Pride & Prejudice #9

This section illustrates prejudice as the origin of hatred. In particular, regarding Elizabeth's feelings for Mr. Darcy, it is stated that "she certainly did not hate him. No; hatred had vanished long ago, and she had almost as long been ashamed of ever feeling a dislike against him that could be so called" (221). Her hatred dissipates with her prejudice, thus demonstrating how the sole ultimate source of her hatred was her inherent contempt for Mr. Darcy - a cause which, when dissolved, similarly removes the resultant emotion. This demonstrates how true hatred - and, perhaps, any sort of dislike - originates not from dislike, but from misunderstanding. Understanding breeds empathy; and, similarly, a lack of comprehension breeds a lack of sympathetic feelings. Combined, these indicate that dislike originates from misunderstanding on account of a limited range of environments in which the target of the dislike is observed rather than any true source of contempt, and that, correspondingly, this can be resolved by developing a full understanding of the character of the disliked individual.