First Impressions

First impressions play an important role throughout Austen’s novel, almost keeping Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy apart. Elizabeth first sees him as arrogant, while he dismisses her immediately because she is not up to his definition of beauty. Eventually, they both realize their mistakes but the interim is filled with confusion based on these false pretenses. This serves as a warning to not judge people quickly, because they are not always as they appear – a very novel concept in a time when appearances were everything.