Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is a story of courtship and marriage. In Austen's world, most matches happened according to circumstance and convenience. The same goes for many of its young couples in the novel. The social sense of filial responsibility and financial prudence is so pervasive that Austen is sometimes questioned for her apparent lack of passion. In fact, more than half of the couples cited in the book end up with a mediocre marriage. The fact is, however, that Austen gives her reader an extremely accurate description of how society has persuaded its citizens that love is secondary. This mindset more than makes up for the romance, but the author wants his readers to know that love is not completely a lost cause. Austen's tale is one where passion and desire constitute the unexpected cavalry in the skirmish between the head and the heart. To this end, Pride and Prejudice is a brilliant novel in which love and desire, although treated with contempt by the social mentality, finally prove victorious.Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The relationship between passion and desire is deeply complex. The desire for something usually precedes the passion for it; However, there are times when an uncalculated fervor awakens a secret desire and begs it to reveal itself. Moreland Perkins points out that the mind, however, participates in the revelation of desire, because a given mentality has the potential to master a person's conscious feelings. As he puts it: “The emotions deeply felt by a normally socialized human being are, in general, richly imbued with thought which constitutes a determining ingredient of the emotions. » (Perkins 83). This may not be universally true of all Austenian characters, but the fact that Austen depicts this in her most ardent lovers, the bewitching Elizabeth Bennet and her charming Mr. Darcy, is an indication that she wishes really that its readers are aware of it. struggle between the mind and the emotions. The fact that a number of other characters in Pride and Prejudice share similar dilemmas is proof that passion and desire face a formidable enemy in their confrontation with social mindsets. Austen's novel of manners has a plethora of characters to evaluate. Beginning with Lady Catherine de Bourgh, we meet a creature whose character is not inclined to make concessions to the heart. Such is his allegiance to aristocratic propriety that marriage is entirely a matter of duty. The protests of passion and desire, the authors of love, have no consequences for her when they carry the slightest indication of social degradation. His own wish that his daughter marry Mr. Darcy, his nephew, is supported by his hegemonic ambitions to preserve the class order in a society where this distinction is becoming less and less rigid. His indignation is expressed forcefully towards Elizabeth at Longbourn, when she demands submission to her own "claims of duty, honor and gratitude". (288). Because she does not possess a single fiber of romantic sensibility in her body, Lady Catherine is the embodiment of Austen's conservative ideology which views marriage as both a social advantage and a family responsibility. Another character who adopts a socially constructed role at the expense of passion and desire. is Caroline Bingley, an elegant but callous woman whose only purpose in life is to marry Mr. Darcy. That Miss Bingley is a miniature of Lady Catherine is obvious. Every womanhas a superiority complex which makes her extremely vain and extremely insolent towards anyone she believes to be inferior. Miss Bingley's reasonable assessment of her relationships makes her insensible to the satisfaction her amiable brother finds in the company of country people. In fact, his prejudices against this class are as ill-founded as Elizabeth's contempt for Mr. Darcy. With such a state of mind, Miss Bingley is therefore safe from an influence of tender feelings on her fixed will, which has decided to marry well. There is even no pity for her disappointed intentions with Mr. Darcy because she never suffers his loss; she simply envies her rival. Furthermore, Miss Bingley's jealousy actually covets the status and fortune that Mr. Darcy's wife will obtain, not her husband. Because of her profiteering hopes, Miss Bingley's chances of a happy marriage depend entirely on money. Transforming Miss Bingley into a passionate woman would jeopardize the verisimilitude that Austen strives to create in her characters. This profiteering mentality is also evident in George Wickham. A true scoundrel of history, Wickham has a history of scandalous indiscretion in matters of love and money. Wickham's current situation when he is first introduced to Austen's audience is truly hopeless. Due to his circumstances (i.e. a large debt and a questionable reputation), he ends up eloping with Lydia Bennet, Elizabeth's youngest sister. Confirmation that he neither values ​​nor loves Lydia comes when he suddenly desires to marry her as soon as it becomes essential to his material security. However, the desire that sparked this affair quickly fades. The reader is told: "...his affection for her soon sank into indifference." (311), and their marital status is that of Lydia visiting Pemberly on the occasion when "her husband was away amusing himself in London or Bath." (311). For Lydia as for Wickham, then, the fervor of youthful imagination proves to have very little long-standing desire when tested by years of marriage. Although Lydia and Wickham fall prey to harsh ideology, Austen withholds all pity from their affairs in order to preserve the integrity of her argument. The failure of passion and lack of desire is sad, yes, but it is also realistic. As shown, Austen gives her readers several examples of how society so easily degrades passion and desire. It should be kept in mind, however, that she does not always look down on caution matches. If that were the case, the marriage of Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins would have been viewed more negatively, particularly on Charlotte's part. How could it be that Austen could craft a character full of common sense and general compassion, while still allowing her to embrace the most boring character an author has ever put to paper? For a twenty-seven-year-old single woman, a proposal from a stable clergyman was more than welcome. It's also worth considering that Charlotte doesn't care about romance. His only requests are a comfortable home and a quiet lifestyle, which fits perfectly with what Mr. Collins offers. It is no accident on Austen's part that Charlotte's desires are so simple. Rather, he reminds the reader that not all marriages necessarily bring together passionate lovers. The fact that Charlotte is very satisfied with her married life attests to this as much as it supports the idea that Social Security is good enough to support Spartan complacency. Austen's material point with Charlotte is this: where the mind is satisfied with security, it will substitute comfort for love. Here there is no aspiration beyond polite affection, hence little or no passion..