> Truthfully I think most women have some "not like other girls" thoughts sometimes, although I think it's more common when we're younger. But yeah, even though Lizzie is "prejudice" and Darcy is "pride", I think they both display a good amount of the other's main character flaw. Lizzie is quite proud of her intellectual superiority, and that comes out quite a few times in the novel.

Yes, I think with Lizzie I mostly read it as this. I think Austen also amuses herself (and us) with really silly characters like Mr. Collins and Mrs. Bennet, so it doesn’t seem out of place to feel superior to them. But in this passage, it came off as weird.

>As for craftiness being portrayed negatively, that's just a product of the time, I think. I think when reading Austen, people need to keep in mind that she wasn't some kind of revolutionary seeking to change the status quo. The reason for her longevity in pop culture is based more on her brilliant and timeless satirization of human nature and hypocrisy. As a result, even though I love her work and still think it's relevant, I do think some of the morals, attitudes, and customs in her novels will be a bit jarring to modern readers.

Ahh, I like this take on it. I think I got swept away and forgot that Austen wasn’t trying to instigate a revolution.

This is a very good way to put it.