Other Possible Topics For The Essay

- The relationship between the sisters in Mr. Bennet’s family

Jane and Elizabeth are very close to each other than to the other sisters. they rely on each other in hard times and they share secretes. This is quite strange because they don’t really have much in common.
Lydia and Kitty are very close as well. Lydia influences Kitty a lot because Kitty learns everything from her sister. Their attention to the military officers is one of the similarities that they have.
Mary is the outsider of the whole family. She doesn’t talk much with others.

- Mr. Bennet's role in the family

- Mr.Bennet and Mrs. Bennet's relationship

- Mr. Bingley's gullibility

Pride + Prejudice < Love

In Pride and Prejudice, Darcy is the character that represents Pride and Elizabeth is the one that symbolizes prejudice. Those are very strong characteristics that they have at the beginning of the book. However, those characteristics diminish as Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth feel the affection towards one another.

-Mr. Darcy does not show much pride when he proposes to Elizabeth. According to his previous actions or attitudes, he would give her up since she refused him once, but he does the opposite.

-Despite the prejudice Elizabeth had against Mr. Darcy, she falls in love with him at the end. She realizes that she was wrong about Mr. Darcy and changes her attitude from cynical to moderately positive.

-They show a more maturity when treating each other.

Mr. Darcy's Change

Mr. Darcy appears to be very dull and indifferent in the beginning of Pride and Prejudice. He is not quite amiable and hard to approach. His attitude changes a lot through out the story. He becomes more expressive and active as he realizes his affection for Elizabeth.

He changes from :
"She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me." (Mr Darcy Ch. 3)
to :
"Your conjecture is totally wrong, I assure you. My mind was more agreeably engaged. I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow." (Mr Darcy Ch. 6)

Love VS Money

There are several types of marriage in Pride and Prejudice. Not all of them are involving love between those getting married.
-Charlotte marries Mr. Collins because of his wealth.
"I am not romantic, you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins's character, connections, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness wiht him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state." (95)

- The marriage of Mr. Wickham and Lydia also involves wealth.

"...there will be some little money,even when all his debts are discharged, to settle on my niece, in addition to her own fortune." (225)

Money is the obstacle in some occasions.

- Relationship between Mr.Bingley and Jane broke mostly becasue Jane was not rich enough.

- Lady Catherine de Bourgh does not want Elizabeth to marry Mr. Darcy because she is not suitable in terms of her wealth and social status.

The Movie

In the film Pride and Prejudice, some scenes show the characters unconsciously representing themselves. The composition of the scene helps the understanding of this.


Mr. Collins is a very awkward person This is shown in the screenshot by his facial expression and the way he is holding his books. He does not look comfortable at all with his hands. The color of his clothes makes him a less important character since his monotone clothes are being contrasted with the bright colors in the background.


Mr.Bennet is not of great importance in his family. Even as the only male in the family, his influence is minimal. The scene shows his failure try to call a waiter. This shows his insignificance and powerlessness in the situation. His attept to remain noble is also shown in the scene.


Caroline Bingley is a very arrogant lady who considers herself to be superior to the others in town. There is a contrast between her and Darcy who show completely different reactions to Elizabeth’s visit.


Mrs. Bennet and the three sisters in visiting the Bingleys clearly shows their personality with simple actions. One can tell the personality of each one of them looking at their facial expressions. The use of different colors distinguishes Mary from the other girls who are lighthearted and happy whereas she is gloomy which is reflected in the color of clothes they wear.

Miss Bennet, Miss Bennet, And Uhh.... Miss Bennet

My Favorite scene from the movie! It totally shows Caroline Bingley's character.

Too Much Intruding

As Mr. Bingley and his party departs from Netherfield, Jane receives a letter from Caroline informing her that they would never be back and that Mr. Bingley is to marry Mr. Darcy’s sister. Though Jane believes what the letter states completely, Elizabeth suspects it to not be true. How Caroline gave Jane such a good impression to make her believe that “Caroline is incapable of willfully deceiving any one” (91) while seeming deceitful to Elizabeth is quite amusing. Elizabeth’s interpretation of the letter is much more probable she has observed the Bingleys from a more objective eye. She is absolutely certain that “Miss Bingley sees that her brother is in love with you [Jane], and wants him to marry Miss Darcy…..and tries to persuade you that he does not care about you. (90) Judging from what Elizabeth says, Mr. Bingley should be a man with no control over his own affairs. Miss Bingley can manipulate him regardless of his opinions This may represent the powerlessness of men in Pride and Prejudice which has been mentioned at the very beginning of the book.
Jane is such a good natured girl that she doesn’t even complain of her situation. Elizabeth almost scolds her for being so foolish. She sees her sister thinking “misery of disobliging his two sisters is more than equivalent to the happiness of being his wife” (91) Miss Bingley tries to take over the situation and control it and both Mr. Bingley and Jane follow along. It is as if Caroline has power over their relationship. Her opinion is what matters, not theirs. Elizabeth is the only one that stops, or at least tries to stop, the situation from going that way. She serves as an opponent to Caroline.

Prejudice

Elizabeth, having a bad impression of Mr. Darcy, continues to believe all the things said about him in her conversation with Mr. Wickham. Jane's effort to dissuade her has no significant effect on her. Elizabeth certainly believes "Mr. Bingley's being imposed on than that Mr. Wickham should invent such a history of himself as he gave me [her] ...If it be not so let Mr. Darcy contradict it" (65) She suspects the view that Mr. Darcy's closest acquaintance has of him now just because of a story a stranger tells.

This makes me believe even more that Elizabeth is demonstrating prejudice. In the ball, she shows much contempt to Darcy that when she was to dance with him she find is to be a misfortune to "find a man agreeable whom one is determined to hate" (68). She doesn’t even try to see a different aspect from him. She has a settled image of Mr. Darcy that would not change whatsoever. It’s quite ironic when Elizabeth asks Mr. Darcy if he "never allow[s] yourself [himself] to be blinded by prejudice" and says "It is particularly incumbent on those who never change their opinion tone secure of judging properly at first" (71). What she describes reflects her own behavior.

Elizabeth trusts Mr. Wickham almost unconditionally and defends him in any occasion he is offended by someone else. I think this comes from him being the one who identifies with her hatred towards Mr. Darcy. Knowing that she has someone by her side makes her justify her thoughts which otherwise she would know it is wrong.

Vanity and Pride

Jane Austen clearly states the difference between vanity and pride in Pride and Prejudice. She not only describes it in words directly, but also shows it through the characters. A character that represents pride is Mr. Darcy (this is pretty obvious). Other characters see him as a pride disagreeable man. His indifference to this view also implies his pride. Miss Bingley exemplifies vanity which she shows through her actions. She cares much about her status and is reserved to act according to it. They both certainly show some self-complacency but there is a distinction between the two of them.

In other’s eyes “Mr. Darcy has no defect. He owns it himself without disguise.” (43) But his belief is that “I [he] have [has] faults enough, but they are not … of understanding.” (43) Even though he is admitting his faults, this shows his pride because he also states that he does not have a type of fault. Mr. Darcy criticizes others for their faults and this comes from the belief that he does not have such faults. He says “Nothing is more deceitful … than the appearance of humility” (35) to Darcy when they talk about his writing skills. This demonstrates well how Mr. Darcy thinks about himself highly. He does not care about how others see him but only cares of his own thoughts.

Miss Bingley is very different from Mr. Darcy. She acts in certain ways to show it off to the others. When her family, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth are all present, she acts very polite, “elegant, and she walked[s] well.” (41) which she intended to show to Mr. Darcy. She expects to have the attention of the people when she acts a certain way. When Elizabeth receives the attention instead of her she is vexed enough “to be jealous” (38) She is a woman who cares much about what others think of her. This makes her the perfect example of a person with vanity.

In the contrast between Mr. Darcy and Miss Bingley, it’s easier to understand the difference between Pride and Vanity. It adds to the explanation that she gives previously.

Prejudice

In chapter sixteen there is a part where Elizabeth and Mr. Wickham talk about Mr. Darcy’s past. This demonstrates Elizabeth’s interest in Mr. Darcy because “was very willing to hear him,…, the history of his acquaintance with Mr. Darcy” (58) She “found the interest of the subject increase” (59) as Mr. Wickham mentioned him in their conversation. They basically talk bad about every single aspect of Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth finds it fascinating to hear the stories and it grows her hatred towards him.

I see a contrast between Elizabeth and Jane for Jane only speaks of the goodness of people while here Elizabeth criticizes Mr. Darcy from things that she hears. She is judging Mr. Darcy based on something that she did not experience herself. I think Jane Austen uses this conversation to serve as a demonstration of Prejudice. Her asking “What sort of a girl is Miss Darcy?” (62) to Mr. Wickham is the main reason why I think of this. She judges her even without meeting her in person.

Mrs.Bennet in Real Life

How would a mother like Mrs. Bennet be in real life? This question came to my mind when I started reading the part where Mrs. Bennet visits Mr. Bingley to check on her sick daughter. In real life, settled marriages are pretty rare so if a mother like her existed in real life she would be imposing something else on her children. The most common thing would be the academics.

Question: What are you expectations of Jane?

Mrs. Bennet: Well, all I want is for her to marry Mr. Bingley. I mean, he’s the perfect husband. He is an agreeable man, he has money and I think he is interested in Jane. He

(Jane is a smart girl. She has to get ready for college now. She should go to MIT and major in engineering and become an engineer. I’m sure she can make it because she’s got good grades and has several awards from contests. She has to follow these steps.)

Question: What does Jane think about this?

Mrs. Bennet: She seems to like Mr. Bingley. So, I don’t think she’d be opposing my idea. There is nothing to lose. She would be more than glad to do as I wish.

(Well, she never told me that she wanted to study something else or that she didn’t want to study engineering in MIT so I believe she is okay with it. She’s got no choice anyways because I prepared her for MIT and didn’t even think of other schools, so even if she doesn’t want it she has to go there.)

Getting Started

The first few chapters of Pride and Prejudice serve almost like an introduction to the story. Jane Austen focuses on introducing the characters and explaining what the story is about in those chapters. The book starts out saying “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” (1) This pretty much states what the story will be about because all that happens in the story is based on this belief. There, in the very first page, I can already have an idea of what the book is about.

One thing that I found interesting in Pride and Prejudice is that everything is quite straightforward. In chapter five, Mary explains Pride as a “feeling of self-complacency” (14) and says that “A person may be pride without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourself, vanity to what we would have others think of us.” (14) This tells the reader how the word Pride is used in the story which could have been vague otherwise.

Unlike in other books where I would have to infer the personality of a character through his or her actions, in Pride and Prejudice the characters are described with much detail. Mr. Bennet is described to be “so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice” (3) Mrs. Bennet is described as a “woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper” (3) All other characters are described in the same way. While reading the first few chapters, what I felt was that events and conversations took place for the sake of introducing the characters. I thought of this because description of characters followed a dialog or a incident where the described character is mainly involved in.

Unlike many of my classmates who are already familiar with the story, I am completely new to this subject. I’ve heard the title Pride and Prejudice many times but I never got to read or watch it. I never thought it would be that interesting or that good. My first impression of the book is that it's different from other books that I read before. The idea of having women be in power really surprises me.

The End And A New Start

"the rest is silence." (V, ii, 384) This phrase pretty much represents the ending of Hamlet. The King, the queen, Hamlet and Laertes all end up dead. With all the ones involved in the conflict dead, everything is just over. There's no more to happen and the only thing left is the story which Horatio is to spread.
In the scene where the king,queen, Laertes and Hamlet all die, all of them die for their own fault. The king and Laertes fell into their own trap. The poison, that they intended to kill Hamlet with, in the end killed them. "The foul practice hath turned itself on me." (V, ii, 336-7) Laertes realizes that only when he is already dying. The death of the king more obviously shows that somewhat deserved to die. "He is justly serve. It is a poison tempered by hiself." (V, ii, 248-9) Laertes and Claudius can not blame any other man for their death. I think it is fair enough to say that their death was just.
The death of the queen is slightly different. The queen drank the poisoned drink and died when, for the first time, she disobeyed the order of the king. Her first act of resistance led her to death, which implys that her obedience is probably what kept her alive until then.
But Hamlet is the "victim" in this situation. He too fell into the trap that Claudius and Laertes set up. It was an die-or-die situation for him. There was no way that he would have prevented dying. However, this is not only because of those two who planned the killing but also because of Hamlet himself. His erratic, almost insane, actions and his indecisiveness is what caused the whole mass murder to happen.
After Hamlet(and everyone else)'s death, Fortinbras takes over Denmark. Fortinbras is a person who has been juxtaposed to Hamlet a few times throughout the play. Thus, his taking over of Denmark can be seen as a extention of Hamlet's life. One can see Hamlet through Fortinbras who is the king of Denmark now. Hamlet's death is the end to the story but then it indicates a new beginning through the character Fortinbras.

From A Point of View

Unconscious
Freud talks about our dream which is something that happens in an unconscious state. We have no control of our thoughts or action in this state. Thus, it is easier for a study to be done on the subject dream and generalizations to be made.

Desire
Freud claims that the death of a close person shows an oculted desire of the dreamer (which even he or she may not have thought of having) to have that person dead in real life. In general, dream is closely related to the dreamer's desire. From my experience, I'd say it is true that a dream represents a unnoticeable desire. I mean, I can dream of something that I sort of wanted rather than to dream of something that I really wanted.

Death
Experiencig death in a dream is considered to be a childhood experience. Jealosy and competition of children can cause them to want those they are competing with to be gone. However death is not a painful process to them. It just means a "going away forever and never coming back". Perhaps that's the reason why they can dream of one of his or her family dead and not feel so bad.

Justification
People do not want to admit they have ever wanted their mother, father or their siblings to be dead. They want to justify their dream to be of something different. The tendency of wanting to remain innocent leads to justifying their wrong thoughts or behaviors. Justification is really what spoils the child.

Interpretation
What Freud talks about is his interpretation of dreams according to his studies and analysis. Although in some parts i did not completely agree with his interpretation, it is very trustworthy for it is based on scientific research.

A Coward?

Claudius tries to act rather indifferent towards Hamlet. But really, he fears Hamlet for what he is capable of doing. “I do doubt the hatch and the disclose will be some danger”. (iii, i, 176-7) He knows Hamlet would cause harm to him someday. He wants to prevent him in every way, so he looks for any flaws that could allow him to send Hamlet away to another country. In Act 3 scene 1, he wants others to sympathize with him about Hamlet. He makes himself sound like he is doing Hamlet a favor so that he is seen as the “good guy”. Mentioning Hamlet’s trip to England, which basically is expelling him, Claudius tells the reasons to be that different experiences would take away the madness in Hamlet’s mind. (iii, i, 179-183) Since this fear comes from the killing of his brother, there’s poetic justice shown. He lives in fear becuase he knows he will be killed if he does not stop Hamlet beforehand.