Austen's novels often suggest strong themes in her titles, occasionally including two seemingly opposing concepts against one another, such as "pride and prejudice" or "sense and sensibility" (also titles of two her best-loved stories). But ultimately the two concepts end up existing alongside of each other and working in tandem to win the day (and, often, to cement whatever potential romances are struggling to manifest). In this novel, "pride" is a pervasive theme that applies to many of the characters: Elizabeth herself, Mister Darcy, her sister Jane's suitor, her mother, and her younger sister, Lydia, as well as Mr. Collins, Mr. Wickham and others. Pride is seen as a generally positive attribute that can inadvertently lead to difficulty when it overshadows compassion and sympathy.

Prejudice is also pervasive, as when Elizabeth mistakenly assumes Darcy is prideful because he is arrogant and cold-hearted, instead of understanding his standoffish and judgmental attitude is borne of having been betrayed and annihilated by others whom he sought to help. This idea of prejudice accounts for several of the novel's characters judging others' behavior too harshly when only considering one example or instance, instead of the whole picture.

The central conflict appears to be the one that keeps Elizabeth and Darcy apart. She suspects him of being too proud and of having unreasonably-high expectations of others, and mistakes his cautious and discriminating social behavior for cruelty. He understands that she is misjudging him, but he is too proud to set things right by explaining his behavior. She in turn is too proud to allow a cruel man to woo her, despite her attraction to him. When she learns from others that Darcy's actions are more often borne of sympathy and generosity, she begins to see he is more complex than she had previously thought, and allows the positive opinions of others to sway her prejudice. In this way she relaxes her proud stance and becomes open to his attentions; he, in turn, swallows his pride and once again asks her to reconsider. They finally arrive at a point where they can express their true feelings, once the initial prejudice born of pride is swept away.

The main conflict in this novel is plainly suggested within its title. It is pride and prejudice vs. the success of Elizabeth's and Darcy's romance. The pride is Darcy's. His arrogant and insulting demeanor at the outset arouses Elizabeth's prejudice, causing her to eagerly accept any bad report about him (such as that which she hears from Mr. Wickham) and reject his initial confession of love. This conflict later begins to approach resolution when Elizabeth gets over her prejudice, seeing Darcy for what he really is and becoming fond of him. It is finally resolved when Darcy overcomes his pride and approaches Elizabeth with a second confession of love.

What are the conflicts among the characters in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen?

The conflict which is probably most significant to the plot is the one between Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. She finds him to be proud and haughty; at first, he doesn't find her terribly attractive, and—even when that changes—he cannot escape his feeling that she is inferior to him, at least socially. Darcy is conflicted within himself even, which he reveals during his first proposal of marriage to Elizabeth. Darcy doesn't want to love Elizabeth, because she and her relatives are so far beneath him in his opinion, and her mother and youngest sisters are especially inappropriate. He gets over it when he realizes that he has not behaved in a gentlemanlike manner.

The conflict between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet certainly informs their two eldest daughters' ideas about marriage. Mr. Bennet married Mrs. Bennet when they were young, before he really got to know her, and she is absolutely ridiculous and obnoxious. She believes that he has "no compassion" for her nerves, constantly making her anxious, and he does his best to avoid her company whenever he can, though he does seem to enjoy making her suffer a little. Elizabeth and Jane, consequently, really want to marry for true love.

There is also the conflict between Elizabeth and Miss Bingley, who is clearly trying to capture Darcy for herself, though she goes about it all wrong. Miss Bingley is a total snob, who doesn't want her brother marrying Jane Bennet either. Elizabeth also conflicts with Lady Catherine, Darcy's aunt, when Lady Catherine hears that Darcy has proposed to Elizabeth. Lady Catherine feels that the Bennets are well beneath her family, and she has her heart set on Darcy marrying her own daughter, and his first cousin, Lady Anne.

What are the conflicts among the characters in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen?

There are many different conflicts among the characters in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The first conflict is between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, where the wife is extremely concerned about making the acquaintance of Mr. Bingley but the husband does not wish to bestir himself or be pushy. Next is the conflict between Elizabeth, who wishes to follow the forms of good manners carefully, and the desire of her younger sisters to flirt with officers. The Bingley sisters wish for their brother to marry Georgiana, which is in conflict with the romantic feelings Jane and Mr. Bingley havd for one another. Initially, Darcy and Elizabeth have an agonistic encounter at the ball.

In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, what are the main conflicts throughout the book?

In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, one of the main conflicts is Character vs. Character. This is exhibited in Elizabeth's bad opinion of Mr. Darcy. It is also exhibited in Mr. Bingley's sisters treatment of the Bennet family, particularly of Jane. It is also seen in Mr. Wickham's treatment of Darcy and Miss Darcy, and in his seduction of Lydia.

Another major conflict found in the book is Character vs. Society. This conflict is mostly shown through the economic problems that are portrayed throughout the story. For instance, because the Bennet children consist of several daughters, the Bennet estate is entailed to the next male in line in order to keep the estate in the family and to keep its worth from being divided. At Mr. Bennet's death, Longbourn will be entailed to Mr. Collins. The entailment means that the Bennet daughters will be left with little wealth once their father passed on, and had to rely on finding financially secure husbands. The entailment led to several conflicts in the book, particularly the conflict that arose when Elizabeth refuses to marry Mr. Collins. The entailment also put a great deal of pressure on Jane, the eldest daughter, to marry well in order to provide for her family when their father passes on.

There are also a couple of instances of the conflict Character vs. Self. This can be seen when Elizabeth begins to reproach herself for misjudging Mr. Darcy and being so prejudiced against him.  Likewise, it can also be said that Mr. Darcy exhibits the conflict of Character vs. Self when he begins to realize how his pride makes him appear to others and just how damaging his pride can be to fulfilling his character and his reputation.

What is the most important issue in Pride and Prejudice?

Pride and Prejudice has so many issues. Love, marriage, socio-economic status, money, and pride are just a few of those issues. I will focus on marriage. The time period of this novel focuses on power that men have. Status is very crucial here. Women are at the sides of the men. Most of the time women did not marry for love but instead to have stability and someone to count on to provide socio-economic stability. They were also beneath men so to say and did what they were told most of the time. An important question to ask here is "did women marry for love or money" and the same goes for men.

What is the most important issue in Pride and Prejudice?

Gender roles are at the forefront of Austen's subtle satire.  Set in the late-Romantic, early-Victorian patriarchal society, where men combined wealth and status to lord over women (and women let them!), Pride and Prejudice playfully points out the flaws in the gender roles of both sexes.

Look at the social expectations for men and women.  How does society limit them according to age, marital status, economics, geography, gender, family, and appearance?

Look at the marriage practices in the novel.  Is marriage a romantic notion (marriage for love), or a socio-economic one (marriage to protect wealth)?  Are marriages and relationships integrated (men and women share equally in the decision-making) or are they segregated (men dominate in the decisions)?

At it is Horatian satire, Austen is very subtle with her ironies.  You almost have look past the wit, charm and playfulness of her dialogue (and invert all beliefs therein) to uncover what Austen is really saying about how society limits her characters.

What is the major conflict in Pride and Prejudice?

One of the major conflicts that is introduced at the beginning of the book is how difficult it is for a young woman to marry well with little or no dowry. 

The other conflict that exists from the beginning is the looming prospect of being kicked out of their house if Mr. Bennet should die.  With no male heir in his family, the home will pass to the next male in the family, Mr. Collins.  So the Bennet's are in a state of high anxiety about being evicted from their home from the beginning of the story.

This leads to additional conflict from Mrs. Bennet on the lack of appropriate gentleman callers for her five daughters.  Particularly for Jane and Lizzie, the two oldest girls.  Mrs. Bennetis in a state of agitation over finding suitable, men of means, to court her daughters.  She believes that if either of them marry well that they could provide for her and the other girls if Mr. Bennet should die.

Mrs. Bennet's angst over finding Jane and Lizzie husbands dominates the beginning of the story, it is her vulgar expressions, her over the top behavior, her crude behavior that so disturbs Mr. Darcy.  Even when the girls are invited to a ball, and surrounded by potential suitors, Mrs. Bennet cannot suppress her need to gush about the problems at finding a husband for her daughters.