Fiction of Jane Austen’s period treated its characters as moral exemplars, as well as imaginary human beings. One quality that distinguishes Austen’s work from her contemporaries is that she allows her “exemplary” characters to have flaws. In what ways is Elizabeth Bennet exemplary, and in what ways is she flawed? Compare her to other characters in Pride and Prejudice as you develop your answer.
. While Austen created these characters for our amusement, each one represents something she wishes to comment on about her bourgeois society. Pride and Prejudice was considered to be a modern piece of literature for the time it was written and to this day we are still able to empathise with the characters in Austen’s novel. Pride and Prejudice is
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She will not ‘settle’ for anything less than true love and happiness. This is a rather modern viewpoint for the time considering that marrying well is considered a woman’s duty, especially those of the upper class. The standard view on marriage at the time is foregrounded in the first sentence of the novel. “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” (Austen, p1.) Elizabeth does not want to marry for fortune she wishes to marry for love. In the novel Elizabeth receives 3 proposals. The first from Mr Collins whom she finds ( ) and declines. The second and the third from mr Darcy who proposes to her once, she declines as she ( ) and after ( ) he proposes for a second time and Elizabeth …show more content…
Elizabeth is certainly the person in the novel who holds most of the prejudice. The idea of prejudice and naivety is shown in the novel first when she meets Mr. Darcy and secondly when she meets Mr. Wickham. Austen’s powerful and masterful art of shifting our allegiances is clearly seen in her depiction of Mr Wickham and Mr Darcy. We are positioned to be pro the former and against the later until the turning point later in the story when Elizabeth’s eyes are opened to their real character. Elizabeth first believes Mr. Darcy to be “very disagreeable” after he insults her at the ball at Netherfield. Elizabeth also is easily blown away by Wickham’s charms and takes everything he says in its exactness. Later in the novel it becomes apparent that Mr. Darcy is more good character than is first believed when he saves the Bennet’s reputation from being perpetually tarnished. The reputation of the Bennet’s is saved when Darcy rushes to their aid after Wickham elopes with Lydia. Darcy forces them to marry to save the family embarrassment and pays for the wedding. Mrs Gardiner explains this to Elizabeth in a letter. Elizabeth instantly feels foolish for having judged Mr Darcy in such a manner. ``How despicably have I acted!'' she cried. -- ``I, who have prided myself on my discernment! -- I, who have valued myself on my abilities! who have often disdained the generous candour of my sister, and gratified my
Mr. Darcy is a character who represents moral ambiguity throughout most of the novel. His wealthy social status can make him be discriminatory and be patronizing to those who he believes are inferior to him, however, those characteristics slowly fade away as he becomes more acquainted with Lizzy in the final chapters. He is prideful yet noble and honorable to those who have a chance to know him personally. Mr. Darcy’s character allows for Jane Austen to reveal the effects pride can have on
Elizabeth's strength of character is emphasized by its contrast with the weak, naive acceptance of Jane's, the instability and excess of Mrs. Bennet's and the blind, weak-willed following of Kitty's. Her strength is also shown in her rejections of the proposals of Mr. Collins and Darcy. Unlike her mother, she does not base her choice of lovers on the financial security they will give her, and has the strength to reject them. This is especially evident in her rejection of Darcy's initial proposal, when she displays a passionate strength in her anger due to her belief that he has willfully prevented Jane and Bingley's marriage and wronged Wickham by refusing to grant him the property that the old Mr. Darcy bequeathed him. In both cases, the suitor is self-assured that his suit will be accepted, and as a result Elizabeth's rejections are amplified by the size of the blows that their egos receive. In Rosings, she does not let Lady Catherine tyrannize her as "the mere satellites of money and rank, she thought she could witness without trepidation." The Lucases and Collinses are submissive to Lady Catherine, with Maria being "frightened almost out of her senses", and it is probable that society as a whole behaves likewise, as Elizabeth suspects she is "the first creature who had ever dared to trifle with such dignified impertinence". She is again presented as a rebel against ideas of class when Lady Catherine pays a visit to her to ensure that ...
Pride and Prejudice is set in the small English town of Longbourn. When a rich, single man moves into the Bennets’ neighborhood, he is immediately considered as a possibly husband by all the single women in the neighborhood, Possibly the most hopeful of the mothers is Mrs. Bennet, mother of Jane, Elizabeth, Kitty, Lydia, and Mary Bennet. With all five of her daughters unmarried and her husband’s fortune entailed to a distant relative, Mrs. Bennet is desperate for her girls to marry well. During a ball hosted by Bingley, he and Jane develop strong feelings for eachother. At the same time, Elizabeth and Bingley’s close friend, Darcy, form very bad relations. Their attitudes toward each other only grow worse with the entrance of Wickham, whose militia is stationed in town. Elizabeth and Wickham meet, and Wickham tells Elizabeth stories of how Darcy ruined his life. At this point Elizabeth’s opinion of Darcy is very poor, and it becomes even lower when she learns that Darcy is the one that encouraged Bingley to leave town, consequently breaking her sister’s heart. Over time, Darcy develops strong feelings for Elizabeth. When he finally tells her how he feels and proposes to her, however, he is met by anger and rejection. Shortly after, Elizabet...
It is evident that Austen did not like the general role that women took on in the early nineteenth century, with no financial independence and an expectation to serve the rest of their lives being a good wife and mother with only the accomplishments such as music and art, to excite them. I have first decided to comment on the relationship between Mr and Mrs Bennet. Mr Bennet clearly regrets his marriage to Mrs Bennet and realises that he was really only attracted to her beauty and wealth, rather than her personality. This runs parallel to the relationship between Lydia and Mr Wickham.
As a retaliation Elizabeth stuns Darcy by refusing his proposal very harshly stating "I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry." This shows the extent of her prejudice against Darcy as she says that even from the beginning she disliked him. She condemns him for his arrogant manner in which he proposed his actions to separate Jane and Bingley and his actions of unfairness on Wickham. He accepts these accusations without apology, even with contempt. However, he flinches when she accuses him of not behaving like a gentleman and when Elizabeth finishes her denunciation of him, Darcy angrily departs.
England, under James 1st rule was a vastly altered period compared to our now modern society. So many of the values held during this time, have now been discarded and forgotten. Jane Austen grew up in the Romantic period and experienced a world which was divided, whether through education, class, status, fashion, abilities, gender and etiquette. Her novel, Pride and Prejudice is counted as one of the great classics of English Literature. Austen engrosses readers to live in her world for a time and experience a society filled with matchmaking, romance, marriage and gossip. Every one of her characters is so distinctive and has a clearly outlined caricature. Each of their diverse values conveys a different thinking of the time. Pride and Prejudice is preoccupied with the gentry and most of the social aspects which consumed these people’s lives. There were so many expectations of how you would behave in public, but of course not all of these were upheld. Elizabeth Bennet, Mr Darcy, Mrs Bennet and Charlotte Lucas are four characters which keep such strong beliefs about the social norms. These characters are expressed so descriptively and through their personalities readers can learn just how the numerous social standards were received.
Through these characters, the reader learns about Mrs Bennet’s biggest concern; to marry off all her daughters. The themes of the novel are mostly related to the title, ‘Pride and Prejudice’, there is an element of personal pride amongst the characters and also prejudice, particularly with Darcy and Elizabeth. The first chapter brings in the reader into the world of social class importance, marriage and women’s role in the 19th century, which is satirized by Austen.
The reader is first acquainted with Mr. Darcy's arrogance at the Meryton Ball. Speaking of Elizabeth Bennet, he so snobbishly says that she was, " tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me" (Austen 9). His feelings of superiority to the people of the town lend Mr. Darcy to be judged as a man with a repulsive and cruel personality. The women, who had found him dashingly attractive at first glance, deemed him a man unworthy of marriage because he offered no positive qualities other than wealth. Not only did Darcy refuse to dance with Elizabeth, but he makes it clear that no woman in the room was worthy or met his standards of a suitable partner stating that, " there is not another woman in this room, whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with" (Austen 8). In the beginning of the novel, Mr. Darcy is only concerned with the wealth and social standing of the people in the town. Because of their lesser social rank, he feels they are un-deserving of his presence and refuses to communicate with them. As the novel progressed, however, Darcy became more and more accepting of the Bennet family. Growing most fond of Elizabeth Bennet, the straightforward, clever daughter, he finally breaks and confesses his true feelings of love for her. "In vain...
It has been argued that the relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, is the core of the novel. This is not a hard case to persuade someone of. Austen spends most of the story detailing their progression. Moreover, theirs is one of the more exciting plot lines (aside from Lydia’s imprudent marriage to Wickham). We follow Darcy and Elizabeth from their first disastrous meeting until their engagement. Before their union, though, there is an apparent change in the both characters. The change is incited by each other, but there is a greater force also acting upon them. Nature alleviates the tensions and confusions the pair feels of one another and of society. This opposition between Darcy
The roles of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice are contrasted between a father who cares about what’s inside of people and a mother who only worries about vanity and appearance. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s parental guidance is unique to their personalities. Because of their two opposing personas, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s ideas of marriage are contradictory for their daughters; Mr. Bennet believes in a loving respectful marriage whereas Mrs. Bennet values a marriage which concerns wealth and social status. Their aspirations for Lydia, Jane, Mary, Kitty and Elizabeth mirror their conflicting ideologies. Mr. Bennet seems to have a quiet deep love for his daughters while, on the contrary, Mrs. Bennet’s love is over-acted and conditional. Both parents help to shape their daughters’ characteristics and beliefs: Lydia reflecting Mrs. Bennet’s flighty and excessive behavior while Elizabeth inherits Mr. Bennet’s pensive and reflective temperament. Looking past their dissimilar personality traits and contradicting convictions, both parents hold the family together and play an integral role in the household structure.
Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ is a female centric novel. The contrast between Austen’s strong female protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, and the theme of marriage as a driving force throughout the novel suggests that, for an author whose own life was independent from a man, Austen was providing social commentary on women in society and could thus be seen to challenge traditional female roles. This is particularly important when taken into account the time period the novel was produced in. Austen was writing during a time where feminism was not a developed idea. As a female writer she was viewed as highly unusual for not marrying and having a career, something which ran contrary to the middle-upper class view for women as the domesticated, subservient housewife. Therefore, although Austen can be seen to conform to the view of gender stereotyping, it is possible to see the emergence of feminist attitudes in the way Austen presents strong female protagonists.
Sadly her journey to self-realization is often ignored in favor of focusing the attention on the romance between her and Mr. Darcy. This romance, however, would not have been as powerful without acknowledging the intellectual growth and emergent maturity of Elizabeth Bennet. Elizabeth, in Austen's novel, finds the path to her adult identity by questioning her own assumptions and undergoing a philosophi...
Fraiman, Susan. "The Humiliation of Elizabeth Bennet." Unbecoming Women: British Women Writers and the Novel of Development (1993): Rpt. in Pride and Prejudice. By Jane Austen. Ed. Donald Gray 3rd ed. Norton Critical Edition. New York: Norton, 2001. 356-368
The main protagonist of the story, Elizabeth Bennet (nicknamed both Lizzy and Eliza), is the second daughter in the Bennet family. Second only to her elder sister in beauty, Elizabeth’s figure is said to be “light and pleasing,” with “dark eyes,” and “intelligent…expression” (24). At 20 years old, she is still creating her place in society. Known for her wit and playful nature, “Elizabeth is the soul of Pride and Prejudice, [she] reveals in her own person the very title qualities that she spots so easily” (“Pride and Prejudice”) in others. Her insightfulness often leads her to jump to conclusions and think herself above social demand. These tendencies lead her to be prejudice towards others; this is an essential characteristic of her role
The plot of the novel follows traditional plot guidelines; although there are many small conflicts, there is one central conflict that sets the scene for the novel. The novel is about an embarrassing; mismatched couple and their five daughters. The novel begins with Mrs. Bennet, telling her daughters of the importance of marrying well. During this time a wealthy man, Charles Bingley, moves close to Netherfield, where the Bennets’ reside. The Bennet girls struggle to capture his attention, and Jane, who judges no one, is the daughter who manages to win his heart, until Mr. Bingley abruptly leaves town. Mr. Bingley is often accompanied by Fitzwilliam Darcy, who is a very proud man. Elizabeth Bennet, who is proud of herself, and Mr. Darcy are not fond of one another from the start, these two characters pose the central conflict in the novel. As the novel progresses, Elizabeth receives a marriage proposal from her cousin, Mr. Collins, and turns him down. Mr. Collins then proposes to Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth’s bestfriend, who accepts. Elizabeth then leaves home to stay with, the Collins’ who live near Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. Darcy’s aunt. While this is going on, Mr. Darcy realizes he has feelings for Elizabeth and proposes to her, this is the climax of the novel. She is astonished by his actions, and turns him flat down. She explains that she feels he is arrogant, and feels he stood in the way of Jane and Mr. Bingley marrying, and also feels he is a cruel man, especially in his treating of Mr. Wickham, she is expressing her prejudice towards him. He leaves and they part very angry with each other. Mr. Darcy then writes Elizabeth a letter, explaining his feelings, defending his actions, and reveling the true nature of Mr. Wickham. During this time Elizabeth returns home still baffled about the letter Mr....