Marxism in Pride and Prejudice

Pride and prejudice predates Marxism but shows some crucial elements of it. Karl Marx says in his conclusion to Towards a Critique of Political Economy,

“It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness”

 This highlights peoples outsight on their own social class such as Mr. Darcy’s at the beginning of the novel towards Elizabeth and how he felt he out-ranked her and therefore refused to dance with her when they first met, stating “she is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me”. This just shows how he feels superior to Elizabeth; whether it’s because of her mediocre looks or her social standing he obviously feels that she isn’t worth his time. However this is rather different to the hierarchy in their relationship where Elizabeth is clearly the more dominant, as she is more outspoken and regularly pokes fun at Mr. Darcy.