Pride and Prejudice The title of the novel Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, can be interpreted as a theme running through the novel. Pride, observed Mary, . . . is a very common failing, I believe. By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed, that human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or another, real or imaginary. Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymou ....