Pride and Prejudice Propriety

Conformity to what is socially acceptable in conduct or speech Fear of offending against conventional rules of behavior especially between the sexes Customs and manners of polite society

Can we make the basic assumption that a person’s outward manners mirror his or her moral character? Original title of Pride and Prejudice was First Impressions

The definition of true propriety that Pride and Prejudice offers is simply a healthy respect for the conventional rules of social behavior, modified by an understanding that those forms are important, not as ends in themselves, but as means of regulating social intercourse, and that therefore they need not always be followed slavishly.

Austen Divides Propriety into Two Classes 1.Rules that represent the social codification of basic moral principles 2.Rules that are primarily matters of fashion or convenience Example of #1: Breaking a first engagement because one has received a more appealing second Example of #2: Young ladies taking long country walks by themselves

Lack of Propriety Mr. Collins has fallen in love with two of the commonest forms of politeness, the apology and the thank you, and has completely failed to understand that these forms have definite functions in social intercourse Sir William Lucas has moved to where “he could think with pleasure of his own importance, and unshackled by business, occupy himself solely in being civil to all the world.’ The purpose of civility has been forgotten

Can we make the basic assumption that a person’s outward manners mirror his or her moral character? Remember that classic literature frequently equated physical ugliness with moral ugliness