P+P #16

“Pride...is a very common failing I believe. By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is a very common failing indeed, that human nature is particularly prone to it...” (12) Austen makes Darcy seem like a vain man right from the beginning of her novel. She gives the reader a first impression of Darcy, and lets the story go from there--giving her audience mainly just Elizabeth’s perspective. It is interesting that Mary, the least known of the five Bennet daughters, sets the stage for Darcy’s impressions. Austen convinces her audience of Darcy’s mishaps through Mary, who is known to be a reader and therefore assumed to be wise--making the opinions reliable.