A Peaceful War

As I continued my reading, I realized the apparently friendly environment in which the plot develops hides a hostile underlying situation that resembles a war. Here, people call gathering intelligence “overhearings” (p.13). Although people do not die in this conflicts, loosing can injure your pride or as they refer to it euphemistically: “offended”. But why would pride matter so much if it only mirrors what we think of ourselves?

As Mary said: “Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves and vanity to what we would have other think of us.” (14). Still, these two relate directly even if they oppose each other. I theorize that this novel will explore the relationship between the two closely. People should maintain a level of vanity that equals that of their pride. If a person hides their self hatred in order to show in vanity what they lack in pride, circumstances would eventualy expose this lie. If someone’s vanity does not equal their pride, other people (like family or friends) will help them rise it to an acceptable level.

This relationship makes these social events into a battlefield where others masure levels of pride and vanity in people they consider important. Mr. Darcy gave his vanity a higher value than his pride and his punishment was to stand “near them in silent indignation at such a mode of passing the evening, to the exclusion of all conversation…” (18) On the other hand, the crowd that ignored Mr. Darcy praised Mr. Bingley because of his personality and attitude.

In the end, this process becomes a battlefield where all fight for the center of attention. For people like Mr. Bingley, such a task can be done unconsciously for he has wealth and a good personality. Such an achievement requires a greater effort for those of a lower social class. Also, a conflict can only occur amongst fellow member of a social class. They aim at obtaining enough attention from a higher class to enjoy some of its benefits. Marriage is the most evident of these methods. Competition can be fierce with so few possibilities to compete for. This matters for the understanding of the novel because it shows how hiding key pieces of information in unexpected places forms part of the writer's style.