Does pride actually exist or is it just an illusion that restrains us from doing something we shouldn't be doing and feel good about it? Of course, no one would be willing to run around naked on the streets while screaming at the top of his/her lungs, but that's because no one wants to, not because of pride. Even the book of Pride and Prejudice itself shows this.
In the beginning of the novel, a rich man called Mr. Bingley moves into town. The Bennet's, hearing this news, gets excited and sees it as an opportunity for a future husband for one of the single daughters in the family. Although there are five daughters, Mr Bingley prefers the oldest daughter, Jane, and even dances with her twice during a ball.
The five Bennet sisters clearly don't have any pride for themselves. They immediately took action to try to gain a relationship with Mr. Bingley after finding out about his great wealth. However, let's suppose, for instance, that these sisters had this so-called pride. Then, they technically would have restrained themselves from trying to get close to Mr. Bingley and kept on living their usual lives hoping for a prince-charming to magically appear some day. But, would this alter the fact that the sisters still wanted to have husbands with a lot of money and wealth, just like Mr. Bingley? Probably not.
The point I'm trying to make here is that someone's behavior and actions does not always reflect the person's thinking, because deep down, it's always just a matter of fact of whether the person likes something or not. This superficial illusion humans tend to call "pride" is just a cover up that hides one's shameful desires and feel good (proud) about it.
Nackirini.
ReplyDeleteSo. I liked the way you focused on pride itself, seeing as it does indeed make up a huge part of the book (Ergo the title?). But I still don't understand your reasoning in having pride actually be ' a cover up that hides one's shameful desires and feel good (proud) about it.' Of course nobody's going to run down a crowded street clad in only their birthday suit with their flesh bouncing up and down for the whole world to see. But that's more having to do with social-standards and an overall knowledge that that is simply not done. You mean to say that someone won't do that because of pride (which, given your personal definition, means they secretly have a shameful urge to actually run down the street naked, but won't do it so they can feel proud). But what if the case is me having too much pride to screech and blast people's eardrums while asking this famous guy (who I barely know) for an autograph. Does this mean deep down I want an autograph? Or is it simply the fact that I don't care for some's handwritten name and at the same time find it humiliating to ask in the first place. I guess your definition depends on the circumstance, methinks.
Anywho. Don't get attacked by any rabid grasshoppers. Toodles.
I’ll have to agree with Nack here. Pride really does function as a “superficial illusion” that shields one’s actual aspirations and thoughts in as the plot progresses in Pride and Prejudice. Observe Darcy, for instance. Close to the start of the novel, Darcy, as a man of high status and substantial wealth, displays his indescribably supercilious nature and deliberately establishes himself as the consummate individual in contemporary society. His overly haughty disposition greatly impacts in antagonizing Elizabeth’s early impression toward him. Under the pretense of his high-standardized self, Darcy, in truth desires Elizabeth as a lover. It was considered a disgrace in British society for a grandiose man from selected social milieu like Darcy to fall for someone lower in the social ladder. In this case, Darcy just paved his own way to greatness by acting out “pride” but internally, he is just a man with desires not pertinent to a person like him. Now, I can’t entirely agree with Nack with his statement about the absence of pride in the five Bingley sisters. Among the five, I adamantly believe that Elizabeth possesses a strong sense of pride in her own rationality. It is precisely her insistence on having an extraordinary rationality that engenders many of the conflicts and misunderstandings in Pride and Prejudice.
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