'First impressions are very significant in Pride and Prejudice.' How far do you agree with this view?

Austen's original title for Pride and Prejudice was 'First Impressions', so clearly these are a key theme in the novel. One way of creating an argument to answer this question would be to examine the two most important impressions of the protagonist, Elizabeth, and compare her first meeting with Mr Darcy to her first meeting with Mr Wickham. By the end of the novel Elizabeth's opinion of these two men has completely shifted, and her initial impressions are overturned. Therefore Austen demonstrates through these characters that first impressions can cloud a person's judgement and make them unable to see a person's true qualities. Although this theme is applicable to many characters in the novel, it is important to streamline a clear argument in an essay, which is why I would select two specific meetings and then compare them.

IH
Answered by Isabel H. English Literature tutor

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