First Impressions Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austen, deals with many common issues such as marriage, wealth, social status, and first impressions. Even though first impressions can be misleading, true character always reveals itself later. During the 19th century, impressions, especially first impressions, were of the utmost importance. An opinion or first impression can lead to future prejudices or misjudgments about a person's true character. Other times, an initial assessment may be spot on. Many characters, such as Darcy, Elizabeth, and Wickham, are treated unfairly due to inaccurate assessments by others. Darcy is one of the characters who is judged by almost everyone in the novel. Many of the assessments made of Mr. Darcy are extremely wrong. At first everyone imagines Mr. Darcy as a “handsome figure of a man” and “much handsomer than Mr. Bingley” (7). However, his impression of a gentlemanly figure soon begins to fade. Mr. Darcy soon finds himself “to be proud, to be above his company, and above to be pleased” (7). This unpleasant impression only makes the situation worse...