Criticism about: Jane Austen (1775-1817).
Genre(s): Domestic fiction; Epistolary novels; Sentimental novels; Novels of character; Novels of manners .
[In the following excerpt, Hirsch explains the significant role shame and self-esteem play in the life of Elizabeth and her relationships with others.] .
Elizabeth Bennet's great moment of psychological insight in Pride and Prejudice comes soon after she reads Darcy's letter: .
She grew absolutely ashamed of herself. Of neither Darcy nor Wickham could she think without feeling that she had been blind, partial, prejudiced, absurd.
"How despicably have I acted!" she cried. "I who have prided myself on my discernment. How humiliating is this discovery!--Yet, how just a humiliation!--Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind. But vanity, not love, has been my folly. Pleased with the preference of one [Wickham], and offended by the neglect of the other [Darcy], on the very beginning of our acquaintance I have courted prepossession and ignorance, and driven reason away, where either were concerned. Till this moment I never knew myself." .
Elizabeth's "prepossession" in favor of Wickham and against Darcy--her "prejudice," in other words--stems from her feeling slighted by Darcy, from her wounded "pride," from her sense of vulnerability. Her confidence, her "pride" in her own discernment, has collapsed, and she now reports feeling ridiculous, humiliated, ashamed. In this way Jane Austen not only underlines the themes alluded to in her novel's title but also highlights their connection. Elizabeth's "pride" has driven her to be defensively "prejudiced." Although she once took satisfaction from her pride, it is now seen to be a response to threats to her self-esteem, a defense against feelings of inferiority, vulnerability and shame. Elizabeth understands her prejudice to be a product of her vulnerable pride, and beneath that pride--ready to return with a vengeance--is the feeling of shame.
