pride essay

Self-Esteem

Why pride is nothing to be proud of, what we really need to feel good about ourselves.

Posted June 6, 2015 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma

“I’m proud of myself for having graduated from college and for my accomplishments in life. I pride myself on being punctual and for having strong moral values. I’m proud of my beautiful home and garden.”

These are some of the things that might swell us with pride. But what exactly is pride? Does it serve us or trap us? How does it differ from dignity?

Pride derives from the French word “ prud ,” which is a late Old English word variously translated as “excellent, splendid, arrogant, haughty.” It is thought that “having a high opinion of oneself” might reflect the Anglo-Saxons opinion of Norman knights who called themselves “proud.”

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary offers multiple definitions for “pride.” A positive one is: “A feeling that you respect yourself and deserve to be respected by others.” This seems like a healthy aspect of pride. But then there’s: “A feeling that you are more important or better than other people” and “inordinate self-esteem .” This appears to be a common, not-so-healthy conceit, reflected in statements like, “He had too much pride to ask for help” or “her pride prevented her from admitting she was wrong.”

Since “pride” has conflicting definitions, it may be wise to use a different word to affirm our worth and value.

From Pride to Dignity

We might believe that healthy self-worth means taking pride in our achievements. But if value is tied to our accomplishments or self-image , it’s built upon on a fragile foundation.

There's nothing wrong with feeling satisfaction when we achieve some goal, such as getting a promotion or buying a new car. But if we allow these things to define who we are, we set ourselves up for misery. According to Buddhist psychology , suffering is generated when we cling too tightly to things that will inevitably pass.

A more genuine and stable self-worth is based upon validating, affirming, and valuing ourselves as we are. Self-worth is a function of living with dignity, which exists apart from any accomplishments. Achievements are ephemeral and can become a trap. If too much of our attention goes toward accomplishing bigger and better things in order to feel good, then we become addicted to external sources of gratification.

In contrast, dignity can live inside us regardless of our successes and failures. We don’t have to prove anything to anybody, or even to ourselves. If an enterprise fails, this doesn’t mean that we’re a failure. If an attempt to communicate our feelings to our partner falls flat, we might feel sad, but we can feel good knowing we did our best. We can experience the dignity of having reached out to connect or to repair an injury to the relationship. We can experience the dignity of living with integrity, regardless of the outcome.

Pride Is Shame -Driven

Perhaps there’s a good reason why pride has been considered one of the seven deadly sins . We’ve all been repelled by people who have an inflated view of themselves. They may talk about themselves excessively and rarely show interest in others. They pump themselves up and come across as snooty, exuding an attitude that makes others feel judged.

Such over- confidence and arrogance push us away. Instead of relating to us as equals, they display an obnoxious superiority that makes us feel small. They have the knack of making us feel the shame that they refuse to face within themselves.

Pride is often driven by poor self-worth and shame. We feel so badly about ourselves that we compensate by feeling superior. We look for others’ flaws as a way to conceal our own. We relish criticizing others as a defense against recognizing our own shortcomings.

Pride prevents us from acknowledging our human vulnerabilities. This shame-driven pride makes us too uncomfortable to say, “I’m sorry, I was wrong, I made a mistake.” When pride rules, we believe we’re always right. This makes it difficult to sustain intimate relationships; nobody likes being with a know-it-all.

As the light of our dignity shines more brightly, we realize that we don’t have to be perfect. Showing vulnerability and humility invites people toward us. We become approachable rather than intimidating. We don’t see ourselves as better or worse than anyone else. We recognize that we’re all a part of the human condition; we all have strengths and weaknesses.

It is freeing to hold ourselves with the dignity that comes from simply being human. We don’t need to achieve “greatness” to have worth and value. We’re great just as we are. We might be inclined to pursue excellence because it feels meaningful, enlivening, and expansive, but not because it defines who we are as a person.

When pride substitutes for our human dignity, it disconnects us. Affirming our dignity and allowing others their dignity, we become more available to honor ourselves and connect with others as equals. Pride is a burden we don’t need. Living with dignity allows us to move more freely through life.

John Amodeo, Ph.D., MFT , is a coach and has been a licensed marriage and family therapist for over 40 years.

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Celebrating Pride Month: An Essay by Ula Klein, Author of Sapphic Crossings

June is Pride Month, and I’m proud to be a member of the LGBTQ community, working on LGBTQ literary and cultural history. My book,  Sapphic Crossings: Cross-Dressing Women in Eighteenth-Century British Literature  (UVA Press, 2021), looks at the lesbian, transgender and nonbinary histories that many people today haven’t heard of—yet.

Many people associate Pride celebrations with parades, rainbow gear, and parties, and for many people, Pride is associated primarily with gays and lesbians. In fact, sometimes Pride is called “Gay Pride.” What many do not know is that the Stonewall Riots that happened at the end of June 1969—the reason why Pride month is the month of June—were instigated by long-time transgender activists of color, including Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, both of whom worked to promote LGBTQ rights for many years before and after the riots.

Transgender and gay history are intertwined with one another, even if many people don’t always think about them that way. But gender and sexuality are difficult to extricate from one another. After all, gay couples are defined as gay because they are two people of the same gender. Despite the close connections between these categories, they are often talked about, thought about, and written about as separate.

When it comes to historical research into the lives of people who may or may not have been gay or bisexual or transgender, it becomes even harder to label anyone because we can’t go back in time to ask them how they thought of their gender identity or sexual orientation—and how they felt about those things might not easily align with the language that we use today. As any historian of sexuality will tell you, people did not always think of their sexuality as a part of their identity, like their gender, class, or nationality, while gendered categories of existence varied from culture to culture and across time and place.

And yet, I believe it is extremely important to look into the past to find traces of LGBTQ people—not to “label” people of the past, but rather to understand the role of LGBTQ people and identities in the past and today as part of  mainstream  culture, rather than on the peripheries. In my book, I consider people like Mary/George Hamilton, whose story was salaciously retold in an extremely fictionalized manner by major eighteenth-century author Henry Fielding, author of  Tom Jones  and many other novels and plays.

This fictionalized story, published anonymously as  The Female Husband , fascinated eighteenth-century readers, and was widely available throughout Britain from its publication in 1746 and into the nineteenth century. The narrative presents Hamilton as a person assigned female at birth, seduced by a lesbian Methodist, who finally ran away from home in men’s clothing and went on to seduce—and marry—several women in England before being apprehended and charged with fraud and vagrancy by the local courts.

Interestingly enough, Hamilton was outed for being  too good  in bed—the dildo they used was apparently “unrealistic”…not that Hamilton’s wife was complaining! 

Hamilton’s dressing in men’s clothing and using a man’s name places them squarely in the realm of transgender history. And yet, for the narrator of the text, it is Hamilton’s desires for women that are problematic—placing their narrative into the realm of proto-lesbian history.

Hamilton’s case demonstrates how difficult it can be to “label” people of the past. Was Hamilton gender fluid? Transgender? Genderqueer? Butch lesbian? In my book, I move beyond such questions to consider ones that I believe are more important, such as: why was this story so popular for eighteenth-century readers? How is it that eighteenth-century readers would have been familiar with a dildo and what does that familiarity tell us about sexual practices at the time? And why was transgender representation so crucial for representing same-sex female desires in the eighteenth century?

The intertwined history of transgender identity and gay and lesbian identity needs to be acknowledged.  Just like the history of Pride month, the longer history of LGBTQ identities is one made up of many intertwined strands. I’m proud to contribute to excavating and analyzing that history in my book, primarily by looking at what popular literary texts can tell us about how lesbian desires and trans embodiments were represented in narrative.

Ula Klein is Director of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh and author of  Sapphic Crossings: Cross-Dressing Women in Eighteenth-Century British Literature .

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94 Pride and Prejudice Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best pride and prejudice topic ideas & essay examples, 📌 most interesting pride and prejudice topics to write about, 👍 good research topics about pride and prejudice, ❓ pride and prejudice essay questions.

• Essay on Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen This essay contains the analysis of the novel, including the summary, description of the main characters and themes, personal opinion about the narrative, and conclusion that summarizes the main points of the essay.
• Pride and Prejudice: Mrs. Bennet Bennet cares for her daughters and husband, despite the ways she chooses to show her thoughtfulness that is often improper or inconsiderate, which makes her a good wife and mother.
• Character Analysis in Pride and Prejudice From the Feminist Perspective Darcy is a character who is able to evolve over the span of the story, and eventually, he recognizes his mistakes.Mr.
• Importance of Letters in “Pride and Prejudice” The reader observes aspects of love, hatred, and humor in characters such as Elizabeth when she reacts to her sister’s letters.
• Gardens in Pride and Prejudice In the novel, the author compares this garden to Darcy’s perception of himself. He boasts about how he knows the number and the location of each and every tree in the garden.
• Stereotypes of Women in “Pride and Prejudice” In this novel of manners, the author describes the character development of the protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, and depicts the society of late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century England with its values and flaws. One of the […]
• “Pride and Prejudice”: Analysis of a Passage The story, the characters, the setting, and even the speech of the characters make strong references to the environments of the beginning of the 19th century in England.
• Money, Status, and Marriage in Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” Women were under the care of the men of their families, and the search for a husband was the main path to higher status and wealth.
• The Concepts of Identity in Ibi Zoboi’s Remix “Pride and Prejudice” The surrounding atmosphere and cultural specificities influence the characters’ personalities throughout the story and change their attitude towards the particular minorities and races.
• “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen: Characters Analysis Pride and Prejudice is, first of all, a profoundly realistic representation of characters and tempers, albeit not of the English society as a whole, but of its privileged groups since the end of the 18th […]
• Letters in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen The paper will include the explanation of the letters’ primary function and the analysis of letters. Gardiner to Lizzy is significant in a way that it changes the latter’s perception of Darcy.
• Style as Character Insight: The Use of Irony and Free Indirect Discourse in Jane Austen’s Major Works This event appears to be a seminal one in the life of the author, as the social theme of marriage plays out very much in several of Jane Austen’s novels, including Emma, and Sense and […]
• Robinson Crusoe’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Daniel Defoe and Jane Austen In the novel, Robinson Crusoe, Defoe describes it as a history of facts that seeks to portray the social institutions and structures of the medieval British society.
• Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility Macpherson asserts, In any erotic rivalry, the bond that links the two rivals is as intense and potent as the bond that links either of the rivals to the beloved.the bonds of “rivalry” and “love,” […]
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith Zombies described in the book are called the unmentionables and, to the greatest extent, correspond to the classic image introduced by George A.
• Pride and Prejudice: Critical Analysis A number of styles are hard to ignore in the second part of the screen play, which focuses solely on the characters and the plot.
• Why to Read “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen In addition to undermining the historical gender stereotypes, the novel portrays the importance of women’s social status in the Victorian era and their dependence on their husbands’ or parents’ financial situation.
• The Novel “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice can rightfully be considered one of the best works in the history of literature. But what is most striking in the book, Pride and Prejudice, is the expression of deep topics through […]
• J. Austen’s “Sense & Sensibility”, “Pride and Prejudice”, and “Emma” Dwelling in the world of words and literature, one closed to the ‘fairer sex’ of her time, she earned for herself not just the fame of a good author but one widely read even to […]
• “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen: Research Paper on the Book It is in the third chapter of the novel that Austen builds the characters of Bingley and Darcy through their manners: “Mr.
• “Pride and Prejudice” by Austen: Chapter 43 The reason for writing the piece was to explore the place of marriage in society and what is meant to women during the 18th century. In such a quote, the reader realizes that Elizabeth wanted […]
• Jane Austen’s Novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’ The current study explores the link between romance with the natural, the supernatural, and emotion versus reality to understand romanticism characteristics in the novel.
• Marriage in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen In spite of the predominance of this vision of the marriage and the woman’s role in society, Jane Austen in her Pride and Prejudice proposes several possible variants of realizing the scenario of meeting the […]
• The Adaptation of Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”: A Film Analysis of the Netherfield Ball Scene
• The Ages of the Reason and the Jane Austen’s Characters in “Pride and Prejudice”
• The Allowance of the Dignity and Pride in the Novel “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• The Representations of Femininity in “Pride and Prejudice”
• The Changes Experienced by Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• The Changing Relationship Between the Central Character in “Pride and Prejudice”
• The Good and Bad Aspects of the Film Adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”
• Women’s Rights in “Pride and Prejudice” and Persuasion by Jane Austen
• The Literary Analysis of “Pride and Prejudice” Through an Early Renaissance Prism
• The Mannerisms of the 19th Century in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• The Evolution of the Relationship of the Characters of Elizabeth and Darcy in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• The Matrimonial Value Orientation in “Pride and Prejudice”
• A Comparison of “The Odd Women” by George Gissing and “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• The Portrayal of the Characters in Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”
• The Pride and Prejudice of Elizabeth Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• Women’s Social Status and Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”
• The Problems With Marriage: The Contrasting Relationships in “Pride and Prejudice”
• Mrs. Bennet’s Relationship With Her Children in “Pride and Prejudice”
• The Representation of Civility in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austin and in Part IV of “Gulliver’s Travels” by Jonathan Swift
• A Critique of the Regency Period in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• The Roles of the Bennet Parents, Elizabeth, and Jane in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• The Running Theme of Pride and Prejudice in Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”
• Women of Different Eras in “Pride and Prejudice” and “Bridget Jones Diary”
• The Satirization of Society’s Flaws in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• The Role of Property in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• The Significance of First Impressions in the Victorian Age Portrayed in “Pride and Prejudice”
• The Similarities Between the Novel and Film Version of “Pride and Prejudice”
• Societal Pressures and Expectations in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• The Theme of Happiness Demands Pride to Be Replaced by Self-Respect and Humility in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• The Importance of Dialogue in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• Satire and Comic Incidents From “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• The Impact of Cultural Mindsets on “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• The Themes of Class and Class Consciousness as Seen in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austin
• The Themes of Irony, Values, and Realism in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• Social Hypocrisy in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• The Themes of Marriage, Social Class and Wealth, Love and Pride in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• The Use of Satire and Irony in Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”
• The Value of Letters in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
• The Ways the Theme of Pride and Prejudice Is Revealed Through the Characters of Elizabeth Bennet and Darcy
• Understanding the Characters Through Their Actions in “Pride and Prejudice”
• What Is the Significance of Netherfield in “Pride and Prejudice”?
• Who Was Mr. Collins’ Benefactor in “Pride and Prejudice”?
• How Contrasting Places Contribute to Theme in “Pride and Prejudice”?
• How Accurately Does Truth Universally Acknowledge Prove to Be in the Novel “Pride and Prejudice”?
• How Wealth and Class Contribute to “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen?
• What Year Did “Pride and Prejudice” Take Place?
• How Does Jane Austen Develop Mr. Collins’s Character in “Pride and Prejudice”?
• How Does Austen Use Contrasting Characters in “Pride and Prejudice”?
• How Contrasting Places Contribute to Theme in Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”?
• Did Jane Austen Write “Pride and Prejudice” About Herself?
• How Does Austen Portray the Theme of Manners and Etiquette in “Pride and Prejudice”?
• Does the 1995 BBC Adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice” Enhance Your Understanding of the Novel?
• How Are the Concepts of Love and Marriage Explored in “Pride and Prejudice”?
• How Does Austen Create Her Novel “Pride and Prejudice”?
• What Are Examples of Irony in “Pride and Prejudice”?
• How Does Austen Present the Relationship Between Darcy and Elizabeth in “Pride and Prejudice”?
• What Are the Reader’s First Impressions of Darcy in the Novel “Pride and Prejudice”?
• How Does Jane Austen Portray Pride in the Novel “Pride and Prejudice”?
• Was Life Easier for the Young Ladies of “Pride and Prejudice” Than It Is for Young Ladies Today?
• Why Does Mr. Darcy Flex His Hand in “Pride and Prejudice”?
• Does Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” Follow the Conventions of a Romantic Novel?
• Why Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” Is Considered a Classic Novel?
• How Does Jane Austen Present Women’s Role in “Pride and Prejudice”?
• How Does “Pride and Prejudice” Reflect Society?
• What Is Ironic About the First Sentence in “Pride and Prejudice”?
• How Does the First Chapter Introduce Us to the Main Themes and Central Concerns in “Pride and Prejudice”?
• What Is the Main Point of “Pride and Prejudice”?
• Why Is the First Line of “Pride and Prejudice” So Famous?
• How Does Jane Austen Create Negative Feelings Toward Mr. Darcy in the First Few Chapters of “Pride and Prejudice”?
• Does “Pride and Prejudice” Reinforce or Erode Sexist Stereotypes of Women?
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A Summary and Analysis of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Pride and Prejudice , published in 1813, is Jane Austen’s best-known and probably most widely studied novel. But what does the novel mean? What is it really all about? And where did that title, Pride and Prejudice , come from?

Before we attempt to answer some of these questions, it might be worth recapping the plot of Austen’s novel. So, before our analysis of Pride and Prejudice , here’s a brief plot summary.

Pride and Prejudice : plot summary

A wealthy man named Mr Bingley moves to the area, and Mrs Bennet – mother of five daughters – tells her husband to call on the eligible young bachelor. A match between Bingley and the eldest Bennet daughter, Jane, is soon in the works – but a match between another rich bachelor, Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy, and the second-eldest Bennet daughter, Elizabeth, looks less likely.

This is because Mr Darcy’s pride – his haughty attitude towards Elizabeth Bennet and her family – sour her view towards him, while Elizabeth’s prejudice towards Mr Darcy is also a stumbling-block. After he acts in an arrogant and disdainful way towards her at a ball, she learns from a young soldier, Mr George Wickham, that Darcy apparently mistreated him.

Wickham is the son of a man who used to be Darcy’s steward or servant, and Darcy acted unkindly towards the young George. Darcy’s and Bingley’s sisters conspire to drive a wedge between Mr Bingley and Jane Bennet because they believe Bingley can find a wife from a better social station than the Bennets.

Meanwhile, Darcy also has an arrogant aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who acts as patroness to a clergyman named Mr Collins, who in turn flatters her with disgusting servility. (Mr Collins is also Mr Bennet’s nephew: since Mr and Mrs Bennet have no sons, Mr Bennet’s estate is due to pass to Mr Collins when Mr Bennet dies.)

Mr Collins is encouraged to ask one of the Bennet sisters for her hand in marriage, and he decides upon Elizabeth. She, however, turns him down, and he marries Charlotte Lucas instead.

The happy couple get together, and Darcy proposes to Elizabeth, but it’s clear he still views her and her family with some contempt because he is of a higher social status than they are. She responds by citing George Wickham’s accusations against him; she also thinks he played a part in breaking up the match between her sister, Jane, and Bingley.

However, in a later letter to her, Darcy reveals that Wickham cannot be trusted: he is a womaniser and a liar. Elizabeth visits Darcy’s home, Pemberley, while visiting the north of England with her aunt and uncle. Darcy welcomes them and introduces them to his sister.

Darcy’s words about Wickham are proved true, as the soldier elopes with Lydia, the youngest of the five Bennet sisters. Darcy tracks the two lovebirds down and persuades them to marry so Lydia is made an honest woman of. Bingley and Jane finally get engaged, and Darcy and Elizabeth overcome their ‘pride and prejudice’ and become a couple.

Pride and Prejudice : analysis

In his vast study of plot structures, The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories , Christopher Booker suggests that Pride and Prejudice is more straightforwardly in the ‘comedy’ genre than it may first appear to be. He points out that much of the novel turns on misunderstandings, characters misreading others’ intentions or others’ personalities, and people generally getting things wrong: the Bennets think Mr Wickham is the wronged one and Darcy the villain, but it turns out that they have this the wrong way around.

So what used to be more explicit in, say, stage comedies of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries – indeed, going right back to Shakespeare – is made more subtle and internalised in Austen’s novel, and rather than having her characters literally confuse one person with another (because of some absurd coincidence, wearing similar clothing, and so on), her characters find they have misread a person’s motive or misjudged their honesty, as with Mr Wickham.

This is why the title of the novel is so important: Darcy and Elizabeth’s union at the end of the novel strikes us as true because they have had to overcome their own personal flaws, which prevent a union between them, but having done so they have an honest and realistic appraisal of each other’s personality. They have, if you like, ‘seen’ each other.

We might contrast this with the various illusions and misapprehensions in the novel, or the other motivations driving people together (Mr Collins trying to woo Elizabeth simply because she’s the next Bennet sister in the list).

Is  Pride and Prejudice  a late Augustan work or a novel belonging to Romanticism? Romanticism was largely a reaction against Augustan values: order, rationalism, and the intellect were tempered if not wholly replaced by the Romantic values of freedom, emotion, and individualism.

But whether we should regard  Pride and Prejudice  as Augustan or Romantic is a question that divides critics. Terry Eagleton, in The English Novel: An Introduction , points out that Austen was not somebody who trusted wholly in the supremacy of reason, not least because her beliefs – what Eagleton calls her Tory Christian pessimism, which made her alert to the flawed nature of all human beings – would not allow her to be so. Austen is aware that human beings are imperfect and, at times, irrational.

And in this connection, it is worth pondering what Andrew H. Wright observes in Jane Austen’s Novels, a Study in Structure : that the reason Elizabeth Bennet, rather than Jane, is the real heroine of  Pride and Prejudice  is that Jane is not flawed enough. She is too perfect: something that would make her the ideal heroine for most novels, but the very reason she cannot be the protagonist of a Jane Austen novel.

Austen is too interested in the intricate and complex mixture of good and bad, as Wright points out: Austen likes the explore the flaws and foibles of her characters. Elizabeth, in being taken in by Wickham and his lies and in misjudging (or at least partly misjudging) Darcy, is flawed because both her pride  and  prejudice need tempering with a more nuanced understanding of the man she will marry.

The opening line of Pride and Prejudice is arguably the most famous opening line of any novel: ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.’ But what is less widely known is that the tone of this opening line is clearly ironic.

Far from being Austen the detached, impartial narrator, this is actually Austen ventriloquising her characters’ thoughts – specifically, those of Mrs Bennet, whose views in the novel are often derided by Austen’s narrator – using a narrative technique which Austen did so much to pioneer.

This technique is known as free indirect speech , and it is what makes Austen’s prose so full of wit and surprise, so we always have to keep an ear out for her narrators’ arch commentary on the characters and situations being described. (The clue in this opening line is in the phrase ‘universally acknowledged’, since how many things in life really are truly universally acknowledged?)

Pride and Prejudice was originally titled First Impressions , but that eventual title, Pride and Prejudice , was a cliché even when Austen used it for her novel. The phrase is found in two important works of the 1770s, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire .

But the most important precursor to Austen’s novel by a long way is Fanny Burney’s 1782 novel Cecilia , in which that phrase, ‘pride and prejudice’, appears three times in rapid succession, with the words ‘pride’ and ‘prejudice’ capitalised: ‘The whole of this unfortunate business, said Dr Lyster, has been the result of PRIDE and PREJUDICE. […] if to PRIDE and PREJUDICE you owe your miseries, so wonderfully is good and evil balanced, that to PRIDE and PREJUDICE you will also owe their termination.’

Austen learned a great deal from Burney, and refined the comedy of manners which Burney had helped to pioneer several decades earlier.

Pride and Prejudice is, in the last analysis, one of the great comedies in the English language, because in its construction it takes the hallmarks of romantic comedy and refines them, making subtle and abstract what was literal and physical in earlier stage comedies.

It is also a novel about how true love needs to be founded on empirical fact: we need to know the person we’re marrying, to see them with our own eyes, rather than rely on others’ opinion or let ourselves be blinded by romantic notions and delusions.

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1 thought on “A Summary and Analysis of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice”

It’s a brilliant romantic novel, but, yes, it’s a comedy as well. Mr Collins, Lady Catherine de Bourgh and even Mrs Bennet verge on the pantomimish sometimes, and Miss Bingley is so bitchy that she’d have fitted very well into Dallas or Dynasty :-) .

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Essay Samples on Pride

The freedom to love: symbolism of sex in the novel atlas shrugged.

Dagny Taggart feels proud over her intimate escapade with Hank Rearden because she wholeheartedly believes these encounters make her intellectually equal to him. Dagny represents one of the most successful railroad lines in the country, Taggart Transcontinental. Despite all the personal obstacles that she has...

The Theme of Pride and Reputation in "The Crucible"

Cicero, a famous Greek statesman, and writer once defined “Morals” as “proper behavior of a person in society, or a person’s standards of behavior or beliefs concerning what is and not acceptable to do.” Morals play a big role in the way people in “The...

• The Crucible

The Ultimate Undoing of Oedipus: The Two Sides of the Coin Named Pride

“Pride, a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired” (“Pride,” def. 1). One’s pride is often seen as self confidence or ignorance....

• Oedipus The King

The Consequences of Power & Pride in the Play “Oedipus” and in Real Life

“In truth, pride is double-edged: destructive and ludicrous in the wrong place and the wrong proportions, but heroic and admirable in the right ones” (Aicinena). Pride has troubled philosophers and theologians for centuries, and it is an especially contradictory emotion. People think that they win...

Pride as an Important Element of Social Inclusion for Children

Introduction Pride is fast becoming a key instrument in boosting social inclusion in towns and cities. It is a celebration of many different sexual orientations and is inclusive to everyone who either identifies as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Asexual (LGBTQ+) or is an...

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Pride: Cinematography for Lesbian and Gay Rights

The 2014 film ‘Pride’ is based upon the Lesbians and Gays support the miner’s movement which was active between 1984 and 1985. The story follows the members of this group and their experience as they raised money to support miners in the Dulais Valley in...

• Homosexuality

Encouragement and Pride in Oneself and Their Impact on Individuals

Encouragement can either result in a positive or negative impact on individuals. This overall affected many characters in the play. In the play “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller takes place in Salem Massachusetts in 1692. Pride ruins relationships among numerous individuals. Can leave you remarked...

• Arthur Miller

Beowulf’s Internal Demons: Pride and Greed for Glory

In Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heany, man’s perception of himself impacts his decisions to behave the way he does. Beowulf is a humble warrior who credits his prowess in battle to God’s divine intervention. He battled realistic and internal demons that started becoming a challenge...

Best topics on Pride

1. The Freedom to Love: Symbolism of Sex in the Novel Atlas Shrugged

2. The Theme of Pride and Reputation in “The Crucible”

3. The Ultimate Undoing of Oedipus: The Two Sides of the Coin Named Pride

4. The Consequences of Power & Pride in the Play “Oedipus” and in Real Life

5. Pride as an Important Element of Social Inclusion for Children

6. Pride: Cinematography for Lesbian and Gay Rights

7. Encouragement and Pride in Oneself and Their Impact on Individuals

8. Beowulf’s Internal Demons: Pride and Greed for Glory

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Student Essays

Essay on Pride [ Types, Impacts of Pride Essay ]

Pride has diverse meanings to diverse people. To some, it is a source of strength and fuel for their goals in life. To others, it is a source of motivation and the push they need to keep going through thick and thin. However, pride can also be a terrible force that drives individuals into committing heinous crimes or doing horrible acts that they would otherwise never do.

Essay on Pride | Types, Positive Negative Impacts,

Pride is a strong and well-deserved sense of satisfaction and self-worth. Pride is like the feeling you get after completing a difficult math test, or the adrenaline rush you feel when your plane lands safely in bad weather. When we do something we can be proud of (approach someone romantically even though we’re scared)

How do we get Pride?

We get pride from our achievements, from feeling valued by others and from feeling that people respect us for who we are. We know that when someone is proud of us, they value what we bring to the table. For example, if you want your parents to be proud of you, they value what you bring to the table as their child (e.g., unconditional love).

Types of Pride

Personal Pride — This type of pride is created by your achievements and accomplishments.

Family Pride — This type of pride is created through your family’s values and accomplishments.

National Pride — This type of pride is created when you feel invested in the future or history of a country.

Positive Impacts of Pride:

Pride helps us feel good about our accomplishments, talents and contributions. When you take pride in yourself, you are more likely to respect yourself and treat yourself well. It can also help motivate you to work towards goals, overcome obstacles and do things that make other people proud of you too.

Pride helps you feel comfortable in your own skin, and can help reduce anxiety when dealing with uncomfortable situations. Pride in yourself can also help you build a strong sense of self-worth, which in turn may indirectly help improve your mental health overall. Sufferers of disorders such as depression, anxiety and low self-esteem are often given cognitive therapy to help build their sense of self-worth.

Pride can also be helpful when dealing with other people. Feeling proud of yourself or your accomplishments may put you in a more positive mindset for meeting new people, getting along with others etc.

Negative Impacts of Pride

Pride can have negative impacts, especially when it comes to self-esteem. For example, someone with inflated self-esteem may feel that they are better than others or more deserving of certain things in life. Someone with low self-esteem may devalue themselves because they think that their contributions are insignificant or unworthy of praise.

Benefits of Pride for Children

Pride motivates children to achieve in school and gives a strong sense of self-worth. Pride is important to children’s development. Children learn what they are good at and acquire the confidence to handle failure by understanding their strengths and limitations. Pride helps children develop individual identity, which can lead to higher self-esteem. Feeling proud of who you are helps children become more comfortable in their own skin, which boosts self-esteem.

In modern times, Pride is generally considered a negative emotion. In fact, people with low self-esteem often avoid prideful displays because they don’t want to feel “better than others”. However, pride can have many positive impacts on our lives if we allow ourselves to take pride in what we do and who we are.

In essence the pride can be an incredibly useful emotion. To some people, pride may seem like a negative emotion because it gives us the idea of superiority over others. However, pride is also about self-respect and realizing our own accomplishments are important.

What is Positive Pride?

When you take pride in yourself, your accomplishments and what is important to you, it can improve your self-esteem.

Pride in yourself and the things that are important to you can help boost confidence and give you a sense of purpose when facing challenges in life. It may also motivate people to reach their full potential and put them in a more positive mindset for social interactions.

What is Negative Pride?

Excessive pride or taking too much pride in yourself can lead to feelings of superiority, arrogance and conceitedness. This is commonly seen in people with high levels of narcissism who often lack empathy towards others. Taking excessive pride may also make you feel disconnected from other people, causing you to feel lonely.

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When I brought my kids to a Pride parade, they were overwhelmed at first. But I learned children belong at Pride.

• As a queer woman, I always loved going to Pride celebrations, but I worried about bringing my kids.
• My transgender wife, and I decided to bring them to a small celebration, and it was overwhelming.
• But a chance encounter with a stranger helped me put Pride into perspective. 

As a young queer woman in my 20s, I found it exhilarating to march down Fifth Avenue in New York City's Pride celebrations , joining the drumming, shouting, balloons, feathers, and sequins.

I didn't care if someone splashed their beer or bumped into me. I didn't have a care in the world at that time — probably because I wasn't a mom.

But my feelings toward Pride celebrations shifted when I considered bringing my two small kids .

I wondered if the march would be safe for my children

"I don't know. Should we do Pride with kids?" I first asked my wife , Stefanie, three years ago, which was the first year of her transition.

I wondered: What would Pride mean to our young daughters , then ages 9 and 4? Would the noise, crowds, and scantily dressed people be too much?

Pride is joyful, silly, and sexy — and also defiant and fierce. It's also important, especially to our queer family . When people shout, "We're here, we're queer," it's to claim a space for human rights. Of course, I want my young children to witness this passion — but there's certainly a lot to process.

Many of our queer friends with kids have celebrated pride for years and recommended a smaller, family-friendly Pride celebration, so we decided to join the throng in Jackson Heights, Queens .

Related stories

Once there, I saw that we were hardly the only ones with a stroller. But when the marchers jostled that stroller — and its rainbow flag-waving occupant — the 9-year-old clung to my arm with fear. I wondered what we were doing. How could I be a responsible mom and also that carefree marcher I used to be?

When we bought our flags, the kids really got into the spirit of things. My youngest wanted the "all pink" one, and my older daughter picked the Progress Pride flag . My daughters were smiling — what kid doesn't love a parade? — but after a rowdy group bumped into the stroller again, I ducked into a pizzeria with the kids.

I left my wife to socialize with friends and savored the quiet moment with my kids, where I felt more like my "usual" mom self. As I cut up the little one's pizza and chatted about their favorite book series, I almost forgot about the march until the windows shook with reverberations from music on loudspeakers rolling by on trucks.

We then met someone who helped put pride into perspective

The next time I blinked, Stefanie was there with a woman shakily teetering on her arm. Stefanie's expression indicated discomfort as the woman dropped into a seat beside my younger daughter, slurring her words as she spoke of heartbreak and despair.

My heart sped up. I glanced at Stefanie. Should we get out of there? Was this woman's story going to scare the kids? Was it a terrible idea to expose them to a crying and drunken stranger?

"This pizza is really good!" my 4-year-old announced. "Can we get a balloon?"

"Of course, you can get a balloon," our visitor said kindly, even as she began weeping. My instincts told me we were safe. Seeing an adult in pain wasn't something we necessarily had to protect our kids from.

"You have a beautiful family. I would do anything to have a family like this," the mysterious stranger told us through more tears.

My daughters glanced at me. "It's OK," I said to them and also to our visitor. "It's going to be OK."

The woman's life story as a Latinx trans woman in Florida came tumbling out. She kindly declined our offer to share our lunch but gratefully refilled her water glass again and again.

My daughters might have been listening or might have just been drawing in coloring books. I don't know how much they remember about the chance encounter. When I ask them about our first Pride, they seem to only remember the after-party at a friend's apartment , where they played with a hamster named Rocky.

Even if they don't remember the day another trans woman joined our family meal, I am glad that this experience was part of our first pride as a family. It reminded me that Pride is about being there for your community — whether you're clapping for a cheerleading squad or holding someone's hands through their tears. And my kids were safe through all of it.

Pride is about strength, vulnerability, and pulling together as one big rainbow family.

Watch: From Nepal to Kosovo, here's how countries are celebrating Pride

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Pride and Prejudice

Jane austen, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Pride and Prejudice: Introduction

Pride and prejudice: plot summary, pride and prejudice: detailed summary & analysis, pride and prejudice: themes, pride and prejudice: quotes, pride and prejudice: characters, pride and prejudice: symbols, pride and prejudice: literary devices, pride and prejudice: quizzes, pride and prejudice: theme wheel, brief biography of jane austen.

Historical Context of Pride and Prejudice

Other books related to pride and prejudice.

• Full Title: Pride and Prejudice
• When Written: 1797-1812
• Where Written: Bath, Somerset, England
• When Published: 1813
• Literary Period: Classicism/Romanticism
• Genre: Novel of manners
• Setting: Hertfordshire, London, and Pemberley, all in England at some time during the Napoleonic Wars (1797–1815)
• Climax: The search for Lydia and Wickham
• Antagonist: There is no single antagonist. The sins of pride and prejudice function as the main antagonizing force
• Point of View: Third person omniscient

Extra Credit for Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Silver Screen? Pride and Prejudice was first adapted for movies in a 1940 production starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. It was again filmed in 1995, as a mini-series for A&E Television, featuring Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet and Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. The most recent production stars Keira Knightley as Elizabeth and was filmed in 2005.

First Impressions: Austen's initial title for her manuscript was "First Impressions." Though the book was eventually published as Pride and Prejudice , the initial title hints at the story's concern for social appearances and the necessity of finding people's true qualities beneath the surface.

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Pride and Prejudice

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• Table Of Contents

What is Pride and Prejudice ?

Pride and Prejudice is a romantic novel by Jane Austen , published anonymously in three volumes in 1813. It has inspired many stage and screen productions, one notable adaptation being a 1995 TV miniseries starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth .

Who is the author of Pride and Prejudice ?

Jane Austen is the author of Pride and Prejudice . She published three other novels during her lifetime: Sense and Sensibility , Mansfield Park , and Emma . Her novels Persuasion and Northanger Abbey were published posthumously.

What is the plot of Pride and Prejudice ?

Pride and Prejudice follows the turbulent relationship between Elizabeth Bennet, the daughter of a country gentleman, and Fitzwilliam Darcy, a rich aristocratic landowner. They must overcome the titular sins of pride and prejudice in order to fall in love and marry.

What is the first sentence of Pride and Prejudice ?

The famous first sentence of Pride and Prejudice is: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

What was Pride and Prejudice originally titled?

Pride and Prejudice was originally titled First Impressions .

Pride and Prejudice , romantic novel by Jane Austen , published anonymously in three volumes in 1813. A classic of English literature , written with incisive wit and superb character delineation, it centers on the burgeoning relationship between Elizabeth Bennet, the daughter of a country gentleman, and Fitzwilliam Darcy , a rich aristocratic landowner. Upon publication, Pride and Prejudice was well received by critics and readers. The first edition sold out within the first year, and it never went out of print.

Pride and Prejudice is set in rural England at the turn of the 19th century, and it follows the Bennet family , which includes five very different sisters. The eldest, Jane, is sweet-tempered and modest. She is her sister Elizabeth’s confidant and friend. Elizabeth, the heroine of the novel, is intelligent and high-spirited. She shares her father’s distaste for the conventional views of society as to the importance of wealth and rank. The third daughter, Mary, is plain, bookish, and pompous, while Lydia and Kitty, the two youngest, are flighty and immature.

Mr. Bennet is the family patriarch. He is fond of his two eldest daughters—especially his favorite, Elizabeth—but takes a passive interest in the younger ones, ultimately failing to curb their childish instincts. An intelligent but eccentric and sarcastic man, he does not care for society’s conventions and mocks his wife’s obsession with finding suitable husbands for their daughters. As several scholars have noted, however, Mrs. Bennet is rightfully concerned. Because of an entail , the modest family estate is to be inherited by William Collins, Mr. Bennet’s nephew, who is the next male in line. Indeed, as Austen scholar Mary Evans noted, “If Mrs. Bennett is slightly crazy, then perhaps she is so because she perceives more clearly than her husband the possible fate of her five daughters if they do not marry.” Unfortunately, Mrs. Bennet’s fervor and indelicacy often work against her interests. A woman of little sense and much self-pity, she indulges her lively youngest daughters.

Throughout the novel, the Bennet sisters encounter several eligible bachelors, including Charles Bingley, Darcy, Lieutenant George Wickham, and Collins. Bingley has recently let Netherfield estate, which neighbors the Bennets’ home, Longbourn. Austen describes him as “good-looking and gentlemanlike; [having] a pleasant countenance and easy, unaffected manners.” He has come by his fortune through his family’s interest in trade, which was seen as a less respectable means of obtaining wealth than by inheriting it, as his friend Darcy has done. Darcy is clearly a product of this hierarchical thinking: he believes in the natural superiority of the wealthy landed gentry. He is arrogant but perceptive.

Darcy’s estates were once managed by Wickham’s father, but he and Wickham are no longer friendly. Wickham is attractive and charming, making him immediately popular among the women in the nearby town of Meryton, where he and other soldiers have been stationed. Collins, on the other hand, is “not a sensible man, and the deficiency of nature had been but little assisted by education or society.” He is a clergyman whose patron, the controlling Lady Catherine de Bourgh, is Darcy’s aunt.

Other supporting characters in the novel include Elizabeth’s friend Charlotte Lucas, who is described as sensible and nearing an age where marriage is unlikely; Charlotte’s parents, Sir William and Lady Lucas; Mrs. Bennet’s brother, Edward Gardiner, who works in trade, and his wife, both of whom are generous and well-grounded; Bingley’s sisters, the snobbish and scheming Caroline and Louisa Hurst; and Darcy’s 16-year-old sister, Georgiana, who is painfully shy but good-humored.

Pride and Humility

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“Pride is your greatest enemy, humility is your greatest friend.” So said the late John R.W. Stott, a remarkably humble man of great abilities and accomplishments who is often said to have made the greatest impact for Christ of anyone in the twentieth century. His succinct statement about pride and humility goes straight to the heart of what the Bible teaches about the deadly root of our sins and sorrows.

How many recent sermons have you heard on pride or humility? Probably not many. One hears surprisingly little from church or parachurch leaders about either of these subjects. In fact, what throughout history has been recognized as the deadliest of vices is now almost celebrated as a virtue in our culture. Pride and arrogance are conspicuous among the rich, the powerful, the successful, the famous, and celebrities of all sorts, and even some religious leaders.

And it is also alive and well in ordinary people, including each of us. Yet few of us realize how dangerous it is to our souls and how greatly it hinders our intimacy with God and love for others. Humility, on the other hand, is often seen as weakness, and few of us know much about it or pursue it. For the good of our souls, then, we need to gain a clearer understanding of pride and humility and of how to forsake the one and embrace the other.

There Lewis said, According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil:

Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind…… it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began. 1

If this sounds like exaggeration, it will help us to know that Lewis is not simply giving us his private opinion but summarizing the thinking of great saints through the ages.

Augustine and Aquinas both taught that pride was the root of sin. 2  Likewise Calvin, Luther, and many others. Make no mistake about it: pride is the great sin. It is the devil’s most effective and destructive tool.

Why do the great spiritual leaders, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant alike, unite around this conviction? Because it is so clearly and solidly taught in Scripture.

Pride first appears in the Bible in Genesis 3, where we see the devil, that “proud spirit” as John Donne described him, using pride as the avenue by which to seduce our first parents. Taking the form of a serpent, his approach was simple yet deadly. First, he arrogantly contradicted what God had said to Eve about eating the forbidden fruit and charged God with lying.

This shocking rejection of God’s word introduced Eve to the hitherto unknown possibility of unbelief and was intended to arouse doubt in her mind about the truthfulness and reliability of God. In the next breath, the devil drew her into deeper deception by contending that God’s reason for lying was to keep her from enjoying all the possibilities inherent in being Godlike. This clever ploy was aimed at undermining her confidence in the goodness and love of God and arousing the desire to become as God.

The desire to lift up and exalt ourselves beyond our place as God’s creature lies at the heart of pride. As Eve in her now confused and deceived state of mind considered the possibilities, her desire to become Godlike grew stronger. She began to look at the forbidden fruit in a new light, as something attractive to the eyes and pleasant to the touch. Desire increased, giving rise to rationalization and a corresponding erosion of the will to resist and say no.

Finally, weakened by unbelief, enticed by pride, and ensnared by self-deception, she opted for autonomy and disobeyed God’s command. In just a few deft moves, the devil was able to use pride to bring about Eve’s downfall and plunge the human race into spiritual ruin. This ancient but all-too-familiar process confronts each of us daily: “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:14–15).

From this point on in the Bible, we see the outworking of pride and unbelief in the affairs of individuals, families, nations, and cultures. As people lose or suppress the knowledge of God, spiritual darkness grows and a psychological inversion occurs: in their thinking God becomes smaller and they become larger. The center of gravity in their mental lives shifts from God to themselves. They become the center of their world, and God is conveniently moved to the periphery, either through denial of his existence or distortion of his character. Self-importance and godless self-confidence grow stronger. The cycle that follows is familiar: people exalt themselves against God and over others. Pride increases, arrogant and/or abusive behavior ensues, and people suffer.

On a national level, this is writ large in the history of Israel and surrounding nations, especially in the indictments delivered by the prophets of the eight and sixth centuries BC. Blinded by power and the unprecedented affluence of the eighth century, prideful leaders in Israel embraced a corrupted view of God, trusted in their own wisdom and power, oppressed their people, ignored his call to repent, and thereby invited his judgment, which fell with disastrous results.

There are also many biblical examples of pride and its consequences in the lives of individuals, and they offer valuable lessons for our own lives. Often their stories are self-contained in one chapter and make for easy reading. One of the more notable examples from the Old Testament is that of Uzziah, who was a believer. When he became king of Judah at age sixteen, he set his heart to seek God and put himself under the spiritual mentorship of Zechariah. And “as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper” (2 Chron. 26:5). As a result, he acquired wealth and also became politically and militarily powerful. Then things changed. “His fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong. But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction” (26:15–16).

What happened? There are hints in the text that at some point on the road to the top, he stopped seeking the Lord and the spiritual mentoring of Zechariah. This suggests a lessening dependence on God and a growing reliance upon himself and his own strength and wisdom. History shows at every point how easy it is for pride to increase as we become stronger, more successful, more prosperous, and more recognized in our endeavors. In fact, anything, real or imagined, that elevates us above others can be a platform for pride. Ironically, this is true even when these things come as a result of God’s blessings.

As a result of all his blessings, Uzziah, rather than humbling himself in thanksgiving to God, began to think more highly of himself than he should have and developed an exaggerated sense of his own importance and abilities. This pride of heart led to presumption before God and brought very serious consequences upon him, illustrating the biblical warnings that pride leads to disgrace (Prov. 11:2) and that “pride goes before destruction” (Prov. 16:18). I encourage you to read and meditate on Uzziah’s full story in 2 Chronicles 26. The stories of Haman (Esther 3–7) and Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4) also offer valuable insights into pride and are well worth reading.

This is evident today in the dangerous pride in some political and business leaders in the West. We have only to look around us at the current state of political life in America to see examples. Pride and arrogance are obvious in many political leaders, whether liberal or conservative, making matters much worse than they need to be. Or consider the business and financial catastrophes we have experienced in recent years. A thoughtful article in the Wall Street Journal after the WorldCom and Enron debacles attributed them to “pride, greed and lack of accountability.” The recent financial crisis in America is yet another example of the same thing. Clearly pride is very dangerous and can produce widespread suffering in society when people in leadership and power are corrupted by it.

Pride also affects religious people. Few people today seem to be aware of the danger of spiritual pride, but spiritual leaders throughout the history of the church have always seen it as a great plague and tool of the devil. Even in times of revival, it is a danger. Commenting on the revival in Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1737, Jonathan Edwards said:

The first and worst cause of errors that abound in our day and age is spiritual pride. This is the main door by which the devil comes into the hearts of those who are zealous for the advancement of Christ. It is the chief inlet of smoke from the bottomless pit to darken the mind and mislead the judgment. Pride is the main handle by which he has hold of Christian persons and the chief source of all the mischief that he introduces to clog and hinder a work of God. Spiritual pride is the main spring or at least the main support of all other errors. Until this disease is cured, medicines are applied in vain to heal all other diseases. 3

An instructive lesson on religious pride from the New Testament is found in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke18:9–14). It is aimed at those “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.” It addresses spiritual pride, an especially subtle and dangerous temptation of religious people and leaders, which has been very much in evidence in recent years.

The well-known story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector can help us recognize our own spiritual pride. It tells of a much-despised tax collector and a self-righteous Pharisee who went up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee proceeds to commend himself to God because of his careful observance of the law and to look down with scornful contempt on the sinful tax collector. “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.” Notice in his prayer that his focus is not really on God at all but on how good he is and how bad others are. Here is pride wrapped in the cloak of religion and giving it a bad name. The tax collector is so painfully aware of his sins and unworthiness before God that he cannot even lift his eyes as he stands in the back of the temple, far from the altar. Pounding his breast in sorrowful contrition over his sins, he can manage only the desperate plea, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” In the Greek text, it actually reads “ the sinner.” His focus is very much on his own sins, not the sins of others, and especially on his need for God’s mercy. In a surprising reversal of expectation, Jesus says that God answered the tax collector’s prayer, not the Pharisee’s. Then he concludes with his main point: “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Another lesson on religious pride strikes even closer to home for true believers. If we are inclined to say to ourselves, “Lord, I thank you that I am not like that proud Pharisee,” we should bear in mind that the apostles themselves were infected with pride and disputed with one another about who was the greatest (Luke 22:24–27). Sadly self-promotion, in pursuit of reputation, influence, and “success,” is evident in some ministry leaders even today. But if the apostles had to struggle with it, who are we to think ourselves exempt?

Any neurotic is living a life which in some respects is extreme in its self-centeredness… the region of his misery represents a complete preoccupation with himself. The very nature of the neurotic disorder is tied to pride. If the sufferer is hypersensitive, resentful, captious, he may be indicating a fear that he will not appear to advantage in competitive situations where he wants to show his worth. If he is chronically indecisive, he is showing fear that he may do the wrong thing and be discredited. If he is over-scrupulous and self-critical, he may be endeavoring to show how praiseworthy he really is. Thus, most neuroses, are, from the point of view of religion, mixed with the sin of pride. 4

Much more could be said about pride, but space fails us. Let’s sum up the biblical perspective and move on. Pride can be summarized as an attitude of self-sufficiency, self-importance, and self-exaltation in relation to God. Toward others, it is an attitude of contempt and indifference. As C.S. Lewis observed, “Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense” 5  The depth of pride can vary from one person to the next and can be obvious or concealed. In the Old and New Testaments it is a truism that God will not suffer the creature to exalt itself against the Creator. Pride provokes God’s displeasure, and he has committed himself to oppose it.

If your pride causes you to exalt yourself, you are painting a target on your back and inviting God to open fire. And he will. For he has declared his determination to bring it low wherever he finds it, whether among angels or humans, believers or unbelievers. It was pride that caused Lucifer to be cast out of heaven and Adam and Eve to be cast out of Eden. And it is pride that will be our undoing if we tolerate it in our lives. The danger of pride is a sobering reality that each of us needs to ponder. Truly, it is our greatest enemy.

However, chances are good that most of us do not see pride in our lives. For while it is easy to see pride in others, it is very difficult to see it in ourselves. C.S. Lewis observed that “there is no fault which makes a man more unpopular and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it in ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.” 6  But he does suggest a couple of ways to detect its presence. First, Lewis quoted William Law from chapter fifteen of A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life “there can be no surer proof of a confirmed pride than a belief that one is sufficiently humble.” Also, “if you want to find out how proud you are the easiest way is to ask your self, ‘How much do I dislike it when other people snub me, or refuse to take any notice of me, or shove their oar in, or patronise me, or show off?” 7  Because it is so tricky to recognize, we are perhaps best off to earnestly seek God in prayer and ask him to reveal to us any sinful pride in our lives so we can repent and forsake it. Another step we might take is to ask those who live or work with us if they see significant expressions of sinful pride or arrogance in our life.

There is, of course, a good type of pride. Paul, for example, was proud of the churches he had established. But this was not arrogant or self-exalting pride. He made clear that his accomplishments were the fruit of God’s grace to him and through him (Rom. 15:17–19). Occasionally Paul mentions boasting, but this is a matter of highlighting what God has done by his grace, either through Paul or in those in the churches. It is never self-exalting. These days most of us will say that we are proud of our children or our favorite sports team or perhaps something we have accomplished. In cases like this, we are (one hopes) saying that we are really pleased about something good and are not engaging in the sinful type of pride and arrogance the Bible condemns.

Admittedly, humility and the humbling of oneself is out of fashion in today’s world and seems unappealing to most of us. However, as Jonathan Edwards said, “We must view humility as one of the most essential things that characterizes true Christianity.” Our perspective on humility can be radically changed if we will ponder and meditate on the greatest example of humility in history: Jesus Christ. By the very act of leaving heaven, coming to earth, and taking the form of man, he demonstrated an unfathomable humbling of himself. Throughout his life on earth, Jesus demonstrated a spirit of profound humility, saying that he came “not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). On his last night with the disciples, he took a towel and basin and washed their dirty feet (John 13:1–11), instructing them to follow his example of servanthood with one another (John 13:12–17). Andrew Murray captures it well, “Christ is the humility of God embodied in human nature; the Eternal Love humbling itself, clothing itself in the garb of meekness and gentleness, to win and serve and save us.” 8

The apostle Paul may well have been thinking of this very scene in the Upper Room when he urged the believers in Philippi:  Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil. 2:5–8).

Paul is here encouraging ordinary believers in a local church, who apparently have some measure of sinful pride in their hearts and relationships, to reflect on and adopt the attitude and actions of Jesus their Lord and follow his example of humility.

The consequences of such an attitude may give us pause. Humbling ourselves could be costly in the workplace, in the community, or in other ways. However, that is a shortsighted, worldly perspective. For the passage continues:

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:9–11).

In Jesus we have the “example of all examples”: those who humble themselves will be exalted! And this is meant to guide our lives in this world. If we will take care of humbling ourselves, we can trust God to take care of exalting us.

How do we gain the mind of Christ and humble ourselves? To put on the mind of Christ, we will need to make a firm decision to ponder, understand, and adopt Jesus’ way of thinking; his values and attitudes must become ours. His strong emphasis on humility and meekness and his example of it must take hold of our thinking, our desires and our conduct. We must admire his humility and want it for ourselves. For this to happen, we need to earnestly and regularly pray for the Holy Spirit to change our hearts, for it is impossible to do it in our own strength. We will also need to understand what Jesus meant when he called men and women to humble themselves. We discover that from the Greek word Jesus and the apostles used, tapeinos, which conveys the idea of having a right view of ourselves before God and others. 9  If pride is an exalted sense of who we are in relation to God and others, humility is having a realistic sense of who we are before God and others. We must not think too highly (or too lowly) of ourselves. Rather, we must be honest and realistic about who and what we are.

What is a right view of ourselves? Specifics will vary from person to person, but certain things are common to us all. We are God’s creatures: small, finite, dependent, limited in intelligence and ability, prone to sin, and soon to die and face God’s judgment (Heb. 9:27). But we are also God’s children: created, loved, and redeemed by God’s grace alone, not by anything in or of ourselves; and gifted by God with certain unique gifts, abilities, resources, and advantages, which are to be used for his glory. As Paul reminds the Corinthians, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (1 Cor. 4:7). Frequently reminding ourselves of these things is important.

Having a right view of God and ourselves has a profound effect on our relationships with others. As Paul goes on to say in Romans, “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.” (Rom. 12:16). And as he said to the Philippians, “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Phil. 2:3–4). As we refuse to be preoccupied with ourselves and our own importance and seek to love and serve others, it will reorient us from self-centeredness to other-centeredness—to serving and caring for others just as Jesus did for us. In the narcissistic culture of contemporary America, this is a particularly powerful countercultural witness of Christ’s presence and lordship in our lives.

Truly, humility is our greatest friend. It increases our hunger for God’s word and opens our hearts to his Spirit. It leads to intimacy with God, who knows the proud from afar, but dwells with him “who is of a contrite and lowly spirit” (Isa. 57:15). It imparts the aroma of Christ to all whom we encounter. It is a sign of greatness in the kingdom of God (Luke 22:24–27).

Developing the identity, attitude, and conduct of a humble servant does not happen over night. It is rather like peeling an onion: you cut away one layer only to find another beneath it. But it does happen. As we forsake pride and seek to humble ourselves by daily deliberate choices in dependence on the Holy Spirit, humility grows in our souls. Fenelon said it well, “Humility is not a grace that can be acquired in a few months: it is the work of a lifetime.” And it is a grace that is precious in the sight of God, who in due course will exalt all who embrace it.

Notes 1. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Simon & Schuster Touchstone edition, 1996), 109, 111. 2. See Augustine, The City of God 14.13; Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, ques. 84. 3. Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1974), 1:398–404. 4. Gordon Allport, quoted in Solomon Schimmel, The Seven Deadly Sins (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), 28. 5. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 112. 6. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 109. 7. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 110. 8. Andrew Murray, Humility (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, nd), 17. 9. Colin Brown, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1967), 2:259 .

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Photo essay is response to NHL’s Pride Tape ban, beautifully shows LGBTQ players in hockey

When the NHL banned Pride Tape, this photographer started a protest photo essay to elevate LGBTQ visibility in hockey.

When the NHL and league commissioner Gary Bettman decided to ban Pride Tape and the use of Pride-themed warm-up jerseys from the league’s ice, hockey fan Alley Rutzel was — how shall we say this — not pleased.

The professional photographer — who is not LGBTQ — went to work. She wanted to raise her own response to the move, as well as bring visibility to the LGBTQ community in hockey, given the NHL’s move would diminish that on their ice.

So she created a photo essay — Breaking The Ice — featuring images and first-person accounts from five out LGBTQ ice hockey players, mostly in her hometown of Seattle.

“As an avid hockey fan and season ticket holder of the Seattle Kraken, I was dismayed when the NHL announced last year that teams were no longer allowed to wear “specialty” jerseys during warmups, practices or games,” Rutzel told Outsports. “Additionally, the use of Pride Tape, a rainbow-colored stick tape that’s been used in support of the LGBTQ+ community for several seasons, would also be banned.”

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Related A gay hockey player uses Pride Tape to ‘queer’ his space and his sport Joey Gale made a statement with his rainbow-colored tape at an adult league All-Star game. ‘Who’s got the gay tape?’ one teammate asked. By Joey J. Gale | June 6, 2019

While the NHL and Bettman have maintained the ban on Pride jerseys during warmups — designed to placate a small handful of anti-gay players — the league now allows players to use Pride Tape on their sticks after a tidal wave of backlash.

While the lifting of the Pride Tape ban is appreciated by Rutzel, she still sees an issue of visibility and understanding in hockey that she aims to help address.

“It was a clear signal that more needs to be done to foster greater acceptance and understanding in hockey. My goal for this project is to drive greater awareness of LGBTQ+ athletes and hopefully encourage young athletes who might otherwise quit playing ice hockey in the face of homophobia and discrimination.”

The photo essay currently features gorgeous images of five out LGBTQ hockey players.

Joey Gale is a co-founder of the Seattle Pride Hockey Association and struggled to marry his gay self with the sport.

“ With the Seattle Pride Hockey Association , we’ve created a space where everyone can feel welcome and supported,” Gale wrote for Breaking The Ice. I’m grateful for the opportunity to use my love of the game to make a positive impact in the world and to continue pushing for progress towards a more inclusive future.”

Cam is a trans youth who has been playing hockey since they were 9. In the essay, they tell a great story about one of their teammates coming to their defense in a powerful way.

“My teammates and coaches have always been supportive,” Cam wrote. “I came out to my teammates before I told my parents.”

Kao Lawrie is also trans. They play hockey in LGBTQ hockey events, and recently played with Team Trans at the Seattle Pride tournament.

“After years of driving home sweaty after games, I now look forward to being able to shower with the team,” Lawrie wrote. “Feeling like I could just access all the spaces at the rink without worrying about homophobia or transphobia, especially after top surgery, is a dream.”

Rutzel features a couple other out LGBTQ hockey players for Breaking The Ice.

To see all of the gorgeous images of the out athletes, visit Alley Rutzel’s Breaking The Ice photo essay. You can also find her on Instagram .

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10 months after Lauri Carleton was killed for flying a pride flag, her family is honoring her legacy

It has been 10 months since a gunman shot and killed a 66-year-old mother of nine over a pride flag outside her store, and her family and local community are honoring her memory this Pride month.

Laura Ann "Lauri" Carleton consistently displayed a rainbow flag outside her Lake Arrowhead, California, clothing shop, Mag.Pi. Her daughter, Ari Carleton, told the New York Times in 2023 that every time someone tore the pride flag down from outside the store, her mother responded by putting up a bigger one.

On Aug. 18, 2023, a 27-year-old man entered the store and made disparaging remarks about the flag and "yelled many homophobic slurs toward (Lauri) Carleton," San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said in a media briefing last year .

The man then opened fire, shooting Lauri Carleton, and ran away, officials said at the time. The suspect, Travis Ikeguchi, died in a shootout with police that day. Later, officials found Ikeguche had several anti-LGBTQ and anti-law enforcement posts on his social media.

Lauri Carleton died at her store, leaving behind her nine children and husband, Bort.

In a recent interview with NBC Los Angeles , Lauri Carleton's daughters Kelsey and Ari Carleton opened up about their late mother and her lifelong support of the LGBTQIA+ community.

“She was just a fighter for equality, and that’s all she ever fought for and wanted,” Kelsey Carleton told the station. “She didn’t want anyone to feel left out.”

Ari Carleton said she learned a lot from her mom over the years, including "to be independent, to be strong."

“But she also taught me to stand up for myself and stand up for others,” she said.

Lauri Carleton trained as a fashion designer from a young age, working with big names like Fred Segal and Kenneth Cole. She opened her first Mag.Pi boutique in 2013 in Studio City, California. She opened her second near Lake Arrowhead — where she lived part-time for 20 years — in 2021.

“She felt so strongly in supporting that community because it was her community,” Ari Carleton said. “It was just about all are welcome here and by all, that means all.”

As Lake Arrowhead's annual Pride celebration gets underway on June 28, the community will celebrate Lauri Carleton. The welcome party will feature a champagne toast in honor of her.

Her family and friends are working to continue her vision for a more inclusive world by starting a memorial fund in her name to raise money for local inclusive initiatives in the Lake Arrowhead area.

And back at Lauri Carleton's stores, her daughters are now in charge, carrying on their mom's legacy.

And they were sure to put the pride flag out front.

“We obviously stand with our mom, we agree with everything that she stood for,” Kelsey Carleton told NBC Los Angeles. “We still keep these flags up because we strongly believe in it as well.”“She wasn’t going to stand down,” Ari Carleton said. “And we won’t either.”

Sam Kubota is a senior digital editor and journalist for TODAY Digital based in Los Angeles. She joined NBC News in 2019.

Alex Rozier general assignment reporter at NBC Los Angeles.

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HPM Chair Keshia Pollack Porter reflects on the fight for health equity by and for marginalized groups.

Keshia Pollack Porter

June is Pride Month, the time of the year when we celebrate and honor the LGBTQ+ community. For those who notice the rainbow flags but are not aware of the history, Pride Month has its roots in the Stonewall Uprising that occurred in New York City in 1969. At that time, police would raid bars where members of the LGBTQ+ community were known to gather, under the guise of seeking to confirm that were operating without a valid liquor license (I have a lot to say about this type of profiling and harassment that persists in “othering” marginalized communities, but I will save that for another column). On June 28th 1969, the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a bar in Manhattan, and while the LGBTQ+ rights movement didn’t begin with Stonewall, according to the Human Rights Campaign , the Stonewall Uprising “helped ignite the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement and harness the political power of the LGBTQ+ people.” On June 28, the world also celebrates International LGBT Pride Day, which offers an additional reminder of the importance of the Stonewall Uprising to human rights around the world.

To advance policy advocacy with and for the LGBTQIA+ community, we must educate students and practitioners on the history of and opportunities for achieving health equity for marginalized communities. I am proud that faculty in the Department of Health Policy and Management created one of the first courses that centers the LGBTQ+ community: Issues in LGBTQ Health Policy. Jointly taught by Professor Joanne Rosen, JD, MA and associate faculty and HPM alum, Kellan E. Baker , PhD, MPH, MA, this course provides an opportunity to unpack how health policies, both historical and contemporary, have contributed to and/or reduced health disparities within LGBTQ communities, as well as policies that aim to rectify inequities. Professor Rosen, a public health lawyer on our faculty, also teaches Legal and Public Health Issues in the Regulation of Intimacy, which provides opportunities to discuss state regulation of intimate decisions, including same-sex sexual activity and same-sex marriage. I am also proud that our department has a deep history of educating public health leaders and engaging in scholarship with and in support of the LGTQIA+ community. During Pride Month in particular, I honor all this work and the faculty, staff, and students in our department who are leaders in this space.

I would be remiss to not also mention that June is Caribbean American Heritage Month. I am the proud daughter of a Jamaican mother and Dominican-born, St. Kitts-raised father who immigrated to the U.S. in pursuit of opportunities. They instilled in me a diligent work ethic, and the belief that I was made on purpose and am here to fulfill a purpose—a tenet that leads me each day. Through them, I cultivated my passion for service and equity, and they are a main reason that today I am a health equity scholar.

I am one among many students, faculty, staff and alumni who are committed to health equity because of personal experience. And I know many more who are committed to health equity because they are, in the mold of the expanding LGBTQIA+ alphabet, allies to marginalized groups. Whatever your path, I hope that this month you reflect on how you personally are working to achieve health equity, including your efforts to shift and build political power so communities that have been marginalized for too long have a seat at the table and a voice in policies to advance health equity.

Know your own power and when you have the opportunity to share your power with marginalized communities in their pursuit of health equity, use it. With pride.

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Characters' First Impressions in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

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Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: Elizabeth's First Impression of Darcy

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1813, Jane Austen

Romantic Novel; Satire, Historical Fiction

Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Bennet, Jane Bennet, Mary Bennet, Catherine "Kitty" Bennet, Lydia Bennet, Charles Bingley, Caroline Bingley, George Wickham, Mr. William Collins, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, Georgiana Darcy, Charlotte Lucas, Colonel Witzwilliam

According to numerous sources, the book is not based on a true story and has been entirely composed by Jane Austen.

Justice, prejudice, misconceptions, love, romance, misjudgement, reputation, class relations, overcoming obstacles, true love.

As one of the most beautiful literary works and the happy ever after tales, it is one of the best romance novels that will be relevant through every decade. The book is teaching us an important lesson about making snap judgments of not judging the book by its cover. Although this book is often read by college students, it is also an important read for educators as well since college professors should not judge their learners too soon.

It revolves around the Bennet sisters called Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. Their mother wants to see them married in a good, successful way because they won't inherit their family house since only a son can do so. So once Me. Bingle comes down, their mother does her best to help Mr. Bigley fall in love.

Jane Austen has also been rejected for not being rich enough in the past. Mr. Darcy is often made as an equivalent to a Rockefeller. The Gretna Green mentioned in the book by Lydia is the modern-day Las Vegas, which has nearly ruined the Bennet family. Jane Austen has also been very close to her sister, which has influenced her to describe the closeness of Elizabeth to Jane. The publisher has rejected "The Pride and Prejudice" even without taking a closer look or reading it at all. The title originally came from a novel called "Cecilia" by Fanny Burney. Jane Austen always worried that her novel was too frivolous and modern for her times.

“A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.” “There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.” “Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.” “I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.” “For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?”

The love and marriage through the class relations is the central theme of this romantic story. It focuses on how a person can judge and break down the romantic relations. Jane Austen constantly uses good satire, detalization of her characters, and narration that helps to analyze the vocational nature of being married in the English society. One can also explore an attitude to matrimony.

This novel is an example of pride and prejudice, social relations, class challenges, and the freedom of women to do exactly what they want. It is also used as the analysis of judging something by its cover with the different examples. This romance story can be explored through the lens of any modern situation where the pride and misconception of the first impressions are coming first before a clear judgment is being made.

1. McKeon, R. (1979). " Pride and Prejudice": Thought, Character, Argument, and Plot. Critical Inquiry, 5(3), 511-527. (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/448004?journalCode=ci) 2. Lacour, C. B. (1992). Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Hegel's" Truth in Art": Concept, Reference, and History. ELH, 59(3), 597-623. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2873444) 3. Austen, J. (1993). Pride and Prejudice (1813). New York. (https://link.springer.com/book/9780333801338#page=36) 4. Morrison, R. (2009). Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: A Routledge Study Guide and Sourcebook. Routledge. (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203868492/jane-austen-pride-prejudice-robert-morrison) 5. Fischer-Starcke, B. (2009). Keywords and frequent phrases of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: A corpus-stylistic analysis. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 14(4), 492-523. (https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/ijcl.14.4.03fis) 6. Lau, B. (2017). Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. A Companion to Romanticism, 237-244. (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781405165396.ch21) 7. Appel, P. A. (2012). A Funhouse Mirror of Law: The Entailment in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Ga. J. Int'l & Comp. L., 41, 609. (https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/gjicl41&div=25&id=&page=) 8. Wootton, S. (2007). The Byronic in Jane Austen's" Persuasion" and" Pride and Prejudice". Modern Language Review, 102(1), 26-39. (https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/427/article/825032/summary)

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WATCH LIVE: Joe Biden, Donald Trump face off in first general election debate of 2024

Hillary Clinton to release essay collection about personal and public life

The Associated Press

June 25, 2024, 9:47 AM

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Hillary Clinton’s next book is a collection of essays, touching upon everything from marriage to politics to faith, that her publisher is calling her most personal yet.

Simon and Schuster announced Tuesday that Clinton’s “Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love and Liberty” will be released Sept. 17.

Among the topics she will cover: Her marriage to former President Bill Clinton, her Methodist faith, adjusting to private life after her failed presidential runs, her friendships with other first ladies and her takes on climate change, democracy and Vladimir Putin.

“The book reads like you’re sitting down with your smartest, funniest, most passionate friend over a long meal,” Clinton’s editor, Priscilla Painton, said in a statement.

“This is the Hillary Americans have come to know and love: candid, engaged, humorous, self-deprecating — and always learning.”

Clinton, the former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary and presidential candidate, will promote her book with a cross country tour. “Something Lost, Something Gained” comes out two months before Bill Clinton’s memoir about post-presidential life, “Citizen.”

Financial terms were not disclosed. Clinton was represented by Washington attorney Robert Barnett, whose other clients have included former President George W. Bush and former President Barack Obama.

Clinton’s previous books include such bestsellers as “It Takes a Village,” “Living History” and “What Happened.”

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