Prejudice in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and To Kill a Mockingbi

Prejudice in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee In the novels â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† by Jane Austen and â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† by Harper Lee it is evident that both novels are dominated by prejudice. In both novels there are various themes but both novels mainly centre on prejudice. In â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† the prejudices is not that serious. It is mainly about first impressions (the original title of the Book) yet in â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† the prejudice is more serious and is shown in a more sinister way, the theme of prejudice reaches a climax and end in shocking and drastic results. â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† was written in 1813. The period of the setting of the novel is 1811-1812. The novel is set in England in various places like London, Kent, Derbyshire and Hertfordshire (home of the Bennet family). Women in regency Britain had far less option than the women of today. Most women did not receive a formal education, women were taught to be useful but not independent, their aim was to become ‘accomplished’ which meant being proficient In the social graces such as singing, music, drawing, needlework and literature, although the latter did not have the same emphasis. There was constant pressure on women of those times to marry well, to obtain financial security, not just for their selves but also for their immediate family. The position of unmarried women is clearly defined in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† there is no instance where a single woman travelled alone, or was without a chaperone apart from when Elizabeth went to nurse Jane. Even then this incident was looked down upon by Miss Bingley, however it won Elizabeth respect in the eyes of Mr Darcy. When Lydia r... ... forced her to, but also because she received regular beatings from Bob which psychologically left an impact on her and made her feel someone had to pay and that person was Tom Robinson. So Bob Ewells prejudice was to such an extent that he caused an innocent man to die, therefore along with most of Maycomb County he has Tom Robinson’s blood on his hand. Both books contain a considerable amount of prejudice, however the prejudice in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† is quite irrelevant while in â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† it is quite substantial. Jane Austen has shown prejudice in a satirical manner while in to Harper Lee has shown its evil form. â€Å"Pride and â€Å"Prejudice† is about trivial themes like marriage, love and family life while in â€Å"To Kill a mockingbird† it is about evil, racial prejudice and discrimination which eventually grasps the life of a innocent man.