Pride and Prejudice in Astrology: the Goodness and Merit of Elizabeth and Darcy as a Tale of Elevation
“There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.”
The Eris square Pluto aspect ushered in massive change, with five direct hits from 2020-2021, ending the orb of influence in 2024. Just like all the other planets and trans-Neptunian objects, Eris energy too has a higher and a lower expression. Eris carries a lesson about having loving energy, sweetness, goodness, lightness of being, and good fortune. And also the fruits of embracing devil energy upon seeing another’s substance or opulence, that consumes the mean envier to the point of losing spiritual inheritance, due to being a snake in the grass. Allowing inner jealousy to run rampant like a weed, destroys both the envied and the envier, and makes social environments highly toxic, as people ponder; who is friend, and who is foe, looking for fame and fortune with frivolity. Who is the concealed source of the obsessive menace and who is the fairest in a messy situation? Who offered a poisoned apple, and who drank the sweet hateraide slander kool-aid? Who has the knowledge of the good and evil, and who is filled with experience and wisdom, after a long ordeal? It’s about having put someone or something on a pedestal, and then later realising that it or they had not been worthy of the honour.
Eris is the Goddess of Discord and Strife in astrology, and so it is between those of great fortune and those who get bothered by another’s abundance rooted in their goodness. Jane Austin’s book Pride and Prejudice is about love, marriage and society and is a classic romantic novel set in early 19th-century England.
The characters and relationship dynamics have been loved and studied by enthusiasts for centuries, to the point where many amazing adaptations in various formats have been created. The classic regency novel is about the coming of age of Elizabeth Bennet, and coming to discover that there are many insincere, love-bombing pretenders and handsome devils, who carry a pleasant countenance and wit to fool, yet they are without good character, spiritually broke and hunting for a fortune. It’s about inexperienced young ladies forced onto the marriage mart, looking for good qualities in a prospective partner, and opening the Pandora’s box of another’s hidden ambitions, falseness, and dark aspects that they hide to save face in polite society, to take a social rank and materialistic gain. People are still widely drawn to the memorable characters in Pride and Prejudice and what they symbolise, and it shows just how epic Eris stories in astrology energy really are.
Pride and Prejudice is about growth, character development, spiritual upgrade, and eventually a prosperous inheritance, and about how the interaction and experience provides for a satisfactory elevation for the hero and/or heroin. It’s about choices made, and far-reaching consequences…
It’s about finding satisfaction from having gone through a journey of discovery, that goes deep within… as is typical of the trans-Neptunian objects in astrology, that represents the bringing of hope, change, expanded thinking, soul purpose, and quantum leaps into our consciousness.
The TNOs and Kuiper belt objects carry a groundbreaking, powerful punch energy that are worth exploring as they are very much behind the massive change we are seeing.
My favourite version of the story is the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice by the BBC, which is a tv series with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. I have watched it with my mother and grandmother countless amount of times, and even my partner has seen it, and many of the other versions as well.
It’s the story about the violent prejudice fashioned against Mr. Darcy who was innately a good, honourable and wealthy man, due to another who wanted to put himself in better position, to take advantage of an engineered situation for his own self indulgent self-enrichment.
Pride and Prejudice is a novel of manners, it follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the PROTAGONIST of the book, who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments, and comes to appreciate the difference between superficial goodness and actual goodness.
Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy is her unlikely love interest, who had been misunderstood, judged for his aloofness and slandered by the gossip-mongers in the community in which Elizabeth grew up, who saw him as too high above his station because he would not oblige them. Both Elizabeth and Darcy misinterpreted each other, all while exterior forces try to persuade them away from each other. Family members create drama as young ladies are pushed to pursue relationships that lead to elevation into marriage, which nearly ruins Elizabeth and her sister Jane’s chances of marrying well, which was the expectation at home.
There are three main themes in Pride and Prejudice, which are family, marriage, and class.
The overall message of Pride and Prejudice is that first impressions can be wrong. This message is so profound that Austen originally called Pride and Prejudice by the name "First Impressions."
In the story Elizabeth's first encounter with Mr. Darcy convinces her that he is too PROUD, and she harbors PREJUDICE against him for this reason. Mr. Darcy also is quick to JUDGE Elizabeth and finds himself reckoning with his WRONG ASSESSMENT of her throughout the novel, until he finally admits to himself he has fallen in love with her.
The main ANTAGONIST of the story is George Wickham, who tells Elizabeth that Mr Darcy had wronged him greatly and made himself out to sound like an angel for forgiving the injustice, which is believed for a long time due to his delicate tempting and gentle seducing of everyone, keeping them chained to the devil when it comes to relationship and romance choices; a choice in love. Wickham saw an opportunity to put everyone in their head, cause a fall from grace for Darcy, to divert attention from him, who is wearing a mask. Wickham sought to establish for himself selfish indulgence and materialistic benefits at Darcy’s expense, and as some of the doors eventually shut in his face, as the truth about his true character, his dishonourable behaviour, gambling debts and ill intentions towards women came out, he hastily left town also eloping with Elizabeth’s silly youngest sister Lydia in a scandal. After being relieved from this heavy debts by Mr Darcy, the scoundrel is forced to marry Lydia, and then learns of Elizabeth and Darcy’s closer acquaintance. Lustful and devious Wickham saw more opportunity to extort Darcy, through the attachment to Elizabeth, and more importantly, Mr Darcy’s money and social influence. Wickham wanted to cause Mr Darcy PAIN IN LOVE, so that he could control his life and make him miserable; that’s wickedness. And at first, it was all done under the guise of goodness; with everyone believing the INVERSION that Wickham was the injured party and Darcy the remorseless villain. Jane Austin expert Dr Octavia Cox unravels the details about why Wickham eloped with Lydia, in this video.
More importantly, Death comes to Pemberly is a tv series spinoff produced by the BBC that explores and reveals the true intentions and conspiracy that Wickham might have initially had in forcing his connection with Darcy, perhaps by starting in taking a commission in the army so close to where Darcy had been staying with Bingley, kept informed of his movements via the staff at Pemberley estate, Mr Darcy’s home. It is set six years after Darcy and Elizabeth’s wedding and how Wickham with his wife Lydia are still able to negatively influence their lives, being a thorn in Darcy’s side an enjoyment for Wickham.
Mr Darcy has a best friend called Mr Bingley, who is loyal, kind and good natured man, who at the start of the story quickly falls in love with Elizabeth’s sister Jane, who is a sweetheart, but they are cruelly separated by Darcy who mistakes Jane’s sweet countenance and thinks her to be insincere in her regard for Bingley, causing her considerable disappointment and heartbreak. In the end, Darcy apologises for interfering to Bingley and encourages his friend to propose to the woman he loves.
The Astrology of the Book Pride and Prejudice and Judging a Book by its Cover
Pride and Prejudice is the second novel by English author Jane Austen, published in 1813, after the highly successful Sense and Sensibility.
Wikipedia lists the publication date as 28 January 1813. The chart shows the Sun at 7 degrees Aquarius conjunct trans-Neptunian object Eris at 9 degrees Aquarius with asteroid Ceres at 5 degrees Aquarius. The South Node at 19 degrees Aquarius is conjunct asteroid Juno at 17 degrees., and from the aforementioned an adept astrologer can gather a GREAT WEALTH of information.
The Sun is tight conjunction to Eris in Aquarius, which is about the vitality and expression of the book, being about how smoke and mirrors is created to obsure the true character and merit of people, and how certain young ladies go through a process or refinement, through certain experiences with romance, heartbreak and interaction with other people, of both good and dubious nature, to discover ‘who is who’. Sun conjunct Eris is a literal image of judging people based on first appearance or based on the acerbic prejudice of a gossiping social engineer who wants to be on top; a social climber who steps on others to get ahead.
The presence of Ceres on the other side of Sun conjunct Eris, is about the motherly, nurturing people in the life of the protagonist Elizabeth. It’s those memorable, truthful confidantes like her affectionate sister Jane who is in a supportive role who the protagonist can rely on to make sense of the world, as sisterly comfort to confide in, in this case.
The South Node in the chart tend to cast a wide influence, thus this wide conjunction with the Sun is quite valid. The South Node in Aquarius is about DETACHMENT and its ALOOF COLDNESS and learning the lessons regarding the negative qualities of this zodiac sign. It’s about having a stubborn, uncooperative, and rebellious nature and having difficulty with intimacy. This can be seen in Mr Darcy’s interactions with the people around him. He had a profound love for his sister and friend Fitzwilliam, but he had trouble elsewhere. These were circumstances that turned him into a withdrawn, haughty person who is dismissive of almost everyone he meets.
The South Node is conjunct Juno, who is the goddess of marriage, and here Mr Darcy’s trouble become evident, with the wealthy and socially high ranked bachelor the target of fortune hunters and ambitious mammas, leaving him struggling to have healthy relationships, else someone take advantage of a connection to him, or claim an acquaintance based on false pretences. Mr Darcy had become quite allergic to all the FAKERY PARADE, and it had turned him INDIFFERENT, because people faked regard for him, in order to trap him as a husband for their daughters, or to swindle him out of his wealth or position in society.
The Moon in Sagittarius is conjunct Neptune which is about great expectations and finding illusions as it pertains to the emotional investment of another person.
Mercury in Capricorn is conjunct Saturn and Venus which is COLD COMFORT indeed in relationships but also truthful speaking and to the point speaking about the harsh realities of life, as it pertains to people’s ambitions, who is really willing to work towards success in life, and attain true status worth having.
Mars in Sagittarius is conjunct Uranus in Scorpio, which is about the actions taken from having ideals and visions for the future, and the shocks and surprises that people can run into, as it pertains to how they take action to realise their dreams and goals for a better future.
The North Node off course is in Leo, which is about SHINING BRIGHTLY for one’s true character and UNIQUE self expression as a CREATOR BEING.
Further more, Ixion, Pluto and Sedna conjuncts in Pisces, which shows just how deep the search for truth, painful realisations about being discarded (Sedna), bewilderment due to betrayal (Ixion) and the transformative process (Pluto) runs, to become highly CONSCIOUS and AWARE, having totally cleansed oneself of old faulty thinking.
The Astrology Birth Chart of Regency Novelist Jane Austin
According to Wikipedia, Jane was born 16 December 1775, at
Steventon Rectory, Hampshire, England, during a harsh winter. Her father George Austen served as the rector of the Anglican parishes of Steventon and Deane. The Reverend Austen came from an old and wealthy family of wool merchants. As each generation of eldest sons received inheritances, the wealth was divided, and George's branch of the family fell into poverty though.
Jane Austin’s astrology chart reveals an idealistic, impassioned Sun in Sagittarius woman, who may be eager in her pre-judgements herself. But her optimism and liveliness is tempered by Moon conjunct rational Saturn in Libra, which shows that she had a sense of fairness and maturity well beyond her years. Mercury in Sagittarius took her on many intellectual flights, and conjunct the influence of Haumea perhaps caused her so see emotional purity as a creator being from a unique point of view. She could have been bitter about her circumstances, but she used her talents to mover herself forward despite the odds.
Her Mars conjunct Pluto in Capricorn shows a woman of great resolve willing to plunge into the rarely explored deep matters of the unconscious and unawareness. Jane Austin was a clergyman’s unmarried daughter and had to live with economy. She didn’t have much money of her own, and an occupation wasn’t a luxury for a woman of her station. It was via taking diligent action on her writings, that she would secure for herself an income. This conjunction and her Venus in Scorpio is about her HONESTY and FORTHRIGHTNESS in relationships, due to seeing the underlying patterns and truth in people’s inner workings and makeup, that made her unpopular with some family members. Her North Node was in Leo and South Node in Aquarius, with the South Node showing someone of aloof disposition. In her chart few planets and objects make conjunctions, however there is a cluster around the Eris, Pallas Athena and Ceres conjunction in Capricorn that makes a wide conjunction to Ixion in Capricorn. Curiously, the closest conjunction to her Sun in Sagittarius at 23 degrees, was Ixion (betrayal and immaturity) at 0 degrees Capricorn.
Clearly she had a distain for individuals of poor character, of little backbone, haughtiness, and those of artifice and divisiveness to ruin other’s lives with their cunning.
Eris is about blocking any empathy, friendship, love or support for another. It’s foul play.
Jane Austin seemed to enjoy writing about character, those who are pure of heart, and the great contradiction of those who want to appear principled, but are not. It’s about finding virtue where it seemed unlikely, because the good qualities had been buried by prejudice, slander, and pressure to conform, and situations where enemies conspired behind the scenes.
But someone turned out to have merit and was innately rooted in the DIGNITY of truthfulness. They did not sell their soul, nor compromise, due to SELF-RESPECT that could not be pried from their fingers, and that is their protection from evil forces, because it is RESPECTABLE.
This unwillingness to oblige the antagonist by not compromising innate values, is what tends to drive them even more to create DRAMA, so that the thought-shaper can say that their target is bad, crazy or wrong, or that they don’t see things right, that their perception is skewed. These are the gaslighting tactics to invalidate another’s feelings and stance, and judgements made for which discernment has to be employed. The target must know that standing in their truth and not participating in the cockamamie is their protection. Lies travel fast but the truth prevails, even if it takes years for the truth to be seen, but seen it will… It is in the nature of energy, for unresolved energy to unravel and become revolved, and it is not right that the innocent hang their head in SHAME, due to another’s projections, machinations and manipulations.
It’s refusing to fold, be submissive nor accept those who want to have CONTROL over another, with their forced frivolity, hatred and animosity. It’s refusing to sell one’s soul, refusing to oblige. Not accepting illusions.
One of my favourite quotes comes from the scene in the video below, in which Elizabeth, who due to the prejudice created had believed Wickham’s false appearances and lies, had learnt of Wickham’s vicious character, and discussed it with her sister. She said:
“No Jane... that won’t do. You’ll never be able to make them both good. There is just enough merit between them to make one good sort of man... and for my part... I am inclined to believe it’s all Mr Darcy’s.... I’m afraid one has all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it.”
From the dialogue in the video above, it is obvious that Jane Austin had great difficulty in real life as well, in seeing the world through her kind sister Jane’s eyes. She could never “think so well” of other people, nor look through friendlier rose coloured glasses at them, for she saw people’s disposition, that might tempt them towards envy, projection, deliberate wickedness and desire to betray, to take a selfish gain at another’s expense, by stepping on another’s back to secure their own elevation, while pretending to be sweet or justified in their actions.
Wikipedia explains that her real life sister Cassandra Austen destroyed the bulk of the letters she received from her sister Jane Austin, burning or otherwise destroying them, after Jane Austin’s death. She wanted to ensure that the "younger nieces did not read any of Jane's sometimes acid or forthright comments on neighbours or family members". In the interest of protecting reputations from Jane's penchant for HONESTY and FORTHRIGHTNESS, Cassandra omitted details of illnesses, unhappiness and anything she considered unsavoury.
Jane Austin could never be accused of not being authentic… even though she has had to hold her tongue in polite society. If she could not be frank about the AMBITION of the UNDERHANDED TRAITORS and the WITTY FAKERS, who didn’t want to listen to their better judgement, she expressed it through her characters, and ended up being massively appreciated for the truthful discourse anyway.
Pride and Prejudice has consistently appeared near the top of lists of "most-loved books" among literary scholars and the reading public. It has become one of the most popular novels in English literature, with over 20 million copies sold, and has inspired many derivatives in modern literature.
The Basic Plot of Pride and Prejudice
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
Pride and Prejudice follows the turbulent relationship between Elizabeth Bennet, the daughter of a country gentleman, and Fitzwilliam Darcy, a rich aristocratic landowner. They must overcome the sins of pride and prejudice in order to fall in love and marry. The basic plot of the story can be found on this Wikipedia Page, because as is often the case with Eris stories, they are long and winding with many plot twists. Click to enlarge the image below.
More on Eris in Astrology:
Being in spiritual jail is a concept that relates to cause and effect. To be put in time-out: to sit, think, consider and learn from. To look at intentions, motivations, and dysfunctional patterns. To get out of denial and be truthful to self. To trust, re-integrate, heal, grow and transform; surrendering to a process which takes a person from one state, into another. Those who allow the process of going into the underworld, learn to be present, mature, stable and joyfully open-hearted.