What is the main theme in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice?

As the
title suggests, the main themes in really
are pride and prejudice.
is shown to be guilty of prejudicially judgingto be prideful. In
addition, it turns out that improper pride is actually the reason behind Elizabeth's prejudice.
Finally, while Darcy is recognized as feeling above his company,
the reality is that he really is the most noble character in the book and found to actually not
have any improper pride. We know that pride and prejudice are the most dominant themes in the
book because it is these two themes that create the main conflict
in the story, which is Elizabeth's dislike of Darcy and Darcy's unrequited love for Elizabeth,
also expressed as character vs.
character.

Elizabeth first
realizes the error of her judgements after reading Darcy's letter explaining his thoughts on her
family's behavior and his history with . It is after this that she realizes she foolishly judged
Wickham to be the most amiable man she's met simply because he is conversational and friendly.
Likewise, she realizes that she judged Darcy to be a despicable man partially because he is
reserved and standoffish and partially because of what Whickham told her about Darcy's treatment
of him, which turned out to be all lies. As Elizabeth herself expresses it:

How despicably have I acted ... I, who have prided myself on my
discernment ... Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind. (Ch.
36)

Hence we see that it is truly
Elizabeth who has had the wrongful
pride and that her pride has caused her to prejudicially
misjudge both Darcy and
Wickham.

Darcy
expresses a very central point towards the beginning of the book. He argues that
"pride--where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good
regulation" (Ch. 11). His point is that people who genuinely do have a greater, more
intelligent understanding than others and who act upon principles and morals while others fail
to do so really should feel genuine pride. And he is shown to be right. All throughout the novel
Austen shows us that there really are people who have limited sense and understanding, such as ,
and who act in immoral, imprudent ways, such as the rest of the entire Bennet household,
especially , and Wickham. Darcy, on the other hand,
always acts upon morals and principles and even rescues Lydia and
the whole Bennet household from disgrace. Hence, Darcy really is shown to be
superior in both sense and morals to
otherin the book, which is why Elizabeth says towards the end of the novel, "Indeed he has
no improper pride" (Ch. 59). However, Darcy is also proven to have felt himself to be above
his company and to have looked down on others simply because of
their connection with the merchant class. Darcy makes this realization by the end of the novel
and repents having acted upon his principles with "pride and conceit" (Ch. 58). Hence
we see that Darcy had genuine reason to appreciate, or take pride in, his sense and morals, but
was also guilty of acting in a way that judged and criticized others.