Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice highlights a social courtship between the proud Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and the astute and unconventional Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Elizabeth is proud of her own identity. She cleverly justifies herself as "a gentleman's daughter" (Austen 337) in her confrontation with Lady Catherine de Bourgh, aware of her prejudices and class. Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, who shares Elizabeth's sharp tongue, comes from a family of high social status; his privileged upbringing instilled in him “pride and vanity” (Austen 349) which prevent him from recognizing the similarity and equality between himself and Elizabeth. When he first proposes to Elizabeth, he does not realize that he is not raising his social status by marrying her. They have equal authority in marriage; their similar personalities make them all the more equal and complementary to each other. Thus, their marriage, following a second sincerely formulated proposal, signifies Darcy's recognition of Elizabeth's worth, and through her recognition, Austen argues for the fundamental equality between husband and wife. Gurinder Chadha's Bride and Prejudice, a Bollywood adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, places Jane Austen's emphasis on marriage equality in a cross-cultural context, where difference in culture is a source of social tension. As West meets East, American tycoon William Darcy ignites a cultural conflict with his presumption that Indian girls exhibit "simple" and traditional characteristics and their easy subordination to American men. Along with Elizabeth's assertion that her father and Darcy were on equal footing, Lalita's fierce refutation of Darcy's hypothesis highlights her ignorance of Indian culture, particularly her inability to understand it. .. middle of paper... wholeheartedly, making their match somewhat contrived but actually romantic and modern. The union between Balraj and Jaya proves to Darcy that the Indian practice of arranged marriage, in particular its aspect of brief interaction between spouses, does not prevent the formation of a romantic feeling; it is therefore not inferior to the free and romantic marriage supported by the Americans, which conveys the idea of ​​equality between traditions and modernity. The recognition, understanding and respect that Balraj has for Jaya and its culture gave birth to a marriage between England and India, and through this marriage, England and India found a way to engage equally. Austen, Jane and Vivien Jones. Pride and prejudice. London: Penguin, 2003. Print.2. Bride and prejudice. Real. Gurinder Chadha. Perf. Aishwarya Rai and Martin Henderson. 2004.