“She had hoped better things from their high ideas of their own situation in life, and was reduced to form a wish which she had never foreseen- a wish that they had more pride; for ‘our cousins Lady Dalrymple and Miss Carteret’… sounded in her ears all day long” (146).

            Indeed, Anne’s desire for her father and sister to have more pride is quite ironic. Pride is what caused them to have to move. Pride is what keeps them from downsizing so that Sir Walter can pay off his debts. It even stops Elizabeth and Sir Walter from realizing that they are not peers of the aristocratic world that they so badly want to be a part of. The quote that I wrote about above even mentions that they don’t want to lose any pride. Of course, pride can also mean to know your self-worth. It can be argued that the eldest Elliot daughter and her father lack this type of pride. If they did, then they wouldn’t have to depend on their cousins to give them social importance. Anne is not impressed by her cousins’ social standing. As she later discloses that there is nothing superior about them, but their social status. She would rather be around people she can converse with and that have something of substance to say. In the text, there are people who have money, those who live as if they have money, and others who have no title or money. The Dalrymples would be the first, Anne’s family is the second, and Mrs. Clay and Mrs. Smith are the latter. The story is all about social class and people trying to move up. While Elizabeth and Sir Walter see themselves more highly than they should, they know enough about how the world works. They seek to use their new founded relationship with the Dalrymples to move up the social ladder. Considering that the audience was basically normal people without titles or fortune, I don’t think that many would have been persuaded by this quote. If today proves anything, it is difficult for those who have not to imagine that the life that comes with being rich is anything but exciting. Of course, rich people are still people, but they live lives that the “little people” can only imagine. The rich have parties, dances, luxurious ways of dressing, and as much of the things that they need as they want.