These two instances of prematurely formed first impressions make up one way in which the "prejudice" of the title is shown in the novel. The characters in this novel are very quick to form opinions of each other, doing so even before they meet each other, and this has a major effect on their relationships. The result of these first two cases of unseen first impressions is actually positive, and fairly quickly resolved -- Jane and Mr. Bingley end up falling in love, proving the correctness of their hastily formed first impressions. These are instances where the affects of first impressions on character relationships are actually beneficial, because they are fulfilled. More often in the novel, however, the gossip and ballroom behavior that tends to lead to first impressions between the characters -- especially the Bennett sisters and the various men they become involved with -- ends with a different twist, sometimes even disaster. First impressions can be dangerous and frustrating when they are wrong.

The first impression that the neighborhood, Elizabeth, and the reader gets of Mr. Darcy is not at all favorable. Seen standing alone and not dancing with any of the women, the admiration of his handsomeness and fortune quickly turns to a belief that he is "proud...and above being pleased," with "a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance...unworthy to be compared with his friend" (Austen, 12). It is Mr. Darcy's actions and others' perceptions of them that lead to this belief, and not any actual conversation with him (though what Elizabeth overhears is certainly personally insulting). This first impression does much to affect other characters' attitudes towards Mr. Darcy, especially Elizabeth's. Becuase of this first impression, the two find each other ta odds for much of the novel, only realizing and admitting late in the action that they

Darcy tells Mr. Bingley about his reasons for not wanting to dance with anyone at the ball: "You know how I detest it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner...Your sisters are engaged, and there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with" (Austen, 13). He does not wish to dance with girls he doesn't know, meaning he really hopes to be able to engage in conversation and doesn't lend himself as easily to superficial things -- making him the perfect match for Elizabeth. He also makes the wrong assumptions about her; he assumes she is alone because she is being neglected by other men, when in fact there are simply too few at the ball according to an earlier passage. His first impression is that there must be something wrong with her, and this stops him from being able to see how right she would be for him. Without these mistaken first impressions, the novel would have been over in twenty pages.
The first impressions people form in this novel through their prejudices -- and that they maintain through their pride -- are what really drives the plot forward. Pride and Prejudice, like Austen's other novels, is about the characters and the relationships they form more than about other events happening. That is, relationships are the events in the novel, and they would not be filled with nearly so much complexity or conflict without the first impressions that the characters form of each other. The number of different ways in which Austen exploits this same basic principle is evidence of her brilliance and inventiveness as a writer; the outcome of the various first impressions formed is never repeated, but rather they are all differentiated and expressed in new and engaging ways to keep the novel interesting.

Works Cited

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. New York: Penguin, 2003.