proves to have been a mistake as Lydia runs off with Wickham with the intention of eloping with him. Wickham however had no such plans and was just jusing Lydia. Elizabeth learns from this that she should not always trust her first impressions of people and take the time to learn their character.
Lydia on the other hand did not learn such a lesson. Lydia's first impression of Wickham is also that he is a very good looking and charming young man. she is taken in by this false pretense and runs off to elope with him. Lydia has not yet come to terms and believes she and Wickham are happy and in love after they are married.She writes to Elizabeth upon hearing of her engagement saying "if you love your Darcy half as well as I do my dear Wickham, you must be very happy," (III,xix, 365). She is still in denial as to Wickham's true character and believes that she is happy with him when in actuality she is just a young and naive young girl content with currently being married but grows tired of him soon and wishes to move on.
In response to Eva:
ReplyDeleteClearly, first impressions are not always correct and Austen highlights in that fact. For instance, when Elizabeth initially thinks that Darcy is a bad guy, then she thinks otherwise, then she thinks so again. Austen is basically saying that you shouldn't make a first impression. You need to try to somehow let the biases and "prejudices" that you initially have out the window especially when finding love. If Elizabeth had still let her preconceived notions about Darcy influence her she would've never found love.
In response to Shaina:
ReplyDeleteIt seems as though sometimes first impressions can become the only impression that we have of a person. As we get to know a person, it doesn't always mean we get to know who they truly are, but rather that first impression being an illusion on how that person really is. It sticks with us and in some ways we are too stubborn to change it, working on a subconscious level.
I do not believe that the first impressions in Pride and Prejudice are always true. When Elizabeth first meets Darcy she hate him in a sense. But when she meets Wickham, it is almost the complete opposite. The simple fact that these two situations happen to the same character shows how important first impressions can be but how they don't have to be either. My first impressions where that Lydia is not the smartest of the bunch because she is only flirting and doesn't care much about anything else. Lizzy learns from her previous prejudices that Wickham is not the man she thought she was falling in love with.
ReplyDelete