title for essay about prejudice

Prejudice - Free Essay Examples And Topic Ideas

Prejudice refers to preconceived opinions or attitudes towards an individual or group without reason or based on stereotypes. Essays on prejudice could explore the psychological and sociological origins of prejudice, its impact on society and individuals, and strategies for combating prejudice and promoting inclusivity. They might also analyze case studies of prejudice in various societal contexts, exploring the implications and the measures taken to address such biases. A substantial compilation of free essay instances related to Prejudice you can find in Papersowl database. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

Women’s Rights in Pride and Prejudice

Do not consider me now as an elegant female intending to plague you, but as a rational creature speaking the truth from her heart."(Austen 94). Woman's rights have been a popular and important topic for the past three centuries, and will continue to be in the future. Jane Austen is widely known and praised for her controversial ideas and opinions in her literary fiction novel,Pride and Prejudice. Much before the time of the fight for women's rights, Jane Austen brought […]

Gender: Stereotypes and Prejudice

Throughout history, gender stereotypes have made themselves prominent in the lives of individuals of all cultures. A stereotype is a common biased of a certain group that is defined by oversimplistic ideas usually taught at a young age. Gender stereotypes reflect the prescriptive notions of men and women that have been predetermined by society for centuries. While many have fought for the pursuit of equality and have become liberated in their beliefs and attitudes, many of our actions can be […]

Main Causes of Discrimination

To the extent verifiable records appear, no general public or country has been insusceptible to discrimination, either as a victim or victimizer. Most of the causes of that discrimination and racism is given by fear of difference, through ignorance, and because people strive to show that they are stronger. Contemporary types of segregation go back to when European colonizers infiltrated and changed recently disengaged social orders and people groups. The more outrageous types of biased practices incorporate slavery, genocide, and […]

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Irony in Pride and Prejudice

One line that highlights Jane Austen's wit is primarily the first line of the novel ""It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of good fortune must be in want of a wife."" Austen uses verbal irony here, almost sarcasm since it means quite the opposite. The main purpose in life of underprivileged women in Austen's era is to marry a well-off husband and not vice versa. This is because if a young woman did not […]

Social and Cultural Contexts in “Pride and Prejudice”

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice written in the Georgian era is a well developed book that demonstrates the societal and cultural views of the time she was living in. The original name of the book was called ""first impressions""which incorporates with the novel's main themes such as marriage, social class, prejudice, pride and how the characters of this book can be portrayed through their point of view in this era. Throughout the book the author shows how one's judgement based […]

Garcia Definition Racism and other Definitions

Although many definitions of racism point out the ideology that one race is superior to the other, Garcia (1996) notes that such explanations fail to consider political and moral contexts; two spheres increasingly capturing the integral context of racism. Garcia's (1996) definition of racism is not necessarily based on races but rather on people's ability to differentiate within their hearts regarding racial classifications. Garcia (1996) coins the term "White racists", whom he suggests exhibit hatred against those who express love […]

“Pride and Prejudice” Satire

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is famous for satirizing society's rules and for exaggerating the extent to which they impact people. Although Austen is parodying the class structure in society throughout the whole novel, she is also enforcing the importance of self-awareness. Austen exaggerates the interactions between high and low status people because it ridicules society's rules. She condemns characters like Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine because of their inability to reject society's norms, and rewards Elizabeth because she is […]

Three Different Views of Marriage in “Pride and Prejudice”

In Pride and Prejudice Austen distinctly shows three different views of marriage, Neoclassical view, Romantic view, and Middle ground. Austen has the novel revolving around the idea of marriage incorporating these three ideas. You see them shown throughout two different classes. The noble class and the middle class. The idea of the fissure in the Neoclassical View shows through Charlotte, Mr.Collins, and Mrs.bennett. Neoclassical View is taking a more logical approach towards marriage. Charlotte Lucas is an example of the […]

A Problem of Social Injustices

There have been many unjust systems when it comes to the law providing help for the people and social injustice throughout times when it came to gender for many years, women have come along way throughout the years to become a significant role in what goes on in the law system and empowering women to be able to be in most careers that were thought before to not be suitable for women. And, an issue we still in America is […]

Discrimination and Prejudice in Frankenstein

During our human history, prejudice and discrimination have existed. Prejudice refers to the irrational and inflexible attitudes that members of a particular group hold about members of another group (Sibley and Duckitt 248). Prejudices are either harmful or positive. Both forms of prejudice are usually preconceived by the people who hold them and are extremely difficult to alter (Stephan, Cookie and Stephan 33). The negative form of prejudices leads to discrimination- unjust behaviors that holders of negative prejudice direct against […]

Character Foil between Darcy and Wickham in the Novel Pride and Prejudice

In order for a reader to connect to the characters in a book and understand each of their individual qualities, authors decide to use characterization. In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, she uses both direct and indirect characterization; this being, telling the reader exactly how she wants to portray a certain character, but also including characters who contrasts with other characters, most often the protagonist, in order to bring out certain qualities. This also known as character foil. One example […]

Racism Around the World

Racism has existed for a long time, but during the last two centuries, hate towards racial minorities and majorities has changed. Racism happens every day throughout the world, anyone can be a victim of it and it will always exist. In the movie The Revenant, racism appeared to be clear when Fitzgerald expressed his hate to Glass, because Glass's wife and son were native Indians. There are three types of racism; scientific racism, cultural racism, and institutional racism (Morehouse). Scientific […]

Pride and Prejudice Analysis

The Indifference of the Gentry ""Lizzy,"" cried her mother, ""remember where you are, and do not run on in the wild manner that you are suffered to do at home."" ""I did not know before,"" continued Bingley immediately, ""that you were a studier of character. It must be an amusing study."" ""Yes, but intricate characters are the most amusing. They have at least that advantage."" ""The country,"" said Darcy, ""can in general supply but a few subjects for such a […]

Expressing Feminism in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Background Information Jane Austen was an English novelist born in Hampshire, South of England on 16th December in 1775. She was very close to Cassandra, her sister. When together, the two would share a bedroom but when apart they would write to each other almost every. After Jane's death on 18th July 1817, her sister testified how the two loved each other, ""she was gilder of every pleasure, the sun of my life, and the soother of sorrow"" (Bendit 245). […]

Conflict in “Pride and Prejudice”

In order for a novel to become credited and well known, and for the authors audience to stay interested and engaged in the storyline, there needs to be a conflict of some sort, or a contrast that creates conflict. This can be achieved through a foil. A foil is a minor character who contrasts the main character so greatly, that the main character's traits are emphasized even further. A foil doesn't have to be an antagonist that plots against the […]

Wealth and Social Status in Great Expectations and Pride and Prejudice

Throughout Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin the themes of wealth and social status play a significant role, but the notions of love and friendship overcome this in both novels. The authors work of fiction show how wealth and social class influenced the characters personalities, human motives and actions. A connection can be made between the two characters Pip and Elizabeth Bennet. Even though Elizabeth is higher in class status than Pip, both characters […]

How the Criminal Justice System Discriminates

In today’s society, the issue of discrimination in the criminal justice system is a controversial issue. It is believed that there are discriminatory elements at different steps of the justice system. A person’s race may influence a police officer’s decision when making an arrest. A prosecutor may be influenced to give a harsher sentence based on the defendant's race. A jury may be influenced to convict a minority over a white American based on the color of their skin. The […]

Prejudice Towards Illegal Immigrants

Thesis: The Illegal immigrant are sometimes judged as harmful people who come to America and destroy this country. However, most of them are very hardworking people looking for a better life to support their families. Illegal immigrants come to the United States to keep their families safety Immigrants contribute to the United States workforce About 90 percent of undocumented immigrants in the nation work 2. If employers can keep wages down by hiring illegal immigrants, then these savings are presumably […]

The Impact of Feminist Undertones in Pride and Prejudice

During the eighteenth century, feminism was a subject that was scarcely considered in society, as it was defined the theory of the political, economic and social equality between the sexes. The aspect of feminism did not gain the comprehensive structure until the late 20th century. As not being widely known for during her time period, Jane Austen uses the concept of feminism to be portrayed in a discreet technique in her novel "Pride and Prejudice". Furthermore, she displays her perspectives […]

Concept of Marrying for Love in “Pride and Prejudice”

The classic literature that I have selected is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and was published in 1813. I am interested in this topic to understand that the concept of marrying for love and marrying for wealth still exists even in today's society. An example from my life that relates to this story is not giving up my happiness to please my family. That if and when I choose to marry, I would marry for love and marry whom […]

Prejudice and Discrimination in College

Everyone at some point has seen a significant change that social media has done in its own role to display prejudice and discrimination. I have witnessed it myself through social ports and daily news. The overflowing negativity of news in which we may not want to hear can trigger a feeling of "How can we stop this?", or perhaps what we can we contribute to change the world around us. The fact is that prejudice and discrimination aren't only a […]

Making Racism Obsolete

Does racism still exist? Some would say no?, but some would agree that racism is a cut that won't heal. Molefi Kete Asante is a professor at Temple University and has written many books during his career. In this analysis I will dissect Asante's work covering racism from the past, present and the future moving forward. Asante argues that America is divided between two divisions, the Promise and the Wilderness. Historically, African Americans has been at a disadvantage politically, socially, […]

What is the most Difficult Prejudice to Overcome in America Today?

Across the nations of the whole world, millions of Americans of any race always turn on their television or even read their newspapers and see great images of well dressed, articulate black people advertising their different products as represented by their companies. The black individual professionals in all arenas of work has been seen rising to a point when you see a black attorney, physician or even a college professor is a common sight. Many black people in United States […]

Prejudice in to Kill a Mockingbird

As a very powerful attitude that is either negative or hostile, prejudice refers to a very unfavorable feeling about a person or group simply because the person or group has membership with a particular group; prejudice is formed without any thought, reason, or knowledge to support the belief (Aronson, Wilson, Akert, & Sommers, 2016). When people are prejudiced against a particular group, they will engage in unenthusiastic and adverse behaviors toward anyone who is a member of the group against […]

Racism and Racial Prejudice in Othello

In the book, Othello, by William Shakespeare, we see a big impact of racism and racial prejudice. Othello shows a lot of this and how it gets in the way by restraining love in society. He is a black man who is also a great and successful war soldier. He dedicates himself to serve society's goals by fighting for his country. Even though, Othello is a Moor, he is the most hardworking and the most respected. When it comes to […]

Examination of 19th Century English Society and Realism in Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice, a novel set in the early 19th century, can be used to study British society in the era when it was written. The aspects of life in the early 19th century that can be examined are historical context, marriage and gender roles, class, income, land ownership, and reputation. Pride and Prejudice, a novel by Jane Austen, was written during the turn of the century, which was one of the most transformative eras in European History. This novel […]

Racism in the United States of America

Racism is a common theme seen throughout history. Throughout history several groups of people have been affected by racism. Throughout history it hasn’t been just one group but many groups if not all have experienced it. In Contemporary Literature we explored topics of racism along with sexual assault. We learned that Racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior;and that throughout history there have been […]

Pride and Prejudice Book Vs Movie

Jane Austen, one of England’s most famous authors, wrote many novels including, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility. These novels have continued to inspire generations past her own even three hundred years later. Her novels have been adapted in productions ranging from Hollywood to Bollywood and each drawing the attention of her fan base. One of her most famous novels, Pride and Prejudice follows the story of a couple, separated by their economic statuses, and how their differences, one’s […]

Pride and Prejudice Literary Analysis

Jane Austen portrays Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice with many different characteristic traits. He is a lot more than an awkward little man. Mr. Collins is confident, well-connected, arrogant, prideful, and he has a false sense of humility. He has a lot of layers and is not just a two-dimensional character, but a complex character who cannot be summed up into one word. Mr. Collins is first mentioned in the novel when he sends a letter to Mr. Bennet […]

A Story of Racial Injustice, Sexism and Prejudice in to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird is a story of racial injustice, sexism, and many other types of prejudice. Perhaps the most obvious form of prejudice found in the novel is racism. Tom Robinson was a hardworking, charitable person, who always put the needs of others above his own, but because of his skin colour. He was chosen as a target of racial prejudice, by those too ignorant to recognize his kindness, and care for all those around him. The […]

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Prejudice and Discrimination Essay

Prejudice and discrimination are impossible to avoid when living in society. However, you rarely think about them, if you are not a subject of bias. At least, what I can say about myself is that I have never really thought about prejudice and discrimination, their essence, and consequences. This course helped me realize that these phenomena are complicated and versatile. I have learned that they have many levels and can be formulated by the trends in television programs, commercials, music, and cultural developments. Well, I think it might be true because if since childhood we watch television programs that depict discrimination and bias, then we start thinking of them as of a normal way of building relations with people from outside our group.

Nevertheless, I believe that media culture is not the initial source of imposing belief that treating those who are somehow not like you differently is normal. What is the most robust influential factor is the process of socialization within your group. As a kid, you start it within your family. However, growing up in a family that criticizes discrimination does not necessarily mean that you will become an unbiased adult. What matters is the further process of socialization when you become a member of a bigger group that consists of people with various ethnic, social, religious, and other backgrounds. Seeing the difference every day, you start thinking differently than when you were a part of your small social group – family. At least, it was like that for me.

When I was in a family, I was completely unbiased because I always saw people who had similar backgrounds. When watching TV, I rarely thought that programs and commercials portray differences between people with different backgrounds; I just enjoyed the process. However, when I became a part of a larger group, I started noticing that I like people who are similar to my family members more than others who differ from me in some ways. Since then, I remarked that media also plays a role in this process showing differences between men and women, stressing on racial and class segregation. That said, what I believe is the source of bias is the subconscious desire to be involved with the members of your group that becomes stronger when you see that it is highlighted on television that aims at shaping particular attitudes to the member outside the group.

Prejudice and discrimination are just one side of the process of socialization. Another side of it is acknowledging that they exist and influence other people, trying to understand what makes you biased and what are the prejudices you have. What I can say about myself is that being in a group while studying the nature of bias and discrimination was a useful experience. It helped me become somewhat less biased because I saw people with different backgrounds gathered in one group.

In fact, I realized that we all are similar because we all have some prejudices and feel uncomfortable when sharing our feelings and thoughts. I believe that the outcomes of the course might have been different if I were not to share my feelings with the group or completed the assignment on my own because constant interactions with different people helped me reduce the prejudices, and sometime later the feeling of discomfort vanished, as I realized that I can trust these people and bias cannot be justified.

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IvyPanda . 2020. "Prejudice and Discrimination." July 27, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/prejudice-and-discrimination/.

1. IvyPanda . "Prejudice and Discrimination." July 27, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/prejudice-and-discrimination/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Prejudice and Discrimination." July 27, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/prejudice-and-discrimination/.

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Pride and Prejudice

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Mini Essays

Jane Austen’s original title for the novel was First Impressions . What role do first impressions play in Pride and Prejudice ?

Pride and Prejudice is, first and foremost, a novel about surmounting obstacles and achieving romantic happiness. For Elizabeth, the heroine, and Darcy, her eventual husband, the chief obstacle resides in the book’s original title: First Impressions . Darcy, the proud, prickly noblewoman’s nephew, must break free from his original dismissal of Elizabeth as “not handsome enough to tempt me,” and from his class-based prejudice against her lack of wealth and family connections. Elizabeth’s first impressions, meanwhile, catalogue Darcy as arrogant and self-satisfied; as a result, she later accepts slanderous accusations against him as true.

Both Elizabeth and Darcy are forced to come to grips with their own initial mistakes. Structurally, the first half of the novel traces Darcy’s progression to the point at which he is able to admit his love in spite of his prejudice. In the second half, Elizabeth’s mistaken impressions are supplanted by informed realizations about Darcy’s true character. Darcy’s two proposals to Elizabeth chart the mature development of their relationship. He delivers the first at the mid-point of the novel, when he has realized his love for Elizabeth but has not yet escaped his prejudices against her family, and when she is still in the grip of her first, negative impression of him. The second proposal—in which Darcy humbly restates his love for her and Elizabeth, now with full knowledge of Mr. Darcy’s good character, happily accepts—marks the arrival of the two characters, each finally achieving the ability to view the other through unprejudiced eyes.

Analyze how Austen depicts Mr. Bennet. Is he a positive or negative figure?

Mr. Bennet’s chief characteristics are an ironic detachment and a sharp, cutting wit. The distance that he creates between himself and the absurdity around him often endears him to the reader and parallels the amused detachment with which Austen treats ridiculous characters such as Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine. To associate the author’s point of view with that of Mr. Bennet, however, is to ignore his ultimate failure as a father and husband. He is endlessly witty, but his distance from the events around him makes him an ineffective parent. Detached humor may prove useful for handling the Mr. Collinses of the world, but it is helpless against the depredations of the villainous (but likable) Wickham. When the crisis of Lydia’s elopement strikes, Mr. Bennet proves unable to handle the situation. Darcy, decent and energetic, and the Gardiners, whose intelligence, perceptiveness, and resourcefulness make them the strongest adult force in the novel, must step in. He is a likable, entertaining character, but he never manages to earn the respect of the reader.

Discuss the importance of dialogue to character development in the novel.

All of Austen’s many characters come alive through dialogue, as the narrative voice in Austen’s work is secondary to the voices of the characters. Long, unwieldy speeches are rare, as are detailed physical descriptions. In their place, the reader hears the crackle of quick, witty conversation. True nature reveals itself in the way the characters speak: Mr. Bennet’s emotional detachment comes across in his dry wit, while Mrs. Bennet’s hysterical excess drips from every sentence she utters.

Austen’s dialogue often serves to reveal the worst aspects of her characters—Miss Bingley’s spiteful, snobbish attitudes are readily apparent in her words, and Mr. Collins’s long-winded speeches (and occasional letters, which are a kind of secondary dialogue) carry with them a tone-deaf pomposity that defines his character perfectly. Dialogue can also conceal bad character traits: Wickham, for instance, hides his rogue’s heart beneath the patter of pleasant, witty banter, and he manages to take Elizabeth in with his smooth tongue (although his good looks help as well).

Ultimately, though, good conversational ability and general goodness of personality seem to go hand in hand. It is no accident that Darcy and Elizabeth are the best conversationalists in the book: Pride and Prejudice is the story of their love, and for the reader, that love unfolds through the words they share.

Pride and Prejudice SparkNotes Literature Guide

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Pride and Prejudice

Jane austen, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Pride and Prejudice: Introduction

Pride and prejudice: plot summary, pride and prejudice: detailed summary & analysis, pride and prejudice: themes, pride and prejudice: quotes, pride and prejudice: characters, pride and prejudice: symbols, pride and prejudice: literary devices, pride and prejudice: quizzes, pride and prejudice: theme wheel, brief biography of jane austen.

Historical Context of Pride and Prejudice

Other books related to pride and prejudice.

• Full Title: Pride and Prejudice
• When Written: 1797-1812
• Where Written: Bath, Somerset, England
• When Published: 1813
• Literary Period: Classicism/Romanticism
• Genre: Novel of manners
• Setting: Hertfordshire, London, and Pemberley, all in England at some time during the Napoleonic Wars (1797–1815)
• Climax: The search for Lydia and Wickham
• Antagonist: There is no single antagonist. The sins of pride and prejudice function as the main antagonizing force
• Point of View: Third person omniscient

Extra Credit for Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Silver Screen? Pride and Prejudice was first adapted for movies in a 1940 production starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. It was again filmed in 1995, as a mini-series for A&E Television, featuring Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet and Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. The most recent production stars Keira Knightley as Elizabeth and was filmed in 2005.

First Impressions: Austen's initial title for her manuscript was "First Impressions." Though the book was eventually published as Pride and Prejudice , the initial title hints at the story's concern for social appearances and the necessity of finding people's true qualities beneath the surface.

A Summary and Analysis of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Pride and Prejudice , published in 1813, is Jane Austen’s best-known and probably most widely studied novel. But what does the novel mean? What is it really all about? And where did that title, Pride and Prejudice , come from?

Before we attempt to answer some of these questions, it might be worth recapping the plot of Austen’s novel. So, before our analysis of Pride and Prejudice , here’s a brief plot summary.

Pride and Prejudice : plot summary

A wealthy man named Mr Bingley moves to the area, and Mrs Bennet – mother of five daughters – tells her husband to call on the eligible young bachelor. A match between Bingley and the eldest Bennet daughter, Jane, is soon in the works – but a match between another rich bachelor, Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy, and the second-eldest Bennet daughter, Elizabeth, looks less likely.

This is because Mr Darcy’s pride – his haughty attitude towards Elizabeth Bennet and her family – sour her view towards him, while Elizabeth’s prejudice towards Mr Darcy is also a stumbling-block. After he acts in an arrogant and disdainful way towards her at a ball, she learns from a young soldier, Mr George Wickham, that Darcy apparently mistreated him.

Wickham is the son of a man who used to be Darcy’s steward or servant, and Darcy acted unkindly towards the young George. Darcy’s and Bingley’s sisters conspire to drive a wedge between Mr Bingley and Jane Bennet because they believe Bingley can find a wife from a better social station than the Bennets.

Meanwhile, Darcy also has an arrogant aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who acts as patroness to a clergyman named Mr Collins, who in turn flatters her with disgusting servility. (Mr Collins is also Mr Bennet’s nephew: since Mr and Mrs Bennet have no sons, Mr Bennet’s estate is due to pass to Mr Collins when Mr Bennet dies.)

Mr Collins is encouraged to ask one of the Bennet sisters for her hand in marriage, and he decides upon Elizabeth. She, however, turns him down, and he marries Charlotte Lucas instead.

The happy couple get together, and Darcy proposes to Elizabeth, but it’s clear he still views her and her family with some contempt because he is of a higher social status than they are. She responds by citing George Wickham’s accusations against him; she also thinks he played a part in breaking up the match between her sister, Jane, and Bingley.

However, in a later letter to her, Darcy reveals that Wickham cannot be trusted: he is a womaniser and a liar. Elizabeth visits Darcy’s home, Pemberley, while visiting the north of England with her aunt and uncle. Darcy welcomes them and introduces them to his sister.

Darcy’s words about Wickham are proved true, as the soldier elopes with Lydia, the youngest of the five Bennet sisters. Darcy tracks the two lovebirds down and persuades them to marry so Lydia is made an honest woman of. Bingley and Jane finally get engaged, and Darcy and Elizabeth overcome their ‘pride and prejudice’ and become a couple.

Pride and Prejudice : analysis

In his vast study of plot structures, The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories , Christopher Booker suggests that Pride and Prejudice is more straightforwardly in the ‘comedy’ genre than it may first appear to be. He points out that much of the novel turns on misunderstandings, characters misreading others’ intentions or others’ personalities, and people generally getting things wrong: the Bennets think Mr Wickham is the wronged one and Darcy the villain, but it turns out that they have this the wrong way around.

So what used to be more explicit in, say, stage comedies of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries – indeed, going right back to Shakespeare – is made more subtle and internalised in Austen’s novel, and rather than having her characters literally confuse one person with another (because of some absurd coincidence, wearing similar clothing, and so on), her characters find they have misread a person’s motive or misjudged their honesty, as with Mr Wickham.

This is why the title of the novel is so important: Darcy and Elizabeth’s union at the end of the novel strikes us as true because they have had to overcome their own personal flaws, which prevent a union between them, but having done so they have an honest and realistic appraisal of each other’s personality. They have, if you like, ‘seen’ each other.

We might contrast this with the various illusions and misapprehensions in the novel, or the other motivations driving people together (Mr Collins trying to woo Elizabeth simply because she’s the next Bennet sister in the list).

Is  Pride and Prejudice  a late Augustan work or a novel belonging to Romanticism? Romanticism was largely a reaction against Augustan values: order, rationalism, and the intellect were tempered if not wholly replaced by the Romantic values of freedom, emotion, and individualism.

But whether we should regard  Pride and Prejudice  as Augustan or Romantic is a question that divides critics. Terry Eagleton, in The English Novel: An Introduction , points out that Austen was not somebody who trusted wholly in the supremacy of reason, not least because her beliefs – what Eagleton calls her Tory Christian pessimism, which made her alert to the flawed nature of all human beings – would not allow her to be so. Austen is aware that human beings are imperfect and, at times, irrational.

And in this connection, it is worth pondering what Andrew H. Wright observes in Jane Austen’s Novels, a Study in Structure : that the reason Elizabeth Bennet, rather than Jane, is the real heroine of  Pride and Prejudice  is that Jane is not flawed enough. She is too perfect: something that would make her the ideal heroine for most novels, but the very reason she cannot be the protagonist of a Jane Austen novel.

Austen is too interested in the intricate and complex mixture of good and bad, as Wright points out: Austen likes the explore the flaws and foibles of her characters. Elizabeth, in being taken in by Wickham and his lies and in misjudging (or at least partly misjudging) Darcy, is flawed because both her pride  and  prejudice need tempering with a more nuanced understanding of the man she will marry.

The opening line of Pride and Prejudice is arguably the most famous opening line of any novel: ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.’ But what is less widely known is that the tone of this opening line is clearly ironic.

Far from being Austen the detached, impartial narrator, this is actually Austen ventriloquising her characters’ thoughts – specifically, those of Mrs Bennet, whose views in the novel are often derided by Austen’s narrator – using a narrative technique which Austen did so much to pioneer.

This technique is known as free indirect speech , and it is what makes Austen’s prose so full of wit and surprise, so we always have to keep an ear out for her narrators’ arch commentary on the characters and situations being described. (The clue in this opening line is in the phrase ‘universally acknowledged’, since how many things in life really are truly universally acknowledged?)

Pride and Prejudice was originally titled First Impressions , but that eventual title, Pride and Prejudice , was a cliché even when Austen used it for her novel. The phrase is found in two important works of the 1770s, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire .

But the most important precursor to Austen’s novel by a long way is Fanny Burney’s 1782 novel Cecilia , in which that phrase, ‘pride and prejudice’, appears three times in rapid succession, with the words ‘pride’ and ‘prejudice’ capitalised: ‘The whole of this unfortunate business, said Dr Lyster, has been the result of PRIDE and PREJUDICE. […] if to PRIDE and PREJUDICE you owe your miseries, so wonderfully is good and evil balanced, that to PRIDE and PREJUDICE you will also owe their termination.’

Austen learned a great deal from Burney, and refined the comedy of manners which Burney had helped to pioneer several decades earlier.

Pride and Prejudice is, in the last analysis, one of the great comedies in the English language, because in its construction it takes the hallmarks of romantic comedy and refines them, making subtle and abstract what was literal and physical in earlier stage comedies.

It is also a novel about how true love needs to be founded on empirical fact: we need to know the person we’re marrying, to see them with our own eyes, rather than rely on others’ opinion or let ourselves be blinded by romantic notions and delusions.

1 thought on “A Summary and Analysis of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice”

It’s a brilliant romantic novel, but, yes, it’s a comedy as well. Mr Collins, Lady Catherine de Bourgh and even Mrs Bennet verge on the pantomimish sometimes, and Miss Bingley is so bitchy that she’d have fitted very well into Dallas or Dynasty :-) .

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Pride and Prejudice: Expectations and Prejudices in 19th-century England

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Feminism in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

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1813, Jane Austen

Romantic Novel; Satire, Historical Fiction

Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Bennet, Jane Bennet, Mary Bennet, Catherine "Kitty" Bennet, Lydia Bennet, Charles Bingley, Caroline Bingley, George Wickham, Mr. William Collins, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, Georgiana Darcy, Charlotte Lucas, Colonel Witzwilliam

According to numerous sources, the book is not based on a true story and has been entirely composed by Jane Austen.

Justice, prejudice, misconceptions, love, romance, misjudgement, reputation, class relations, overcoming obstacles, true love.

As one of the most beautiful literary works and the happy ever after tales, it is one of the best romance novels that will be relevant through every decade. The book is teaching us an important lesson about making snap judgments of not judging the book by its cover. Although this book is often read by college students, it is also an important read for educators as well since college professors should not judge their learners too soon.

It revolves around the Bennet sisters called Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. Their mother wants to see them married in a good, successful way because they won't inherit their family house since only a son can do so. So once Me. Bingle comes down, their mother does her best to help Mr. Bigley fall in love.

Jane Austen has also been rejected for not being rich enough in the past. Mr. Darcy is often made as an equivalent to a Rockefeller. The Gretna Green mentioned in the book by Lydia is the modern-day Las Vegas, which has nearly ruined the Bennet family. Jane Austen has also been very close to her sister, which has influenced her to describe the closeness of Elizabeth to Jane. The publisher has rejected "The Pride and Prejudice" even without taking a closer look or reading it at all. The title originally came from a novel called "Cecilia" by Fanny Burney. Jane Austen always worried that her novel was too frivolous and modern for her times.

“A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.” “There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.” “Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.” “I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.” “For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?”

The love and marriage through the class relations is the central theme of this romantic story. It focuses on how a person can judge and break down the romantic relations. Jane Austen constantly uses good satire, detalization of her characters, and narration that helps to analyze the vocational nature of being married in the English society. One can also explore an attitude to matrimony.

This novel is an example of pride and prejudice, social relations, class challenges, and the freedom of women to do exactly what they want. It is also used as the analysis of judging something by its cover with the different examples. This romance story can be explored through the lens of any modern situation where the pride and misconception of the first impressions are coming first before a clear judgment is being made.

1. McKeon, R. (1979). " Pride and Prejudice": Thought, Character, Argument, and Plot. Critical Inquiry, 5(3), 511-527. (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/448004?journalCode=ci) 2. Lacour, C. B. (1992). Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Hegel's" Truth in Art": Concept, Reference, and History. ELH, 59(3), 597-623. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2873444) 3. Austen, J. (1993). Pride and Prejudice (1813). New York. (https://link.springer.com/book/9780333801338#page=36) 4. Morrison, R. (2009). Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: A Routledge Study Guide and Sourcebook. Routledge. (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203868492/jane-austen-pride-prejudice-robert-morrison) 5. Fischer-Starcke, B. (2009). Keywords and frequent phrases of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: A corpus-stylistic analysis. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 14(4), 492-523. (https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/ijcl.14.4.03fis) 6. Lau, B. (2017). Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. A Companion to Romanticism, 237-244. (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781405165396.ch21) 7. Appel, P. A. (2012). A Funhouse Mirror of Law: The Entailment in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Ga. J. Int'l & Comp. L., 41, 609. (https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/gjicl41&div=25&id=&page=) 8. Wootton, S. (2007). The Byronic in Jane Austen's" Persuasion" and" Pride and Prejudice". Modern Language Review, 102(1), 26-39. (https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/427/article/825032/summary)

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Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: What Does the Title Mean?

“Pride” and “Prejudice” are both depicted as qualities that each character needs in proper balance. “Pride” and “Prejudice,” are potentially dangerous qualities that Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet must overcome or avoid if they are to build a successful life together.

Although Mr Darcy is often referred to in the novel as prideful, pride is not his failing. He appreciates his heritage and wants to live up to it, but he does not lord the position he holds over other people. As Mrs Reynolds points out, “some people call him proud,” but she has never seen him display unseemly pride to her, to the other staff members, or to anyone in the neighbourhood of Pemberley (233). Instead, Mr Darcy’s most serious failing is his prejudice.

Darcy prejudges those around him based on minimal contact with them combined with the behaviour of their relations. He considers Jane Bennet to be an inappropriate marriage partner for his friend Bingley because of the behaviour of her mother and younger sister, ignoring the fact that Jane, herself, behaves appropriately. He also jumps to the conclusion that Jane cares for Bingley more as a meal ticket than as a man because of his prejudices against women of her class; women, he assumes, must be more interested in marrying for money than for love. His prejudices catch up with him, however, when he finds himself falling in love with Elizabeth. She and Jane belong to the same class, even to the same family. If he is to accept the fact that he and Elizabeth would be a reasonable match, he must face his prejudices and conquer them. He must admit that he was wrong to judge Jane on the basis of her social position and family connections. He must recognize the need to judge individuals as individuals, not as members of particular groups of people.

Mr Darcy and Elizabeth are both proud of their individual heritages. Elizabeth is as proud of having been born the daughter of a gentleman as Mr Darcy is to have been born the only son of a very wealthy and proud landowner. Their pride in their positions is not, however, excessive. Had it been so, it is unlikely they could ever have convinced themselves to seriously consider marriage with one another — Mr Darcy because he would not have been willing to marry beneath him in wealth and social position, and Elizabeth because she would not have allowed herself to be placed in the position of needing to be grateful to a man of Mr Darcy’s stature. The primary example of excessive pride in the novel is Lady Catherine de Bourgh, a woman who cannot tolerate the idea of her nephew marrying the daughter of a minor gentleman who cannot supply her with a decent marriage settlement. Such excessive pride prevents her from developing close bonds of friendship with anyone since she considers everyone only from the perspective of how they reflect upon her own position in society.

The primary theme of Pride and Prejudice is not, however, reflected in its title. Instead, Pride and Prejudice is a novel that focuses on courtship and marriage. As such, it explores a range of the kinds of marriages available to people of the gentry and aristocratic classes in the early nineteenth century as well as the importance of adherence to propriety and duty in order to create and maintain happiness and productive marriages.

Austen originally called it First Impressions before Pride and Prejudice. The novel teaches that impressions are hardly superior to ideas. ” Strong and immediate-are Elizabeth Bennet’s disdainful impressions of Darcy’s pride. Elizabeth hears the most important story about Mr Darcy when she and her aunt and uncle, the Gardiners, visit the Darcy estate, Pemberley, in Derbyshire. Mrs Reynolds, the housekeeper at Pemberley for many years, speaks glowingly of her young master to the visitors: “I have never had a crossword from him in my life, and I have known him ever since he was four years old” (232). When Mr Gardiner remarks on Mrs Reynolds’s luck in working for such a person, Mrs Reynolds replies: “If I was to go through the world, I could not meet with a better” (233). Mrs Reynolds discusses her master’s reputation throughout the neighbourhood of Pemberley: “He is the best landlord, and the best master… that ever lived. Not like the wild young men nowadays, who think of nothing but themselves. There is not one of his tenants or servants but what will give him a good name” (233). She admits that ” some people call him proud,” but claims never to have seen “anything of it” (233). And her assessment of her master’s “good name” is corroborated by others in the neighbourhood.

That the housekeeper for the estate who has been in residence for the whole of Mr Darcy’s life would discuss his character in such glowing terms gives Elizabeth pause. She finds herself questioning both her own perceptions and the story relayed by Wickham in light of Mrs Reynolds’s revelations. Only after she visits Pemberley and hears Mrs Reynolds’s stories of Mr Darcy’s life is Elizabeth willing to give him a fair chance. She is then willing to consider his attentions to her from a less defensive, more open-minded position.

Once she has decided that she understands his character, she tends to judge all of his words and actions according to her first impression, her initial prejudice against him. It is not until she has accumulated a remarkable amount of information that counters her first impression that she is willing to reconsider her position, in time growing to love him, trust him, and ultimately marry him.

Works Cited

Hirsch Gordon. Shame, Pride and Prejudice: Jane Austen’s Psychological Sophistication. Mosaic 25.1 (Winter 1992): 63-78.

Morgan Susan. “Intelligence in Pride and Prejudice”. Modern Philology 73.1 ( 1975): 54-68.

Schneider Matthew. “Card-Playing and the Marriage Gamble in Pride and Prejudice”. Dalhousie Review 73.1 (Spring 1993): 5-17.

Weinsheimer Joel. “Chance and the Hierarchy of Marriages in Pride and Prejudice”. In Jane Austen. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea, 1986. 13-25.

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Pride and Prejudice

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1. The characters in the novel seem to perceive the idea of “good breeding” in a way that differs from the author’s thoughts on the subject.

• Define or describe what is meant by “good breeding.” ( topic sentence )
• Give 3 examples from the novel of how different characters perceive “good breeding.”
• Conclude by explaining what actual “good breeding” is to Jane Austen as implied in the text in comparison to what the characters may believe; connect Austen’s idea of “good breeding” to the theme of Pride and Prejudice.

2. Mr. Darcy’s attraction to Elizabeth Bennet progresses throughout the novel.

• Explain what first attracts Mr. Darcy to Elizabeth. ( topic sentence )
• Give 3 reasons why Mr. Darcy’s attraction for Elizabeth continues to grow.

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Psychology Discussion

Essay on prejudice.

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In this essay we will discuss about Prejudice. After reading this essay you will learn about: 1. Meaning, Definition and Characteristic of Prejudice 2. Development of Prejudice 3. Determinants or Causes 4. Some Indian Studies 5. Functions 6. Methods of Reducing Prejudice and Discrimination.

• Essay on the Methods of Reducing Prejudice and Discrimination

Essay # 1. Meaning, Definition and Characteristic of Prejudice:

Prejudice is a disease of the society persisting from age to age. Prejudice is derived from the Latin noun, Prejudium which means prejudgement. It is forming an attitude or belief in advance or passing a judgement in advance. It is a judgement before actually coming in contact with the object or stimulus on which the judgement is passed.

A prejudice may be defined as a composite of stereotypes, myths, legends in which the group lebel or symbol is used to classify, characterize or define an individual or a group considered as a totality.

In forming a prejudice, thus, one is guided by the decisions, attitudes, stereotypes and of course, prejudices of the group. It is developed either to serve the interest of the group or self interest, prejudice is a bias usually believed to be a negative attitude towards people, objects, institutions, nations and nationalities.

Some hold that prejudice is a negative attitude. But this is not correct. Prejudice refers to both positive and negative attitude towards the member of some distinct social group. On the other hand, discrimination refers to negative actions directed towards some distinct social groups or persons or institutions.

In prejudice, the experiences gained from social life are over simplified and hence lead to prejudgement. You are travelling in the train and a person of a particular community misbehaves with you. You, at once, develop a hostile attitude towards all of them. This over simplification of experience leads to misunderstanding, biases and prejudices.

Despite the warning by academicians, social reformers, social scientists and by every sane individual for that matter, against jumping to conclusions, we do this where other persons are concerned. We form judgements about them, particularly the outgroups.

Prejudices indicate unscientific, unfounded judgement and assume that they possess certain traits and take it for granted. Rather, we predict that they will act on certain ways simply because they belong to specific groups. This very tendency plays a central role in the concept of prejudice and discrimination.

Here, we judge long before we come in actual contact. The characters are painted in such a way that automatically we judge them unscientifically. Baron and Byrne (1988) have defined prejudice as a specific type of attitude where individual traits and behaviour play little role. They are liked or disliked simply because they belong to a definite and specific social group.

According to Sherif and Sherif (1969), group prejudice refers to unfavourable attitudes held by the members derived from their group’s norms that regulate treatment of the outgroup.

The child is influenced by his parents and develop prejudices because of the traditional age old prejudice of the parents running from generation to generation. Thus, prejudices lack scientific character. They are unreasonable and biased.

In the drama of real life, our in group represents for us the forces of good and they as an out group represent the forces of evil. We are the chosen, the people of glorious destiny, savers of our lives whereas they are the forces of destruction, the inferior people, the unworthy, who is who, is a matter of group membership. Prejudice is, therefore, always expressed towards the “out group” by the “ingroup.”

According to Fieldman (1985), prejudice is a positive or negative evaluation or judgement of members of a particular group which are based primarily on the fact of their membership in the group and not necessarily because of particular characteristics of individual members.

Prejudice towards female occurs not because of some individual or specific characteristics or qualities of that particular woman but because she is a female.

Fieldman holds that though prejudice is thought as usually a negative evaluation, it can also be positive. While people may dislike the members of the outgroup they may positively evaluate members of their own group called the “ingroup” only on the basis of their group membership.

Hence, prejudice is a type of bias and unscientific prejudgement and it can be both pro and anti. In both the cases the bias or judgement is not related to the qualities of a particular individual, rather it is related to a group to which the individual belongs, Allport defines prejudice as negative attitude towards human beings that are held because of their membership or of their suppressed membership of certain groups.

According to Kretch and Crutchfield, prejudice refers to some attitude or belief that serves to place the objects of the attitudes and beliefs at an advantage or disadvantage. The prejudices of people even in the same country or same race vary significantly not only in content, but also in clarity, specificity, strength, importance and verifiability.

The nature of prejudice is diverse. Prejudice may not always be involved with active aggression. In several cases, prejudice only involves the avoidance of the outgroup by the prejudiced person.

Sometimes the prejudice is also expressed towards the outgroup or minority group by withdrawing certain facilities. Because of the varied nature of prejudice the diagnosis of the problem of prejudice becomes extremely difficult and hence, treatment and reduction of the prejudice becomes much more difficult.

Prejudices are basically attitudes shared by a group as a whole and the person of the out group is considered a member of a rejected group. A prejudiced person will always ascribe reasons to his attitudes. The hostile acts of the outgroup are remembered while the friendly acts are forgotten.

Essay # 2. Development of Prejudice:

The child learns to acquire the prejudice towards other groups. Initially we find small children do not have any feeling of discrimination. Small boys and girls, children of upper class and lower class, rich and poor families, play together. But gradually they learn to discriminate.

Thus, only when children grow up they learn to treat the children of other groups as different from them. Prejudice is a product of social learning. It grows in the minds of men mostly linked to political, geographical, legal and economic issues and are of less psychological significance. The white black feeling started with a very simple economic practice.

When there is a change in social conditions, revolution arises which gives rise to prejudice. In societies, in which intergroup and intra group relationships are based on political and economic power and are not integrated or planned there necessarily arises a scale of social distance which becomes incorporated in the individual members.

The famous study conducted by Clark and Clark on Negro children of 3 to 7 years age suggest that even at the age of 3 years children are perceptually able to discriminate the white child from the black child. But they do not, at this stage, develop any preferences, hostilities or prejudices.

As they grow because of the exposure to various experiences in the society, they learn to develop prejudices and feeling of discrimination to children of outgroups. So, prejudice develops with the growth of personality.

Clark and Clark (1947) conducted the above mentioned experiment to verify the hypothesis that hostility to out groups is innate but it takes time for this hostility to develop because of the immaturity of the sensory experience. The subjects of Clark and Clark’s study were 233 negro Children of the age group of 3 to 7 years.

These children were presented with 4 dolls, two of which were brown with black hair and two were white with yellow hair. The children were instructed to give the experimenter “the doll that looked like a white child and the doll that looked like a coloured child.

Results showed that 86% of the three year old children, 93% of the 5 year old children and 100% of the 7 year old children could select the correct dolls. Most of them could discriminate between the white and Negro children.

The most interesting fact is that at this age level, they did not show any preference, prejudice or hostility. It is, thus, obvious that as children grow, they are exposed to certain experiences and training at home and society. Therefore, they learn to develop prejudices to the children of the outgroup.

Horowitz and Horowitz (1938) interviewed a few white children in a Southern Community and noted that many children said that they were punished and penalised by their parents and relatives for not dissociating themselves from the Negro children. In India, children of various castes and socio­economic groups are taught from childhood to maintain distance from children of other groups as decided by the society and social norms.

Actual conflict between the ingroup and outgroup infinitely adds more effectively to the intensification of prejudice. Once a superior group starts a prejudice, scientists, philosophers and politicians come to justify it. Hitler created the prejudice that Germans can rule the world.

Thus, prejudice develops in the same way as attitudes and stereotypes grow in the minds of a person due to social influence. “Mama said not to play with the black children” which a 2 years old girl speaks is a bright example of how prejudice grows due to social learning and social conditioning.

Growth of prejudice mostly depends upon the family members, societies, tradition, customs, myths, legends, stories, faiths and beliefs. It further grows with the growth of social distance because of the development of attitude and prejudices. If the social distance is high, prejudice is more and vice versa.

There is always prejudice of the Americans towards the Turkians, Indians towards Americans, though not one American in a thousand knows anything about the Turki. This is because of the historical conflicts between the Mahamadians and the Christianity.

A study based on interviews with 3415 persons released from a cross section of the American Zone showed that women are significantly more biased against the Jews than men.

Small town people, uneducated people are found to be more prejudiced than those of large cities and educated people. Prejudice is found to be greater among people with low status in society. Many studies indicate high levels of racism among lower class whites who may feel that blacks will take away their jobs.

One of the basic reasons behind the development of prejudice is stereotype. The conditions and expectations assigned to members of group simply on the basis of the membership in those groups lead to prejudice.

Stereotypes are over simplification of facts which are used to add meaning to certain facts out of a complex social environment. In the process, the important differences that distinguish one person from another is lost sight of.

Today, the pressure is more on social and economic stereotypes in the development of prejudice. Smeelley and Bayton (1978) found that beliefs about social class provided more powerful stereotypes than did beliefs about race. Similarly, sex stereotypes lead to sex prejudices.

Some emphasise the role of self fulfilling prophecy to the development of prejudice. It means expectations about the possibility of further events or behaviours that act to increase the likelihood that the event or behaviour will occur.

If people assume that members of a certain group are lazy, they may act in a way that actually elicits laziness on the part of the members of that group.

Cultural factors play a very important role in the development of prejudice. Sociologists and anthropologists have emphasised the tremendous impact of socio-cultural factors in the growth and development of prejudice and discrimination.

Increasing urbanization and population complexity of the society, competition and rivalry among different ethnic groups help in the development of prejudice of one group towards the other.

When certain minority or disadvantaged groups are provided with the advantage of reservation in admission to educational institution; in jobs and in various elections to political system, the unreserved category develop prejudice towards these groups.

Social factors, such as these would ultimately increase prejudices on the part of the people who feel that they are being denied a resource that is rightfully theirs or they are being debarred from their due which is rightfully theirs.

People also develop prejudice to have self regard and conformity. Many of the beliefs and attitudes occur to satisfy the specific needs of an individual. Thus, people develop certain beliefs to define the self and to maintain the individual’s identification with the society.

The environment also contributes a lot to the development of prejudice. When poor and uneducated people remain in small, dirty, clumsy cottages, rich and educated people develop stronger prejudice towards them.

The prejudiced person lives in an environment which provides a lot of support for the development of prejudice. Through the operation of the principles of similarity and proximity, certain sociological cues develop which serve as environmental support for the development of prejudice through beliefs and attitudes.

Essay # 3. Determinants or Causes of Prejudice:

Prejudice exists in all, it is an universal phenomena and seems to persist in all societies, though, recorded history from age to age. The question now arises how so many people develop this particularly towards people belonging to specific social groups and the outgroups.

Factors contributing to the growth and development of prejudice have been extensively investigated in India as well as abroad. Studies on prejudice have been made on the sociological, cultural, psychological determinants of prejudice.

(i) Sociological Determinants :

Socio-Economic Status:

Socio-economic status usually show a positive correlation with antisemitism. But the relationship between socio-economic status and prejudice against blacks is not significant. The most common finding is that individuals of low socio economic status are most likely to have unfavourable attitudes towards blacks.

On a follow up study-Gilbreth (1951) found that Princeton students checked many of the same traits for national groups in 1950 that Katz and Barely measured in 1932. Hartley has found the same pattern of social distance in 1946 that Bogardus had found in 1928. The findings that there were more anti Negro prejudice in the South than in the North car be explained interms of differential impact of cultural norm.

(ii) Psychological Determinants :

Prejudice has recently been defined as a function of personality traits.

From three major psychological theories of prejudice, such as frustration, aggression, authoritarian, personality and belief congruence the effect of personality variable on prejudice is obvious.

(a) The support to the frustration-aggression hypothesis of prejudice comes from the studies showing that more prejudiced individuals have greater tendency to displace hostility than unprejudiced individuals. Furthermore, this psychodynamic approach holds that prejudiced individuals are more susceptible to frustration.

The free floating hostility which cannot be expressed directly due to social restrictions is vented at an alternate target. The minority group in many cases becomes the likely scapegoat as it is probably less powerful than the original source which created frustration by blocking the satisfaction of a desire.

(b) A number of studies have also indicated the relevance of personality variables like insecurity, anxiety and intolerance of ambiguity to prejudice.

(i) Insecurity:

A person who feels secured about his job, position and status in the family or society takes an objective view of the situation that he comes across. But a person with feelings of insecurity tries to find out an individual upon whom he can put the blame of his insecurity. Allport (1952) and Gough (1951a, 1951b, 1951c) have reported that persons with high level of insecurity arc likely to show higher level of prejudice.

(ii) Anxiety:

Many investigators, including Rokuch (1960), Siegat (1954), point out that more anxious individuals display higher levels of prejudice than less anxious subjects.

Intolerance of Ambiguity :

Frenkel and Brunswik (1948) found that children high in prejudice tended to be intolerant of ambiguity and dichotomous in their thinking about sex roles. Because of the ambiguity of the subject or issue, people perceive them as they are asked to perceive.

So, they develop prejudice towards such objects. Thus, the very perceptual processes create these environmental supports. Ambiguity of physical traits, behaviour traits and as a result the distorting perceptions, has substantial effect on the development of prejudice.

Belief Incongruence :

Rokeach (1960) attempted to explain, prejudice on the basis of individual difference in the ways of organising belief and disbelief system. Persons with high level of prejudice belief and disbelief systems are rigidly organised whereas in other individuals the systems are relatively flexible.

(iii) Psycho-Dynamic Causes :

According to Freud, man is born with aggressive and destructive tendencies and the desire for war is quite unconscious. Human beings can live together peacefully only when this innate destructiveness is turned inward.

Glover, a psycho pathologist says that unconsciously motivated sadism, machosism may indeed be the essential cause of world tension. Studies by the UNESCO on social tension have been done on a large scale to determine the causes and remedies of social tension.

The psycho dynamic approach holds that instead of looking at how prejudiced people perceive and process information, deficits in an individual’s level of psychological functioning lead to prejudice. Using Freud’s theory of psycho analysis such approaches try to identify the psychological conflicts and maladjustments that underlie a person’s overt displays of prejudice.

(a) Authoritarian Personality:

The book Authoritarian Personality suggests that prejudice is a result of a particular set of characters shared by authoritarian personality. Authoritarians displace their hostility towards weak or unconventional groups i.e. usually towards minority groups.

But, further studies also show that people who score low on the authoritarian scale may be very prejudiced. Personality factors, like rigidity, superstitionsness, intolerance, lack of liberality and dynamicity are responsible for more prejudice.

Prejudice on the whole is caused and determined by the interaction of the socio-cultural Factors with the personality traits.

The determinants of prejudice can, thus, be studied, at three levels:

(a) The social structure,

(b) The individual personality dynamics and

(c) Culture.

Baron and Byrne (1988) have put on record some specific determinants causes of prejudices.

(b) Direct Intergroup Conflict :

Prejudice is caused due to struggle and unhealthy competition over jobs, good school, housing and living facilities, high status in the society, money, social prestige, desire for power and recognition. During competition, they come to perceive each other in various negative ways.

They consider each other as enemies, they think their own group as totally right and their opponents as totally wrong. Initially which started as a simple competition gradually grows to strong prejudice. Several studies have provided evidence to this view. The study of Blake and Mouton (1979) on corporate executives and Sherifs several studies in this regard are notable.

(c) Social Categorization :

The ‘In group’ and outgroup feeling leads to social categorization which is also a cause of prejudice. People usually divide the social group in which they live into two clear categories i.e., ‘us’ and ‘.hem’.

This is done on the basis of one’s name, place of residence, school or economic status. Clearly differentiated contrasting feelings and beliefs are generally marked in the minds of the members of the ingroup towards the outgroup and vice versa.

Studies by Hemstone, Locksley, Jaspars (1982), Ortiz and Hepburn (1980). Tajfal and Turner (1979) support the above facts. The subjects in the above studies, by and large, indicated more negative attitudes towards members of outgroups and treated them in less favourable ways than members of their own ingroups.

What is an ingroup? Persons try to elevate their self esteem by becoming identified with specific social groups. These are the ‘ingroups’ for them. They perceive these groups superior and better than other competing and rival groups.

Since, all individuals in a society are subject to this, everyone is bound to develop some prejudice. Thus, prejudice arises out of the clash or conflict of social perception. Results of various studies do provide evidences that our basic tendency is to divide the social world into two camps ‘us’ and ‘them’. “We and they” play a tremendous role in the growth of different types of prejudice.

(d) Early Learning Experiences :

Prejudice grows due to social learning in the same process, like attitude and stereotypes. Children acquire negative attitudes and various prejudice towards specific groups, institutions and stimuli as they are exposed to such views by parents, teachers, playmates, friends, and relations or because they are specifically rewarded for adopting them.

The girl says “Ma, a lady has come” Ma says “do not call her lady, call her woman”.

If the girl again calls her lady she is scolded by the mother and if she obeys her mother and calls her ‘woman’ she is praised like “OK that’s fine, thank you” Undoubtedly parents, friends, peers and teachers play the paramount role in this process but nevertheless, the mass media such as Movie, TV, Newspapers, Radio etc. play quite significant role in determining one’s prejudice.

A negative attitude automatically develops towards those people shown in dirty dress, unclean dialapated cottages, growing in poverty and illiteracy, uttering faulty languages.

When, repeatedly, this is said and exposed, it is imprinted in one’s mind that these people are uncivilized, dirty and inferior. Recent studies of Liebert-Sparkin and Davidson (1982) and Bandura (1986) reveal the strong influence of mass media and T.V. on the growth of prejudice.

(e) Cognitive Sources of Prejudice :

The key process of social cognition refers to the fundamental ways in which one thinks about other persons. Among them stereotypes, illusory correlation and the illusion of outgroup homogeneity are noteworthy. For interpreting and processing social information, stereotypes function as a negative schemata and cognitive framework.

The negative earlier knowledge and belief of specific social groups strongly affect the way in which one deals with further informations. For example, Dovidio, Evans and Tyler (1986) have found that informations relevant to a particular stereotype is accepted and processed more quickly than informations not related to that stereotype. You have heard and believed a particular nation is war minded.

When you get an information supporting this belief you immediately believe and accept this and act upon it within no time. But when you get an information contrary to your already existing stereotype notion, you may not accept it, process it and act upon it.

Similarly stereotypes lead a person to pay attention to specific type of information or the input that is consistent with the existing stereotypes. Inconsistent information are even, sometimes, strongly embedded in one’s personality. Even we remember those informations and inputs which suit our purpose and are consistent with our stereotypes and forget those which do not tally with it.

Thus, a person accepts inputs that readily “fit in” to his cognitive framework and only remembers them. The rest he prefers to forget. Operation of such negative schemata has got support from the recent studies of Dovidio, Evans and Tyler (1986), Greenberg and Psyzoyaski (1985).

Illusiory correlations which appear to play some role in the growth of prejudices and stereotypes as found by Spears, Vander Plight and Eiser (1985) develop due to the basic tendency to give more attention to unusual and distinctive events. It refers to perceiving the relationship between factors or variables that actually do not exist and obviously this perception of not existent things cause prejudice.

(f) Perception of Out Group Homogeneity :

The tendency to perceive all the members of the outgroup as all very much alike and homogenous reflects a fundamental bias in the way we think about other and so prejudice is grown because of this even if there is lot of contact.

Park and Rothbart (1982) have observed that even males perceive all women having similar qualities and attitudes and females perceive all men having homogenous qualities and attitudes though, these two sex groups always come in intimate contact with each other.

These factors explain the causes and determinants of prejudice and also hint as to why prejudice inspite of all efforts persists.

(iv) Personality and Motivational Determinants :

Some psychologists have attempted to trace the causes of prejudice from motivational and personality aspects through the frustration, aggression or scapegoat theory. It is said that those people who experience continuous free floating aggression are likely to develop more prejudice.

Accumulated tensions arising out of frustration of various basic and particularly significant needs often find expression in aggressive acts. When this aggression is directed against a group as the target, it turns to prejudice.

Miller and Bugelski have demonstrated that the frustration of even relatively unimportant needs like seeing a movie in a theatre lead to racial antipathy. The history of growing up and being in an adult modern society is a history of constant and continuous frustration. Every human being is subjected to constant frustration from the moment of birth till death and birth itself is said to be the greatest frustration in human life.

When people find themselves frustrated in some way, they may turn their hostility towards a socially acceptable substitute i.e. minority group. Competition between groups and the very fact that members of another group are different, may also cause prejudice.

Most social psychologists hold the view that all the racial prejudice can be attributed to the frustration aggression sequence which reflects the motivational causes of all prejudice.

But, since, all frustrations do not lead to aggression and there are other reactions to frustration besides aggression, it is not possible to say that all people who are prejudiced suffer from frustration. Hence, besides, frustration and aggression there are also other causes of prejudice.

Racial prejudice is found among the sadists and in persons with free floating aggression. Pathological personality systems like paranoia is found to be related to prejudice.

A paranoiac has been described as person who is not capable of understanding other people and who continuously attributes all types of motives to other people. He seeks for people as a target of his aggression. But the reverse is not true. All mentally sick people may not necessarily develop prejudice.

(a) Culturally Disapproved Behaviour :

In a particular cultural and social set up, the individual is expected to fulfil certain social obligations. Very often he is forced to obey some social rules and regulations and show culturally approved behaviour.

But the person has a lots of antisocial desires to be satisfied. This leads to conflict and clash. In an attempt to solve these conflicts prejudice occurs. Getting money and political eminence are good socially approved needs.

But, if the individual uses the socially disapproved ways to satisfy these needs and then rationalises, he projects and attributes his own faults on other groups, classes or castes, leading to the occurrence of prejudice. Prejudice has its roots in the parental and cultural influences of adult life.

Sometimes the culturally disapproved needs particularly which conflict with the moral ideology of the person are repressed. Since, the repressed tensions remain in a dynamic form and always in the verge of coming out, they are reflected in the defence mechanism of projection. Through this mechanism, they attribute uncomplimentary and mallacious characters to a specific group or race.

The California study of Frenkel-Brunswik relating the T.A. T test conducted on the anti-semantic girls indicated meaningless jealousy, repressed hatred and suspicion towards parental figures. These repressed tendencies find out outlet in negative attitudes and antipathy against various racial groups which serve as scope goat.

Prejudice is also caused due to ambiguous and crisis situation. In a crisis situation, the individual frequently may take recourse to beliefs and attitudes of racial prejudice. At this moment, the only available interpretation offered to him by his culture and environment is accepted quickly to meet the crisis situation.

There is no time to wait, analyse and reason before accepting the facts. Their ambiguous and vague ideas and beliefs about other countries now in a crisis situation become crystallized and they quickly accept the readymade ideas and suggestions.

People also seem to develop prejudice for the sake of self respect, to defend the self and to maintain the individuals identification with the society which is also called conformity.

Beliefs and attitudes of racial prejudice frequently stem from emotional experiences and needs. But they result in guilt feeling, emotional conflicts and aggressive defence reactions etc. Thus, it is said belies and attitudes do something for the person and to the person.

Causes of prejudice have also been explained from the psychodynamic point of view by some through repressed hostility, castration anxiety and Oedipus complex. Minor conflicts between small groups is related to national and international tension and prejudice.

(b) Influence of Parents :

Parents often transmit their own prejudice to their children. Several Studies indicate that parents are the primary source from which the racial prejudices are learnt.

But Bird and his associates found low correlation between the attitudes of parents and children towards Negroes. Frenkel, Brensik and Harel (1953) also indicate low positive correlation, between children’s ethnic attitude and those of their parents.

Though these studies do not refute the role of parents in the causation of prejudice, they, however, suggest that heavy weightage should not be given to the role of parents in the transmission of prejudice.

Different studies indicate that in younger age group less prejudice is observed. Studies also show that young people are relatively more tolerant compared to older people. Before three years prejudice does not enter the minds of children as studies indicate.

Waller (1964), Maykovich (1975) and Mohanty (1980) found that age and education were significantly associated with ethocentrism. Katz (1976) observed that by the age of three or four years children are able to distinguish between blacks and whites and also possess different feelings towards them.

Occupation:

Since ages, some occupations are considered appropriate for men than for women and vice versa. Jobs in police, airforce, navy are considered to be in appropriate for women and jobs of teachers, doctors and nurses are said to be appropriate for women. It is a prejudice. Here historical attitude influences this discrimination.

Studies indicate that religious background or religion as a causative factor of prejudice do not provide any consistent picture. However, several studies show Catholics to be more prejudiced against negroes, protestants next most prejudiced, jews and people with less religious affiliation are least prejudiced.

Investigators like Hanlan (1942) Adorno etal. (1950) have found that ethnic prejudice was highest for catholics and lowest for jews. Conflicting result in this area need further investigation on the relationship between religion and prejudice.

(v) Cultural Determinants :

Each and every culture has got certain beliefs, attitudes, stereotypes and prejudices regarding other groups. Prejudices are, thus, portions of cultural heritage. Studies reveal that prejudice found in a particular culture is prevalent in the children of that culture.

Sociologists and anthropologists say that increasing urbanization, complexity of society, increasing population density and competition for jobs operate in various ways to increase prejudice towards minority groups.

Prejudices also occur because of the differences in languages spoken, customs and ways of living like the differences in the ways of living of Hindus and Christians, Hindus and Muslims, whites and blacks, Americans and Jews etc.

Prejudice increases particularly when a group feels that he is threatened by another group. Prejudices, infact, grow as a social norm of a group to which all adjust and share.

All these discussions and studies on the determinants and causes of prejudice lead to one basic truth that the underlying factors of prejudice are multidimensional and large number of factors operate in the development of prejudice.

Essay # 4. Some Indian Studies on Prejudice:

In India, research on prejudice is of special significance because of various castes, creeds, communities and religions in Indian society. Prejudice in India, therefore, manifests itself in many forms in relation to religion, caste, language etc.

The importance of studies on prejudice in India has been realised specially after 1947 when the Hindu Muslim conflict became a matter of grave concern for the sociologists and psychologist.

The range of social distance is very high in Indian societies because of inadequate interpersonal relationship. This is obvious from the Hindu, Muslim conflicts, riots, Christian and nonchristian feeling, lower and higher caste feeling, and the exploitation of the poor class by the rich.

Sometimes politically dominant groups continue to dominate on other groups. This creates ill feeling, anger and as a result prejudice in the minds of the disadvantaged and weaker section of the society.

Though, large number of studies on prejudice have been conducted in western countries, the findings of such studies are not fully applicable in India. Since, Indian social conditions are completely different from the western conditions the western finding cannot give adequate information about the origin and development of prejudice in India.

In order to get accurate information in this regard, studies on prejudice are to be made in the Indian climate, Indian socio-economic conditions and in the prespective of the uniqueness of the Indian society, Indian and Western societies are different culturally, economically and politically.

Hence study on prejudice has to be conducted in the Indian land on the Indian people for the last so many years. After independence, there has been a lot of discussion on national integration which is extremely urgent in the present India because of suspicion, hatred and distrust among the members of the society.

To bring out national integration scientific study of prejudice in India should get top most priority. Thus, sociologists and social psychologists have attempted to perceive prejudice and other social tensions as an important area of investigation in India. In the field of Methodology also, the original Indian attempts and necessary as techniques used to measure Negro.

White prejudice or Anti-semitic prejudice cannot be used in the Indian context. In the ICSSR survey of social psychology it has also been pointed out the work of prejudice has not been very extensive and very little work has been done on the genesis and evaluation of stereotypes and prejudices. So, it is high time to start research in this field.

Murphy started the scientific study on prejudice in India sponsored by the Govt, of India with the help of the UNESCO. He has summarised the findings of this study “In the Minds of Men”. The studies were mainly based on Hindu Muslim relations and intercaste tensions. Murphy observed that in India, the child rearing practices may be connected with prejudice.

Mrs. Murphy has emphasized on dependence, early freedom from frustration leading to the absence of habits, controlling aggression, lack of opportunities in childhood for group planning and thinking, leading to lack of methods of resolving conflicts between groups in adulthood responsible for development of prejudice.

Adinarayan (1953) Using Bogardus social distance scale studied the racial and communal attitudes of Hindu-Muslim respondents before and after independence. Results indicated that the attitude of the Hindus towards the Muslims have undergone tremendous change for the worse after the creation of Pakistan. Little significant difference was found between the social and communal attitudes of men and women in India.

Khan (1955) found that people belonging to different groups have unfavourable attitude towards each other.

According to Ansari (1956) group prejudice between Hindus and Muslims have been very strong and widespread to distort intergroup perception, judgement and evaluation of the qualities.

Adityanarayan’s study (1957) indicated that prejudice seemed to be directly related to the cognitive background and also seemed to decline with increase in personal acquaintances between groups. Singh (1963a) noted that the Indian students in Britain rated the English higher than Indian in public role. On the other hand, the Indians were rated higher in private roles.

Dutta (1965) conducted a study to measure attitude of University students towards religion and found that females were more religious than males. Hites (1965) examined the effect of age, and education on religious attitude and found that older people were more religious than the younger ones.

Further, the more educated people were less religious than the less educated people. Paul’s (1966) findings supported those of Hites (1965).

Panchabhra (1966) collected data from 150 Adivasi undergraduates belonging to Santhal, Oraon and Munda tribes of Chotta Nagpur, Bihar. He found that compared to Christian subjects, the non- christians attributed more unfavourable and less favourable adjectives to Indian Christians.

Chatterjee (1972) attempted to explore the existence of communal, caste and sex prejudices and also the socio-psychological correlates among female college students of high and low caste. Findings indicated that while the urban students had higher religious and gender prejudices, the rural students had more religious information than the other groups.

There was a significant positive correlation among these prejudices and religiousity, authoritarianism and anxiety, but these were negatively related to religious information.

Singh (1972) found that the prejudiced school children compared to the unprejudiced ones had very little correct information about other religions and the unprejudiced children had more correct information not only about their own religion, but also about other religions.

Hasan and Singh (1973) found that the personality variables had higher correlations with prejudice than sociological variables. Results indicated anxiety to be the most powerful correlate of prejudice.

Studies on Caste Problems :

Kupuswamy (1956), Rath and Das (1957), Rath and Sircar (1960) have made some studies on caste prejudice. Singh, Singh and Singh (1960) made a study on the development of caste consciousness among children between 4-10 years of age. It was observed that caste consciousness develops faster in boys than in girls, in rural than in urban children, earlier and faster in upper castes than lower castes.

Premsarkar studied the impact of education on the high caste Hindu’s attitudes towards the Harijans. Only significant difference was observed in the stereotypes of the two groups. Educated group indicated larger significant stereotypes than their uneducated counterparts. Thus, results indicated that the cognitive component of the attitude was more unfavourable in the educated group compared to the uneducated group.

Singh (1967) studied the nature and causes of intercaste tension in two villages in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Individuals involved in conflict at the time of the investigation tended to show more tension. Further, social distance was found to be greatest between Brahmins and Harijans and least between Brahmins and Marathas.

Chatterjee (1972) found that male college students had more caste prejudices than female college students. Since, prejudice develops through a slow and gradual learning process and hence, cannot be checked suddenly, it was felt that the study of various prejudices in children would help in channelising and controlling them.

Among different prejudices, social prejudices like caste, sex and class prejudices are of tremendous importance as social life, inter personal relationship and adjustment of the individual in social situations are determined by them.

Caste prejudice manifests itself in intercaste tension, religious prejudice through communal riots and religious conflicts and sex or gender prejudices, in the form of intolerance of the members of the opposite sex.

As a result of such prejudices, people confine their social interaction within a restricted group. Besides creating and elevating all sorts of misunderstanding, tension and mistrust progress of the nation is hampered due to cold war and back biting.

Prejudice has been the most important topic of Social psychology as it is related to socialisation and formation of personality. The theories of prejudice indicate that the origin and development of prejudice can be traced to the early years of socialisation. But very little studies on prejudice have been done on children. By studying the development of prejudice in the early years of childhood, during the process of socialisation the causes of prejudice can be traced.

But only a fewer studies have been done on children. Most of the works on attitudes, stereotypes and prejudice are mostly of the survey type. The time was, therefore, ripe to study the development of prejudice in children from the psychological, social and cultural stand. Since, prejudice grows slowly with the growth of personality, and gradual learning process, the root of prejudice lies in the childhood.

Though, certain methodological difficulty lies in studying young children, like the difficulty of measurement etc. still it is essential to study the prejudice of young school going children with the help of the existing methodology.

Against this background G.B. Mohanty (1980) made an attempt to find out whether children of different groups formed on the basis of caste, religion and sex differ or not in caste, religious and sex prejudices. The above study entitled “Prejudice in Indian children” the first of its kind in Orissa and sponsored by the ICSSR was conducted on Oriya Hindu and Muslim boys and girls of class X and XI.

The purpose of the study was to compare the amount and pattern of religious, caste and sex prejudice and to study the relationship between personal factors and prejudice in the children of two important religious groups, Hindus and Muslims.

105 Hindu boys, 114 Hindu girls, 131 Muslim boys and 101 Muslim girls of class X and XI of high and low castes selected by stratified random sampling technique from different schools of Cuttack city constitute the sample of the study. The Hindu and Muslim boys and girls were matched on caste, level of education, age, sex and area of residence.

Tools and equipments used in the study include:

(i) A personal data questionnaire covering information about sociological and personal factors such as age, sex, class, religion, caste, parental income and area of residence and

(ii) Prejudices scale measuring religious, caste and sex prejudices developed by A.K. Singh and used in the NCERT developmental norm project.

The main findings of the study are summarised as follows:

(i) Boys have significantly more prejudice than girls. There is no significant difference between boys and girls in religious and caste prejudices.

(ii) High Caste boys show greater sex prejudice than high caste girls (significant at .05 level). No significant difference is found in religious and caste prejudices between high caste boys and girls. Low caste girls have higher religious and caste prejudices than low caste boys. In sex prejudice, however, the comparative groups do not show any difference.

High caste Hindu and Muslim do not differ significantly in any category of prejudice. Both the comparative groups do not have any prejudice as all the mean values are less than the midpoints which further suggest that both the caste groups are not prejudiced, so far, as religion, caste and sex are concerned. There does not exist any significant difference in the religious, caste and sex prejudices of Hindus and Muslims.

Low caste students show significantly higher religious, caste and sex prejudices than the high caste students. No true difference is obtained between the low caste Hindus and low caste Muslims, so far, as religious, caste and sex prejudices are concerned. High caste Hindu boys show significantly greater sex prejudice than high caste Hindu girls.

Low caste Hindu girls show significantly greater religious and sex prejudice than high caste Hindu girls.

No significant difference exists between low caste Hindu boys in religious, caste and sex prejudice. High caste Muslim boys and girls do not show significant difference in the extent of religious, caste or sex prejudices.

High caste and low caste Muslim boys do not indicate any significant difference in religious, caste or sex prejudices. Low caste Muslim girls have scored significantly high in religious and caste prejudices than low caste Muslim boys.

High caste and low caste boys do not show significant difference in any category of prejudice considered for the present study. High caste and low caste girls show significant difference in all categories of prejudices.

High Caste Hindu boys and girls do show significant difference in their religious and sex prejudices. High caste and low caste Muslims show significant difference in their religious and sex prejudices.

High caste Hindu and Muslim girls do not show any difference in their prejudice scores.

Higher significant difference is obtained between the low caste Hindu and Muslim girls only in caste prejudice.

Thus, keeping in view, the summary of the findings of this investigation it was concluded that, by and large, boys and girls differ significantly in their prejudice scores and that high caste and low caste school students also indicate significant differences in their prejudice.

But no significant difference is obtained between the prejudices of Hindus and Muslims which is definitely an interesting and significant finding. Further, research in this area by taking large samples may perhaps throw more light on the problem of Hindu-Muslim prejudices.

Essay # 5. Functions of Prejudice :

Prejudice creates all sorts of misunderstandings and dangerous gaps between persons, groups, nations and nationalities. It is the root of cold war, jealousy, quarrel among persons, societies and nations. All round development of society is blocked due to the development of strong prejudices.

History reflects that due to long-standing prejudices, man’s ability, capacity and physical resources of a country have not been properly utilized. Irrational prejudices against each other have marred the quality of civilized human life.

By producing social distance and social tension prejudice functions mostly in a negative manner. Prejudice promotes social tension and jealousy which exploits the peace, prosperity and happiness of human civilization.

Essay # 6. Methods of Reducing Prejudice and Discrimination:

Prejudices virtually affect all of us and pose serious problems in personal and social life and cause unnecessary tensions, irritation, arrogance and friction and what not. Hence, reducing prejudice and eliminating its negative effects are important tasks.

The negative consequences of prejudice are explained in the slaughter of six million Jews by Nazi Germany. Perhaps, it is the most blatant example of prejudice in recent history. Some prejudices present real social danger leading to conflict and struggle between political parties, socio-economic groups, races, sexes and religions.

Prejudices have multiple causes and some prejudices are probably inevitable. A large number of methods and strategies have been used to reduce prejudice and discrimination. Prejudice cannot be completely removed or eradicated as it grows in the society and in the minds of men. However, it can be reduced by the following techniques developed by different social scientists.

(1) Through information, education and propaganda integration is required from the school level and to educate the mind of people and bring consciousness to reduce prejudice.

(2) Propaganda can be most successful in eliminating prejudice when attempts are made to enlighten the ignorant and provide emotional satisfaction simultaneously through facilitation and improvement in intergroup contact, understanding and harmony.

(3) Through establishment of organisations to fight against prejudices towards women, dowry, family planning, low socio-economic status and socially disadvantaged, towards different communities, castes, towards various diseases, illiterates, rural people, urban people and various other social, economic and political issues and undemocratic movements.

(4) Investigations and adjustment relating to intergroup differences and to reward intergroup understanding and harmony is desirable.

(5) By improving the standard of minority groups and communities which are considered to be the likely source of tension because of their low standard prejudice can be reduced.

(6) By avoiding segregation and discrimination in employment, housing and public service, removal of unemployment as these are potent sources of danger in creating frustration and encouraging the growth of prejudice can be reduced.

(7) Programmes for training officials and social workers in handling communal and intergroup tension are necessary to reduce prejudice.

(8) Political pressure, laws and legislatures against unfair practices like the law passed in America that prejudicial treatment between the blacks and whites is punishable by law or laws passed against dowry, child marriage etc. in India are necessary to reduce prejudice.

(9) Psychotheraphy and group therapy techniques to remove prejudicial attitudes can be used.

(10) Interracial contacts as parts of community programmes like inter social meetings and contacts, conferences, social contacts and social intercourse to reduce misunderstanding can be developed to reduce prejudice.

(11) By means of newspapers, Radio, TV, motion pictures, fictions, advertisements and comic strips and other mass publicity programmes prejudice can be reduced. The studies of Lazarsfeld (1947), however, indicate that radio broadcast meant to promote intergroup relations were not listened by the group to whom the discussion was addressed.

Some have suggested that any attack on prejudice can be successful when its core its attacked and both the group needs and personal needs to be taken care of to combat prejudice.

Williams in his report on the removal of prejudice has pointed out that instead of a large scale application of the methods, it will be wiser for the social scientists to pretest the different techniques of reducing prejudice. So, he remarks that there can be no action without research and no research without action.

He has also suggested some other programmes of reducing prejudice which can be used in heterogeneous people of India suffering from severe prejudice. He emphasizes homogeneity and difference in socio-economic and political systems in individuals and in caste, community and gender. If all people become equal in everything, probably there will be very less prejudice which is, of course, practically impossible.

Thus, homogeneity can reduce prejudice and if all the groups are assimilated in to one homogeneous groups some common belief, cultural set up, attitude and religious pattern prejudice will be drastically reduced. One of the ways of reducing prejudice is to mould the view of different people into one. The emphasis is, thus, in universality. But practically it may not be possible.

Some have suggested cultural pluralism to reduce prejudice. In this, the distinctive characteristics of different groups will be retained but all the groups will be under the umbrella of one system of value and tradition which will be the common social denominator. Thus, there should be unity in diversity.

This idea of reducing prejudice is specially applicable in India, which contains heterogeneous groups. This doctrine presents a compromise between the universality technique and individuality technique use to reduce prejudice.

UNESCO has sponsored research to reduce social tension and prejudice in different parts of the world. Murphy in this connection came to India to study prejudice.

Some social psychologists working in the area of motivation have argued that by changing the motivational factors and needs of individuals their prejudice can be reduced or changed. Since beliefs and attitudes play a paramount part in the personality structure of the individual, any positive programme changing beliefs and attitudes must be tailored to these motivational factors.

Prejudice can be reduced by eliminating the repressed, frustrated and socially unacceptable need structures.

Steps should be taken for adequate satisfaction of man’s common and socially acceptable needs. Further, psychological insight of parents should be increased for psychological therapy. Thirdly, any economic, political and sociological policy that can minimise the frustration of any important need is a major weapon in the control of motivational factors leading to prejudice.

Though, it may be difficult if not impossible to undertake a programme of action of this type, certain needs, like self expression, leadership, belongingness, power and recognition can be satisfied by becoming a member of various cultural, fraternal and recreational organizations.

Sometimes profound and disturbing emotional experience produce culturally unaccepted behaviour leading to strong prejudice. To remove the effects of traumatic emotional experiences, children should be trained to get emotional security through psychological education, guidance and counselling.

Research indicate that prejudiced individuals often became anxious and sullen when relating with the targets of their prejudice.

By controlling the negative attitude towards a minority group one can take steps to remove the environmental support to change prejudice. Inter marriages, improvement of education and socio­economic status by providing nutritional, medical and recreational care for the minority group and abolition of segregation practices may lead to the reduction and elimination of prejudices.

Surnames, symbols, dress and food habits of persons should be changed which keep people separated from one another. But people may not like to change their uniqueness and hence, Lewin has viewed that it may be psychologically unsound. Since, in crisis and frustrating situations, beliefs and attitudes are more amenable to change this advantage should be utilized to change prejudice.

Fieldman (1985) has suggested three major techniques to reduce prejudice and discrimination:

1. Contact :

When groups spend time together differences disappear. Allport first suggested that intergroup contact can reduce prejudice if it is structured in appropriate ways.

But identification of appropriate contact is urgent as various instances of prejudice are seen in areas of interaction between majority and minority group members. Contact is effective to the maximum degree when there is equal status within a setting of people belonging to both groups.

2. Intimacy of Contact :

The interaction must be close physically and mentally, Superficial contact is ineffective in educating prejudice. Intimate contact helps to individualize the disliked group members which indicates that a person will be perceived less interms of a stereotyped one and more interms of an individual.

3. Interdependent Interaction :

Contact becomes very effective when the two people cooperate in a mutually interdependent activity. Katz (1956) used the self insight training technique to reduce prejudice.

They thought that since prejudice is largely ego-defensive, providing insight into the dynamics of prejudices may help in the reduction of prejudice. Katz found that in comparison to statement of simple facts, self insight was more effective in changing a person’s attitude. When a prejudice is not consistent with one’s self image, it may change or reduce.

Since prejudice is related to authoritarian personality as suggested by some, change in child rearing practices may also reduce prejudice. Rigid discipline, harsh and dominant behaviour of parents lead to insecurity, feeling of deprivation and maladjustment in children which are conducive personality traits for the growth of prejudices.

By flexible and democratic child rearing practices prejudice can be avoided. Since, prejudice develops out of the socialization process, the pattern of socialization is to be changed to change prejudice. Secord and Blackman (1964) have held that prejudice may be reduced, when a member of the minority group occupies two incompatible roles.

Venkatasubramanyu (1967) using a self rating scale tried to reduce prejudice towards the Hindi language of the Northerners and the Brahmin caste of the South Indian College students. He used classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning, modelling influence and self counter conditioning to reduce prejudice. Results indicated that out of 212 high prejudice subjects, 85 had changed significantly.

He also found among the above four methods used the most successful methods to reduce prejudice were selfcounter conditioning through role playing and modelling influence. Instrumental conditioning and classical conditioning were least effective. Since, prejudices are caused by multiple factors, he also found that prejudice is reduced considerably when multiple methods are used.

Cognitive Approaches :

Changes in the beliefs and attitudes about the minorities and the outgroups can bring a corresponding change in prejudice and behaviour towards members of such groups. Through persuasion, demonstration and propagandas, this aim can be achieved.

In propaganda to reduce prejudice, controversial elements may be disguised or eliminated by distortion of relevant facts and the motives being propaganda may be hidden.

It is also observed that only when propaganda is based on economic groups, it becomes useful in distorting the displacement of aggression. In any type of propaganda against prejudice where historical and traditional forces are operating, understanding of interpersonal relationship and group need is of tremendous importance.

Educational Approaches :

By teaching people to understand others and like them through direct educational techniques prejudice can be reduced. Integration of elementary school education i.e., whites and blacks studying together, general castes and backward castes studying together, is essential.

Some educational programmes have been held for this, but there has been no systematic attempt to evaluate such programmes. Baron and Byrne (1988) have also suggested four techniques to combat prejudice which overlaps to some extent the other strategies.

They held that, though, none of the strategies alone can totally eliminate prejudice and discrimination together, they can make substantial improvement in these persistent problems.

The four techniques are as follows:

1. Breaking the Chain of Biogotry i.e., learning not to Hate :

Children are not born with any attitude, belief or prejudices. Parents play a very important role in the formation of their children’s attitude which grows slowly and gradually through the socialization process and social learning like modeling, operant conditioning etc.

So, parent should be given training not to teach their children to hate anybody, not to develop feeling of discrimination, annoyance and irritation without any real basis. Campaigns should be planned to increase the awareness of parents and to discourage them to demonstrate prejudice in their own behaviour. Attempts should be made to nip prejudice from the bud. Teachers can also play a positive role in this regard.

2. Direct Intergroup Contact :

This is known as the contact hypothesis and has been discussed earlier. The potential benefit of acquaintance might prove effective by knowing each other. The negative schemata developed earlier may crumble or change in a positive direction.

Cook (1985) says that direct intergroup contact may prove beneficial only when it occurs under highly specific conditions i.e., the groups must be roughly equal in social, economic or task related status.

Cooperation and interdependence should also be there to lead the groups to shared goals. The persons involved must view one another as typical of their respective groups. Then only they can generalize their pleasant contacts to other persons or situations and demonstrate more positive reactions to the outgroup.

When contact between initially hostile groups occurs prejudice between them does seem to decrease. Integrated job situations, integrated summer camps, youth festivals, NCC camps can also reduce prejudice.

3. Learning to Make Distinctions :

The ideas, beliefs and schematas already at our disposal help in categorizing somebody when we meet him for the first time and we fail to notice other important favourable characteristics of the person. Such biased and stereotyped thinking are the core of various prejudices which are due to “mindlessness “. Such tendency can be eliminated by inducting people to behave more mindfully and more carefully.

Langer, Bashner and Charowitz’s (1985) indicate that as per the direction of the U.S. Supreme Court, USA during 1960-70 tried to desegregate the nation’s schools which were earlier strictly divided along racial lines. But subsequent follow up studies undertaken to assess the defects of desegregation give a confusing picture and the contact hypothesis has not been strongly confirmed.

This is perhaps because of the difference in status i.e., minority children (Blacks) came from disadvantaged status. Thus, one cannot conclude that by keeping people together prejudice can be reduced.

Since, prejudices have multifarious and diverse causes, the different techniques of reducing or changing prejudice may be used in isolation or in combination depending upon the type and strength of prejudice. Particularly the origin, development and causes of prejudice are traced to the early years of socialization.

Hence, steps should be taken from the early stage of growth to prevent the development of prejudice as far as practicable. In this regard, the responsibility of parents, teachers, peers and neighbours and other agents of socialization are of vast importance.

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Appropriateness of the Title Pride and Prejudice and Its Significance

The acclaimed novel  Pride and Prejudice  was originally entitled  First Impressions . However, when its penwoman, Jane Austen, revised her novel, she gave it a new title now it bears. This title is so appropriate that it hardly requires any justifying argument.

Usually, the title of a book, a novel, a literary work, or any written piece is given, considering its subject matter. From the title, one can easily derive what the author will focus on in the book or the composition.

The very title,  Pride and Prejudice,  implies what the novel’s story is all about. We must go through the story with a critical attitude to show its significance while explaining why the author has renamed her novel  Pride and Prejudice .

Table of Contents

Austen’s primary concern in the pride and prejudice.

In order to realize the significance of the title,  Pride and Prejudice , it’s important to understand the primary concern of the writer in this novel. It’s not a novel of stormy passions and high tragedies of human life. Furthermore, Jane Austen has never claimed that she’s a psychological novelist. 

Her primary concern was to represent the comedy of domestic life. She further related to the humor of the personal relationship between man and man, man and woman, husband and wife, and at least, between the classes of society. 

In this connection, Austen has delineated the characters in their interactions when they move and live in society. This emphasis on the comedy of domestic life aligns with Austen’s use of irony and humor throughout the novel. As discussed in this article, Austen employs these literary techniques to subtly critique societal norms and values, adding depth to her portrayal of character interactions.

The Significance of The Words “Pride” and “Prejudice” in The Novel

The words “Pride” and “Prejudice” are very significant in the characterization of the novel. These traits of human character are present in both the hero and the heroine of the novel. 

As we go through the novel’s story, we get to discover that a sense of pride is reflected in the character of Mr. Darcy, the hero, while a sense of prejudice is reflected in that of Elizabeth, the heroine. 

Besides the hero and the heroine, some other important characters have somehow revealed a sense of pride throughout the story. This means that the title,  Pride and Prejudice is justified as it centers around the two most important characters of the novel. 

This dual focus on pride and prejudice is not only confined to the main characters but extends to the broader theme of marriage in the novel. As explored in our article on the Theme of Marriage in The Novel Pride and Prejudice , the interplay of pride and prejudice significantly influences the decisions and relationships of various characters, providing a nuanced understanding of the novel’s central themes.

The Sense of “Pride” Portrayed in Mr. Darcy

Mr. Darcy was declared “The proudest, most disagreeable man in the world” when he was first introduced in the novel. One may trace all his actions to pride. 

Wickham opines this pride to Elizabeth Bennet as “filial pride” as he belongs to the upper-middle class of society; he bears this pride of being superior to others. 

A Pride inherited from Family

This pride he inherited from his father is now dead. It’s also present in the character of his sister, Georgiana, and Wickham calls it “brotherly pride.” He ironically says that pride has often been her best friend.

Darcy admits to his disposal and says that his pride is “selfish” and “overbearing.” He confesses to Elizabeth when he contemplates his past actions that his father had a role in making him proud. 

Despite being taught sound principles, his father was allowed and even encouraged to be “selfish” and “overbearing” to think meanly of the rest of the world. At least, he was to wish to think meanly of the sense and worth of Elizabeth compared to his own. 

Darcy was not forgetful of his pride even when he was going to propose to Elizabeth. He balances tenderness and pride in his speech. Moreover, his pride makes him blind to the faults of the members of his class.

This complex portrayal of pride in Mr. Darcy is further emphasized through Austen’s use of letters in the novel Pride and Prejudice . Darcy’s letters reveal his inner thoughts and feelings, providing insight into the motivations behind his actions and the development of his character.

A Perfect Balance of “Pride” and “Prejudice” in Darcy and Elizabeth

Darcy turns down the proposal of dancing with Elizabeth made by Bingley out of pride. He responds in a humiliating tone, “She is not handsome enough to tempt me,” which wounds Elizabeth’s sentiment and makes her prejudiced against Darcy. She reveals to Charlotte that she has resolved to hate him onward. 

This prejudice of Elizabeth against Darcy further drags on when Darcy confesses his implacability at Netherfield, “I cannot forget the follies and vices of others as soon as I ought, nor their offenses against myself. My good opinion once lost is lost forever.”

Darcy is proud and prejudiced against all who are not at par with him in richness and social position. His social superiority, refinement, and wealth lead to this general prejudice. That is why, as Elizabeth has made it clear later on, he carries prejudice against Wickham, Jane, and in general, against everything unfitting to his social world.

Zimmerman (1968) imparts that the full significance of the title “Pride and Prejudice” has been obscured due to narrow interpretations, and the moral conflict is between pride and vanity, not between pride and prejudice.

The Sense of “Pride” and “Prejudice” Portrayed in Elizabeth

Conversely, Elizabeth maintains her pride too. Her pride consists of being perceptive and refined. At the same time, she is prejudiced against Darcy. However, her prejudice does not stem from any moral purpose, but her hurt pride. 

It is her pride when Elizabeth does not protest but says, “I could easily forgive his pride if he had not mortified mine,” in response to Charlotte when he says that Darcy has a right to be proud. So, in this instance, she is both proud and prejudiced.

Elizabeth’s portrayal of pride and prejudice adds depth to her character, illustrating the complexity of human emotions and interactions. As explored in our article on the Elements of Wit, Humor, And Irony in Pride and Prejudice , Elizabeth’s witty remarks and ironic observations highlight her perceptive nature, intertwining with her prideful tendencies and prejudiced perceptions of Darcy.

Both Pride and Prejudice Faded Away with Time and Realization

But over time, both Darcy and Elizabeth sacrifice their Pride and Prejudice as they become convinced of the hollowness of these vain sentiments. The vulgarity of Darcy’s aunt shocked him and taught him that refinement is not the elite’s monopoly. This new vision led him to play a vital role in the Lydia-Wickham episode. 

Besides, Elizabeth’s refusal to marry him opened his eyes that social superiority was not everything in life. Thus there is a new awakening in his heart, and he shacks off his pride and prejudice completely.

Elizabeth, too, reaches a new conclusion. Darcy’s letter helps her give up pride and prejudice. Now, she is embarrassed about how she has been “blind, partial, prejudiced and absurd.” 

She starts reassessing Darcy with this awakening, recognizing his talent and good disposition. She even considered that Darcy would most suit her. For so long, pride and prejudice blinded them, but these verities have disappeared now. They realize it’s high time they get married.

The Sense of “Pride” and “Prejudice” in Other Characters

Pride and prejudice were not only present in the hero and the heroine. According to Gilbert Ryle, “Every character of the novel exhibits too much or too little pride of a bad or silly sort or pride of a good sort, sham pride or genuine pride and so forth.” 

However, Mr. Bennet has genuine pride. He hates the despicable. But his pride is inverted and unexecuted. He voices his just contempt in witty words, but he does nothing to prevent or repair what he condemns. 

Mr. Bingley has no special pride, but his sisters are proud in the sense of being vain. In this way, almost all the characters have more or less pride and prejudice. 

Concluding, there would have been no appropriate name except  Pride and Prejudice  for this novel. Hence, the title,  Pride and Prejudice is entirely appropriate and bears significance in its theme’s exposition and characters.

Now, let’s summarize the “Pride and Prejudice” title and its significance below based on the article above:

Please, let us know in the comment section if you’ve found this article helpful and informative. 

Everett Zimmerman et al. “Pride and Prejudice in Pride and Prejudice.”  Nineteenth-Century Literature , 23 (1968): 64-73. https://doi.org/10.2307/2932317.

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Pride And Prejudice Title

The title of the novel Pride and Prejudice was written by Jane Austen. The novel tells the story of Elizabeth Bennet and her relationships with the five suitors who are vying for her hand in marriage. Pride and Prejudice is a classic novel that has been enjoyed by readers for centuries.

The title of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice can be read as a theme throughout the book. Mary observed, . . . pride appears to be a very common blunder. I believe that it is quite frequent, based on all I’ve ever read. Vanity and conceit are two different concepts; yet the words are sometimes used interchangeably. A person may be proud without being vain.

Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us. Pride is our own estimate of our worth, vanity is what we would have others believe about us. Pride may exist without love; vanity cannot. Pride is founded on merit, or on what we may possess; vanity, on what others may think of us. Prejudice is an unreasonable dislike of something that does not deserve dislike because it is different from what we are accustomed to. (Austen 9-10)

The title of the novel Pride and Prejudice can also be interpreted as a statement about the characters in the novel. The Bennet family pride themselves on their good breeding and rank in society, while they prejudge other people based on their appearances and first impressions.

Pride and prejudice, then, are two qualities that are often found together. In the novel, we see how pride and prejudice can lead to misunderstanding and conflict, but we also see how they can be overcome by good sense and true love. In the end, Pride and Prejudice teaches us that it is important to be proud of who we are, but we should also be willing to give people a chance before we prejudge them.

Pride is all about our self-esteem, while vanity is more concerned with what others think of us. Pride and/or vanity are exhibited differently by each character. Ms. Austen was attempting to convey the idea that excessive pride or vanity is a failing in her novels. Those who are able to recognize their own flaw emerge as the story’s real heroes. Pride is frequently mentioned among minor characters in the novel. Mrs. Bennet, for example, takes great pleasure in her daughters’ mercenary marriages, which she considers advantageous matches for them.

The Lucas family is also proud, as is Colonel Fitzwilliam. Pride is not always a bad thing in the novel, however. It often leads to positive outcomes for the characters involved. Pride can be seen as a major theme in Austens work.

Pride and Prejudice is a novel that explores the theme of pride and its effects on the characters. Pride is defined as an inflated sense of self-importance, and it leads to prejudice, or judgmental behavior towards others. The novel follows the Bennet family, who are faced with many challenges that test their Pride.

Through these tests, the characters learn more about themselves and come to realize that Pride can both help and hinder them in their lives. In the end, Pride is not a bad thing, but it must be tempered with other virtues such as humility in order to achieve happiness. Pride and Prejudice is a timeless novel that explores the human condition, and it is still relevant today.

Elizabeth Bennet’s pride in her own imagined qualities is clearly shown in this passage. She is so concerned about how well her neighbors think of her that she will not even acknowledge the love and pleasure of her children. This may be best observed in the case of Elizabeth Bennet’s proposed marriage to Mr. Collins, a person she did not like.

When Mary Bennet informed her mother that she had rejected Mr. Collins’ proposal, Mrs. Bennet became furious and would not speak to her for doing so. Pride for illusory characteristics can be seen in Mary Bennet, who is herself the speaker of this passage.

Pride, in general, seems to be more about what we think others will think of us, rather than anything else. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen is concerned with the effects of Pride, namely on the choices that individuals make. For example, Wickham s elopement with Lydia Bennet was a direct result of his Pride. He was too proud to marry a woman he did not love, even though it would have saved her reputation. And so Austen asks: is Pride ever justified? Can it ever lead to good outcomes?

Mary’s family was embarrassed by her compulsion to perform in public, especially since they were unaware of it. Even though Mary wasn’t good at any of the sports she picked, her enormous pride of self and desire to gain approval from others allowed her to demonstrate her supposed abilities. Mr. Collins has a tremendous sense of vanity. He is unconcerned with his own opinion on his character, as we see his personality leaves much to be desired.

He is instead very much interested in the opinion of others, and often goes to great lengths to ensure that they have a good opinion of him. Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen that follows the story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy as they navigate their complicated relationship.

The title Pride and Prejudice refers to the main characters’ initial attitudes towards each other: Elizabeth is Prideful because she does not think Mr. Darcy is good enough for her sister, while Mr. Darcy is Prejudiced against Elizabeth because he believes she is beneath him in social rank. As the story progresses, both characters learn to overcome these prejudices and eventually fall in love. Although Pride and Prejudice was published over 200 years ago, its themes of love, family, and social class are still relevant today. Pride and Prejudice is a timeless classic that is sure to entertain readers of all ages.

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Pride And Prejudice Essays (Examples)

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Pride and prejudice.

Pride & Prejudice Prideful The institution of marriage is one of the primary themes of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. The emphasis placed upon marriage by the vast majority of the characters in the novel, however, is largely due to the fact that most of them see a successful marriage as a principle means of achieving happiness. However, the specific conditions of an individual marriage account for the degree of happiness its participants will be afforded, and Austen spends a good deal of the novel illustrating the fact that virtue is an integral component of a happy marriage. She presents this idea to the reader by showing acts of commission of virtuous qualities and acts of omission of virtuous qualities, and indicating their effects on a marriage largely through the perceptions of Elizabeth Bennett. The marriage of Elizabeth's best friend, Charlotte Lucas, with Mr. Collins is one which largely omits virtuous intentions….

Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" is set in rural England, in Longbourn, during the Napoleonic ars, 1797-1815. The novel centers around the Bennet family, which includes five daughters of marrying age, Jane, the oldest, then Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. It is a story of romance, manners and a comedy of misunderstandings, in 19th century England. The protagonist of the story is the second daughter, Elizabeth, regarded as the most intelligent and sensible of the Bennet girls. She is beautiful, honest, virtuous, clever, well read, and quick-witted. However, she has the tendency to jump to conclusions and pass hasty judgments upon those around her. Moreover, she often lets loose her sharp tongue without full understanding of the situation or circumstance. "Pride and Prejudice" is basically about how Elizabeth overcomes the obstacles in her life, such as a distant father, a mother obsessed with marrying off her daughters, ill-behaved….

Works Cited

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 1966; pp1.

Pride & Prejudice Influence on Later Work Frantz, Sarah S.G. "Darcy's Vampiric Descendants: Austen's Perfect Romance Hero and J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood." Persuasions On-Line 30.1 (Winter 2009); n. pag. Web. Frantz's area of academic focus is popular romance fiction of the sort that, as she notes, constituted "the largest share of the consumer market in 2008," and which ranges from the mass-market paperback fiction published by Harlequin in the U.S. And Mills and Boon in the U.K., to what is more commonly termed "chick lit," to supernaturally themed romantic fiction aimed at a primarily female readership. Frantz begins by noting that "readers and authors" of this particular genre "claim Jane Austen as the fountainhead of all romance novels." Frantz notes that the popular contemporary genre of romance is itself rather flexible, and that "a story requires just two components to be considered a romance: a central love story and an emotionally….

Bingley's wealth did not hurt the relationship either. He was "a young man of large fortune" (1) with an income of four or five thousand pounds per year. His wealth made him a suitable marriage partner because he could provide financial security for Jane. One of the first comments Mrs. Bennet makes after hearing about the impending marriage is, "hy, he has four or five thousand a year, and likely more." The fact that they got along well was less important than his economic status. The Ideal Marriage According to Hinnant, "One of the unstated conventions of the courtship novel is that the lovers must undergo traumatic experience, a violent shift from innocence to self-knowledge before their union can be consummated (1). In the relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth, Austen explores the connection between two people who originally loathe each other but grow and change throughout the novel. Unlike the other characters….

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. United States: Barnes & Noble, 1993. Print.

Crowe, Marian. "G.K. Chesterton and the Orthodox Romance of Pride and Prejudice." Renascence 49.3 (1997): 209-221. Print.

Gast, M.A. Nicole. Marriages and the Alternatives in Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice.' 2005. Web. 27 Mar. 2010.

Green, Katherine Sobba. "The Heroine's Blazon and Hardwicke's Marriage Act: Commodification for a Novel Market." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature 9.2 (1990): 273-290. Print.

Pride and Prejudice an Analysis

Darcy. All of these problems are worked out by the conclusion of the novel, but not before Lydia has run off with Mr. ickham and eloped. This is considered a great disgrace and a shame for the Bennet's because it is found out that Mr. ickham is not a very wholesome character and in fact has quite a few skeletons in his closet. But Lydia does not seem to care because she is so willful that she does as she pleases and does not reflect upon how it will make her family appear in the rest of polite society. Of course, Lydia's elopement is another distress for Mrs. Bennet. But now there is a kind of reversal, and Elizabeth, who never seemed to be favored by her mother now appears to be sensible and strong. But still Mrs. Bennet prefers Lydia above the others and is depressed at finding that….

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. MN: Bethany House, 2007. Print.

Pride and Prejudice Women in Society Today

Pride and Prejudice Women in society today have come a long way from those in the 18th and 19th centuries. In terms of education, work, and marriage prospects, women today have many more choices than those in Jane Austen's novels, for example. Education for a young lady was generally seen as a way towards becoming a school teacher or becoming a high society married woman. There were few choices inbetween. For independently minded women like Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice, then, there were relatively few options to transcend the general social expectations of young ladies such as herself. Nevertheless, the character rises above what is expected of her, while at the same time satisfying her own independence. It is a novel that is satisfying even to today's reader, because its themes are both era specific and universal. In Austen's novel, Elizabeth Bennet is an independent, free-speaking woman who evolves, throughout the novel,….

Anderson, K. The Pride and Prejudice of the Characters in Jane Austen's Novel Pride and Prejudice. Fall, 2011. Web:  https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/29159/1/gupea_2077_29159_1.pdf 

Francus, M. Austen Therapy: Pride and Prejudice and Popular Culture. Jane Austen Society of North America, Vol. 30, No. 2. Spring, 2010. Web: http://www.jasna.org/persuasions/online/vol30no2/francus.html

Harrison, M. Walking Toward Womanhood: The Maturation of Jane Austen's Heroines in Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. Spring, 2011. Web: http://gradworks.umi.com/1496060.pdf

Milanovic, B. What Pride and Prejudice can teach us about inequality. The Atlantic Dec. 28, 2010. Web:  http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/12/what-i-pride-and-prejudice-i-can-teach-us-about-inequality/68629/

Pride and Prejudice by Jane

Chapter 50 shows this in the gossip and the interest people partake in of the relationship of Mr. ickham and Lydia. "How ickham and Lydia were to be supported in tolerable independence, she could not imagine. But how little of permanent happiness could belong to a couple who were only brought together because their passions were stronger than their virtue, she could easily conjecture." (Austen, 596) Good marriages, at least in the eyes of the characters, were comprised of people who were careful in selecting their partner, but were also aware of their responsiblities in their relationship. Jane and Mr. Bingley are very similar in their viewpoints and mannerisms and thought well of everyone and were kind, sociable, and respectful of themselves and each other. Going into the marriage they knew what was expected and what they could offer. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, opposites in certain ways, (he is….

Austen, Jane, and David M. Shapard. The Annotated Pride and Prejudice. New York: Anchor Books, 2012. Print.

Butler, Nancy, Hugo Petrus, and Jane Austen. Pride & Prejudice. New York: Marvel, 2009. Print.

Reid, Kerry. "THEATER REVIEW: Pride and Prejudice at Lifeline Theatre." Chicago Tribune. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.

A discussion between friends casts a light on the issue of pride, which appears to be Darcy's main enemy in his relationship with the society outside his most intimate acquaintances. Miss Lucas, one of the friends of the Bennet girls finds an excuse for Darcy's overflow of pride through his social status, fortune and image. Elisabeth agrees with her, but she also admits that her pride is even bigger than his and stands in the way of any chance of friendship between them. Elisabeth Bennet is a very intelligent young woman, but her very brightness stands in her way of recognizing something good in a person like Darcy Fitzwilliam. She is unable to see that soon Darcy begins to give up on his pride and discover in her qualities that he could have not observe the first time they met:" of this she was perfectly unaware; -- to her he was….

Austen Jane. Kinsley, James. Pride and Prejudice. Oxford University Press, 1980. Vol 1 and 2.

Pride and Prejudice Communist Manifesto the

...For the rest, it is self-evident that the abolition of the present system of production must bring with it the abolition of the community of women springing from that system, i. e., of prostitution both public and private. Marx 339-340) The communist manifesto clearly demonstrates that ideals that regard women and men, through the eyes of economic marriage partnership is abhorrent to the natural state, a satire in the subtle irony of Pride and Prejudice, is clear. Marx would likely not have looked favorably at the message of Austin's works, but as an intelligent man he might have looked between the lines, as modern readers do and seen the subtle cultural assassination within it. orks Cited Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Ed. James Kinsley. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980. Gilman, Priscilla. "Disarming Reproof": Pride and Prejudice and the Power of Criticism." Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal (2000): 218. Marx, Karl. Capital, the Communist Manifesto and Other….

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Ed. James Kinsley. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980.

Gilman, Priscilla. "Disarming Reproof": Pride and Prejudice and the Power of Criticism." Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal (2000): 218.

Marx, Karl. Capital, the Communist Manifesto and Other Writings. Ed. Max Eastman. New York: The Modern Library, 1959.

Park, You-Me, and Rajeswari Sunder Rajan, eds. The Postcolonial Jane Austen. London: Routledge, 2000.

Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth Bennet's

Leading up to (and following) Elizabeth's epiphany, Pride and Prejudice is essentially about how Elizabeth and Darcy slowly overcome their misconceptions; misunderstandings; weaknesses, and mistakes, to at last find love and happiness together. Both "pride" (personal and social, that is) and "prejudice" (the pre-judging, or perhaps more accurately, the misjudging, of one person by the other) create, before that point, considerable roadblocks to the love the two eventually find together. For example, based on her misconceptions, Elizabeth firmly rejects Darcy's first proposal of marriage, and does not realize her error in judgment for quite some time. Fortunately for Elizabeth, the strength of her own character, and her intelligence, wit, and personal charm allow her to retain Darcy's interest up until the time of her epiphany. Meanwhile, also, Elizabeth experiences many distractions, e.g., her mother; her sisters, their suitors, and all of their various actions and intrigues (including Lydia's mysterious disappearance); her….

Pride and Prejudice and Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice Additional Pages Casal, Elvira. "Laughing at Mr. Darcy: Wit and Sexuality in Pride and Prejudice." Persuasions On-Line 22.1 (2001): n. pag. Web. Casal discusses comedy, laughter and wit as Austen's basic thematic concerns within Pride and Prejudice. She begins her analysis with a discussion of the conversation between Miss Bingley and Elizabeth Bennett, which concludes with Elizabeth's expostulation "Mr. Darcy is not to be laughed at!" Casal notes that this passage indicates laughter as the sign that Elizabeth is not intimidated by Darcy's superior social status, as Miss Bingley is. In the same passage, Casal notes, Austen is careful to also have Elizabeth admit that "I dearly love a laugh," and thus asserts the importance of comedy. Yet Casal notes that laughter itself plays an ambiguous role within the actual novel: on the one hand she thinks that the novel itself is a "celebration of laughter" simply because "the….

Pride and Prejudice Beloved

Pride and Prejudice and Beloved -- two, more perfect marital unions Both the early 19th century novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and the late 20th century novel Beloved by Toni Morrison end with a marriage of two characters whose souls are incommensurate with their societies. It is clear in the 19th century story that the spirited femininity of Elizabeth Bennett is a perfect match for the sardonic, propertied manhood of Mr. Darcy because the two characters are the only individuals who are willing to speak their minds in their society, even though this frequently causes them to have differences with one another and their close friends. For instance, Elizabeth tells her friend Charlotte not to marry a man she does not love, even though he has money, because he is morally inferior to her and socially uncouth -- and Mr. Darcy tells his friend Mr. Bentley not to marry….

Pride and Prejudice-Feminism Was Jane

" A woman, although not receiving an inheritance, knew that she would at least be under the roof of her husband. Johnson, in her book, Jane Austen: Women, Politics and the Novel, characterizes Austen as a novelist who "defended and enlarged a progressive middle ground that had been eaten away by the polarizing polemics born of the 1790s." She also states that Austen was a product of her times. She agrees that Austen "opted definitely not to ratify the anarchism of the radical opposition" (166). Her adoption of conservative fictional models was strategic rather than partisan, a means of escaping the charge of wishing radically to change the social structure at a time of extreme political reaction. Was Jane Austen a feminist? It thus depends on the readers' expectation. If they expect a book that is radical by today's standards, it will not be Pride and Prejudice. However, if readers expect a….

Barreca, Regina. They Used to Call Me Snow White...But I Drifted: Women's Strategic Use of Humor. New York: Penguin, 1992.

Gray, Donald. Pride and Prejudice. 3rd Edition (Norton Critical Editions). New York: W.W. Norton, 2000.

Johnson, Claudia. Jane Austen: Women, Politics and the Novel. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.

Prewitt Brown, Julia. "The Feminist Depreciation of Austen: A Polemical Reading." Rev. Of Jane Austen: Women, Politics and the Novel, by Claudia L. Johnson, in Novel: A Forum on Fiction 23 (spring 1990).

Pride and Prejudice All Women

Collins provides for her, she'll be pleased. To put a finer point on her situation, one can argue that Charlotte won't be happy per se; she'll be content. Our heroine, however, gets to have her cake and eat it too. Elizabeth winds up with Mr. Darcy who is both wealthy and the man she ends up falling in love with. This is a woman's narrative about weddings after all, and Austen elected to reward her readers with some Shakespearean symmetry: a lot of marriages, people are generally happy or content at the end of the book. To make sense of how this unlikely couple ended up together, Austen includes a conversation between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, where Elizabeth says, "You were disgusted with the women who were always speaking and looking, and thinking for your approbation alone. I roused, and interested you, because I was so unlike them." Yes, this is….

Pride and Prejudice Reinforce or Erode Sexist

Pride and Prejudice reinforce or erode sexist stereotypes of women (Research essay) Jane Austen lived in a society where sexist values were believed to be perfectly natural and it was surely difficult for her to refrain from supporting some of these attitudes in spite of her feminist character. The individuals in "Pride and Prejudice" are each provided with a specific role that either reinforces or erodes sexist stereotypes in an attempt to paint a more complex picture regarding conditions in the early nineteenth century's England. hile particular characters such as Mr. Collins put across discriminating behavior toward women, it is gradually revealed that Austen uses this strategy with the purpose of emphasizing the wrongness related to such attitudes. In contrast, the novel's protagonist, Elizabeth Bennett, has a series of attributes that women absolutely needed during the period in order to be able to receive appreciation from society in general and….

Works cited:

Austen, Jane, "Pride and Prejudice," (RD Bentley, 1853)

Todd, Janet, "Jane Austen in Context," (Cambridge University Press, 20.10.2005)

Kirkham, Margaret, "Jane Austen, Feminism and Fiction: Second Edition," (Continuum International Publishing Group, 01.12.2000)

Can you offer advice on outlining an essay discussing Jane Austine biography

I. Introduction Begin with a brief overview of Jane Austen's life and importance as a literary figure. Highlight the main themes and issues that you plan to discuss in the essay. II. Jane Austen's Early Life and Influences Discuss Austen's upbringing in Steventon, Hampshire, and the influence of her family and social circle on her writing. Explore the impact of her education and reading habits on her literary development. Analyze the influence of her brothers' careers in the navy and clergy on her understanding of social class and gender roles. III. Austen's Literary Career Discuss the publication of Austen's early novels, including....

Could you help me draft an essay outline about Jane Austine

I. Introduction A. Brief overview of Jane Austen's life and works B. Significance of Jane Austen as a prominent female author in the literary world II. Early Life and Background A. Family background and upbringing B. Education and influences on her writing style III. Major Works by Jane Austen A. Pride and Prejudice 1. Plot summary 2. Analysis of main characters and themes B. Sense and Sensibility 1. Plot summary 2. Comparison with other works and common themes C. Emma 1. Plot summary 2. Exploration of social class and gender roles in the novel IV. Literary Style and Themes A. Exploration of Austen's....

My teacher suggested focusing on unit lesson. Any essay topics that align with this guidance?

Unit Lesson Essay Topic Ideas History The Causes and Consequences of the American Civil War: Analyze the complex factors that led to the outbreak of the American Civil War and explore its far-reaching social, political, and economic consequences. The Impact of the Industrial Revolution on European Society: Examine the technological, economic, and social changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution, considering its effects on workers, urbanization, and the balance of power. The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire: Investigate the reasons for the rise and eventual decline of the Roman Empire, analyzing its political, social, military, and economic strengths and....

I\'m looking for an essay essays title that is [description, e.g., research-based, persuasive, historical]. What options do you have?

Research-Based Essay Titles: The Impact of Social Media on Adolescent Mental Health: A Systematic Review The Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety Disorders: An Empirical Analysis The Role of Environmental Factors in the Development of Obesity: A Literature Review The Impact of Climate Change on Coastal Communities: A Case Study of New Orleans The Effectiveness of Online Learning in Higher Education: A Meta-Analysis Persuasive Essay Titles: Banning Assault Weapons: A Necessity for Public Safety The Importance of Climate Action: Why We Must Act Now The Benefits of Universal Healthcare: A Moral Imperative The Dangers of Censorship: Protecting Freedom of Expression ....

Family and Marriage

Pride & Prejudice Prideful The institution of marriage is one of the primary themes of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. The emphasis placed upon marriage by the vast majority of…

Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" is set in rural England, in Longbourn, during the Napoleonic ars, 1797-1815. The novel centers around the Bennet family, which includes five…

Annotated Bibliography

Pride & Prejudice Influence on Later Work Frantz, Sarah S.G. "Darcy's Vampiric Descendants: Austen's Perfect Romance Hero and J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood." Persuasions On-Line 30.1 (Winter 2009); n. pag.…

Bingley's wealth did not hurt the relationship either. He was "a young man of large fortune" (1) with an income of four or five thousand pounds per year. His…

Darcy. All of these problems are worked out by the conclusion of the novel, but not before Lydia has run off with Mr. ickham and eloped. This is…

Pride and Prejudice Women in society today have come a long way from those in the 18th and 19th centuries. In terms of education, work, and marriage prospects, women today…

Chapter 50 shows this in the gossip and the interest people partake in of the relationship of Mr. ickham and Lydia. "How ickham and Lydia were to be…

A discussion between friends casts a light on the issue of pride, which appears to be Darcy's main enemy in his relationship with the society outside his most intimate…

...For the rest, it is self-evident that the abolition of the present system of production must bring with it the abolition of the community of women springing from that…

Leading up to (and following) Elizabeth's epiphany, Pride and Prejudice is essentially about how Elizabeth and Darcy slowly overcome their misconceptions; misunderstandings; weaknesses, and mistakes, to at last find…

Pride and Prejudice Additional Pages Casal, Elvira. "Laughing at Mr. Darcy: Wit and Sexuality in Pride and Prejudice." Persuasions On-Line 22.1 (2001): n. pag. Web. Casal discusses comedy, laughter and wit…

Pride and Prejudice and Beloved -- two, more perfect marital unions Both the early 19th century novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and the late 20th century novel Beloved…

" A woman, although not receiving an inheritance, knew that she would at least be under the roof of her husband. Johnson, in her book, Jane Austen: Women, Politics and…

Collins provides for her, she'll be pleased. To put a finer point on her situation, one can argue that Charlotte won't be happy per se; she'll be content. Our…

Sports - Women

Pride and Prejudice reinforce or erode sexist stereotypes of women (Research essay) Jane Austen lived in a society where sexist values were believed to be perfectly natural and it…

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Prosecutors and Defense Lawyers Begin to Seat Jurors for Trump Trial

The prospective jurors questioned on Tuesday mirrored their city: diverse, opinionated and with strong views about the former president.

• Share full article

By Ben Protess ,  Jonah E. Bromwich ,  Maggie Haberman and Wesley Parnell

The daunting work of selecting a jury for the first criminal trial of a former American president rapidly gained momentum on Tuesday as seven New Yorkers were picked to sit in judgment of Donald J. Trump, accelerating a crucial phase of the case that many had expected to be a slog.

The judge overseeing the case said that if jurors continued to be seated at this pace, opening arguments would most likely begin Monday.

The first seven members of the panel that will decide whether Mr. Trump falsified records to cover up a sex scandal involving a porn star were picked in short order after the lunch break. The lawyers quizzed them on their politics, views about the former president and ability to remain impartial in a case that could offend their sensibilities.

And Mr. Trump’s lawyers examined their digital footprints, bringing several jurors into the courtroom one by one to ask them about past social media posts that seemed as if they could betray a negative opinion of the former president.

The wrangling underscored the importance and challenge of picking a jury in a city where the defendant is deeply unpopular — and not just any defendant, but the presumptive Republican nominee for president. Jury selection is pivotal: The outcome of the case could depend on who ultimately serves on the panel, which will include 12 jurors and most likely six alternates.

The two sides reached agreement on four men and three women whose lives will forever be shaped by the landmark trial, and who in turn may shape American political history. They include a man originally from Ireland who will serve as foreman, an oncology nurse, a grandfather originally from Puerto Rico, a middle-school teacher from Harlem, two lawyers and a software engineer for Disney.

While of different ages and ethnicities, the chosen seven had one thing in common: They vowed to give Mr. Trump a fair shake.

And although prosecutors might have the upper hand in Manhattan, one of the nation’s most Democratic counties, there were glimmers of hope for Mr. Trump. Just one stubborn juror can torpedo a case and hang a jury, an outcome that would be a victory for Mr. Trump.

The Harlem teacher, a young Black woman who hails from a family of police officers, said she appreciated Mr. Trump’s bombastic style and referred to him as “President Trump,” a title of respect and one his own lawyers use in court.

“President Trump speaks his mind, and I’d rather that than someone who’s in office who you don’t know what they’re thinking,” she said.

Other potential jurors presented red flags for the former president. Mr. Trump’s lead lawyer, Todd Blanche, quickly sought the dismissal of several for their online activity. One woman, he noted, had heralded a court decision overturning a travel ban Mr. Trump enacted as president and had at one point written “Get him out, and lock him up.” The juror was excused.

When another potential juror was being interviewed about her old Facebook posts, Mr. Trump began to mutter and gesture, drawing a rebuke from the judge, Juan M. Merchan.

“I won’t tolerate that,” the judge said, raising his voice once the potential juror had left the room. “I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom.”

Leaving court, Mr. Trump criticized Justice Merchan, saying he was “rushing the trial.” But later, he withheld judgment of the jurors themselves, remarking, “We’ll see what happens.”

Mr. Trump, who was charged by the Manhattan district attorney’s office with 34 felony counts and may take the witness stand in his own defense, has denied all wrongdoing. But during the 2016 presidential campaign, prosecutors say, Mr. Trump directed his fixer, Michael D. Cohen, to pay hush money to the porn star, Stormy Daniels . And while serving as president, he had his company falsify records to hide his reimbursement of Mr. Cohen, according to the charges.

Who Are Key Players in the Trump Manhattan Criminal Trial?

The first criminal trial of former President Donald J. Trump is underway. Take a closer look at central figures related to the case.

Prosecutors say it was a pattern for Mr. Trump: Faced with stories that could have doomed his campaign, he concealed them to influence the election. If the jury convicts him, he faces up to four years behind bars.

Over much of his life, Mr. Trump has measured the world in terms of whether it is treating him “unfairly.” Such grievance was at the heart of his appeal to voters who propelled his political rise and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election that he lost.

Now, the question of fairness — how people view Mr. Trump’s treatment by prosecutors, and whether they can judge him impartially — is at the heart of the jury selection.

The pool of possible jurors came from an initial group of 96, more than half of whom were dismissed immediately Monday after indicating that they could not fairly reach a decision. Others who returned on Tuesday had changed their minds after taking a night to think about it. “I don’t think I can be as impartial and unbiased as I hoped I could be,” one admitted. Another claimed to have recognized an “unconscious bias” against the former president.

Tuesday’s batch of potential jurors mirrored their city of 8.4 million, the most populous in the nation: They were diverse, opinionated, hard to pigeonhole. There was an Upper East Side investment banker, a high school teacher who likes to sew, a Mexico-born man who listens to podcasts about gay issues, and a bookseller who believes “no one is above the law.”

They were there involuntarily, because jury duty is an inescapable responsibility of citizenship. It can be tedious, exhausting or even exhilarating to judge a fellow American, someone a juror has never met or thought of before a trial convenes.

But everyone knows Donald Trump, the former reality television star turned polarizing president, who is once again running for that office. And in this case, the first of Mr. Trump’s four indictments to move to trial, the possible jurors are carrying a burden of history that appeared to agonize some of them.

Some acknowledged they could not be fair. The investment banker said he was just too busy to give up the next two months of his life.

Others embraced the moment, and even sought to persuade both the defense and prosecution of their bona fides.

A woman from the Upper West Side described herself as “a public servant,” adding that she had “built my entire career on trying to serve the city that I live in.” Jury duty, she proudly declared, was an extension of that, “of what’s required of me as a citizen.” She was excused nonetheless.

Mr. Blanche questioned the bookseller who argued that no one is above the law, trying to elicit his views on the former president. But the bookseller rebuffed him, saying that his opinion “has absolutely no bearing on the case.” He finally acknowledged he was a Democrat — like an overwhelming majority of Manhattan residents — but did not budge further.

He was dismissed after some anti-Trump social media posts came to light.

A white-haired woman became animated when asked whether she would hold it against Mr. Trump if he did not testify.

“That’s your right. You can’t presume that makes him guilty,” she said, waving her hands for emphasis as she uttered the words every defense lawyer wants to hear. “The prosecutor’s the one that has to present those facts and prove them,” she added.

Mr. Blanche replied, “I don’t think I could have said it better myself,” though the woman later disclosed that “politically, we have big disagreements, your client and myself,” and she was excused.

There were moments of levity. One woman, answering a question about whether she knew anyone in the legal field, said, “I dated a lawyer for a while.” She paused. “It ended fine.”

Mr. Trump did not laugh, but he did smirk when a man disclosed he was once an alternate juror in a case involving the former president and the media mogul Merv Griffin, who in the late 1980s were in a dispute about control of a casino company .

This prospective juror, who was eventually dismissed, exemplified the uniquely New York nature of the proceeding: a former photographer for the city jails, he suggested that he had known some of the Central Park Five, teenagers convicted and later exonerated in the rape of a woman in Central Park. Mr. Trump took out a newspaper ad soon after their arrests calling for them to face the death penalty.

While the former president did not visibly react to the mention of that episode, he took pleasure in hearing from a prospective juror who had enjoyed his celebrity turn on reality television. “I was a big fan of ‘The Apprentice’ when I was in middle school,” the man said, drawing a smile from Mr. Trump.

Other potential jurors told stories about how crime had affected their families, including a man whose daughter was the victim of a violent sexual assault. He said he had read “Trump: The Art of the Deal” and two other books by the former president, eliciting an approving nod from the author. The prosecution had him excused.

The man born in Mexico, who was ultimately excused, said he had become a U.S. citizen in the first year of Mr. Trump’s presidency. When asked whether anything about that experience would prejudice his role as a juror, he replied, “Feelings are not facts,” adding, “I’m very grateful to be an American.”

Although Mr. Trump’s trial absorbed much of the courthouse’s energy, plenty of people were summoned to serve on juries in other cases.

Mark DeMuro, a 71-year-old artist, said he was thankful he would not have to sit in judgment of Mr. Trump, whom he called “a loathsome character.”

“I could never serve on that jury; I would never risk the trial,” Mr. DeMuro said, adding, “I pray for the people who get selected.”

Kate Christobek , Michael Gold and Nate Schweber contributed reporting.

Ben Protess is an investigative reporter at The Times, writing about public corruption. He has been covering the various criminal investigations into former President Trump and his allies. More about Ben Protess

Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in New York, with a focus on the Manhattan district attorney’s office and state criminal courts in Manhattan. More about Jonah E. Bromwich

Maggie Haberman is a senior political correspondent reporting on the 2024 presidential campaign, down ballot races across the country and the investigations into former President Donald J. Trump. More about Maggie Haberman

Our Coverage of the Trump Hush-Money Trial

News and Analysis

The daunting work of selecting a jury for the trial rapidly gained momentum as seven New Yorkers were picked  to sit in judgment of Donald Trump, accelerating a crucial phase of the case that many had expected to be a slog.

The beginning of Trump’s trial drew intense security, smothering media coverage and loud demonstrations to a dingy Manhattan courthouse that will be the unlikely center of American politics for six weeks .

Melania Trump has long referred to the case as her husband’s problem, not hers. But she has privately called the trial a “disgrace”  that could threaten his campaign.

More on Trump’s Legal Troubles

Key Inquiries: Trump faces several investigations  at both the state and the federal levels, into matters related to his business and political careers.

Case Tracker:  Keep track of the developments in the criminal cases  involving the former president.

What if Trump Is Convicted?: Will any of the proceedings hinder Trump’s presidential campaign? Here is what we know, and what we don’t know .

Trump on Trial Newsletter: Sign up here  to get the latest news and analysis  on the cases in New York, Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C.

University of Virginia Agrees to End Ex-Student’s Title IX Suit

By Tre’Vaughn Howard

The University of Virginia and a former undergraduate student, who alleges the school wrongfully expelled him based on false sexual assault allegations, have agreed to dismiss his suit with prejudice, according to a joint stipulation.

The stipulation also says that each party will bear their own costs.

• John Doe alleged UVA violated Title IX and the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment by wrongfully expelling him. Doe also alleged a breach of contract claim arising from the expulsion. The US District Court for the Western District of Virginia partially granted UVA’s motion to dismiss in April ...

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