It is interesting to reflect that Austen's original title
of choice for this classic was actually First Impressions. This title helpfully focuses
us on all of the first impressions that there are in the novel and how mistaken they can
be. When we think of the first clash between Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy in Chapter
Three, it is definite that Lizzie does have cause for disliking Mr. Darcy. Let us
remember what he said about her within her hearing:
"She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to
tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are
slighted by other men."
So,
we can say that Lizzie does have cause to think him a proud man, which is admitted by
Darcy himself at the end of the novel. However, where Lizzie's problems lie is that,
having consigned Mr. Darcy to the category of proud and arrogant, she is unable to
convince herself that he could be anything different, and is happy to believe and be
taken in by the deceptions of others, such as Wickham--another first impression that
Lizzie "reads" very wrongly.
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