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Character analysis on pride and prejudice
Character analysis on pride and prejudice
Pride and prejudice character development
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The novel Pride and Prejudice is about five sisters and the things that happen on their way to getting married. The sisters are Jane, Elizabeth, Kitty, Mary and Lydia. The Bennet sisters all live with their parents at Longbourn. A new neighbor comes to live in the area of the family, named Mr. Bingley. Bingley catches the interest of most everyone in the area, but he seems to be especially fond of Jane. Bingley’s friend, Mr. Darcy, is not so well taken as Bingley himself is. Darcy is seen as too proud and overall not as nice a person as Bingley, but both are wealthy. Mr. Collins, the cousin and heir to the Bennet estate, asked Elizabeth to marry him and she said no. Close to this time Bingley, Darcy and the rest of their group left Netherfield to go back to London. This left Jane alone and although she acted fine about it most of the time, she was upset about Bingley going. The sisters received letters from Caroline Bingley, they told of Bingley’s likely marriage to Darcy’s sister. The news just about ended the idea of Jane and Bingley marrying. Elizabeth got to know an officer named Wickham, who has a connection to Darcy and to other characters later. Elizabeth learns different things about Mr. Wickham and mostly loses interest in him after he is engaged to another women. He did tell her about some bad things that Darcy did to him though, which gave Elizabeth a bad opinion about him. Elizabeth has many meetings with Mr. Darcy at different places. Each time she is puzzled at the way Darcy acts towards her. Other people keep telling her he likes her, but Elizabeth does not listen. She does not realize it fully until he asks to marry her and Elizabeth says no. When the redcoats leave, Lydia goes with on of the officers and his wife. While there, she runs off with Mr. Wickham, but does not get married. This is a great disgrace to the family, so it must be fixed. After some discussion and debts are paid off, Mr. Darcy ends up paying so that Wickham will marry Lydia. Mrs. Bennet is really happy about the marriage and so is Lydia, but Elizabeth knows Wickham well now, so is not as pleased. Bingley and Darcy come back to Netherfield and are constant visitors at
Elizabeth Bennet holds a few secrets from her family. While she is visiting the Collins’, Mr. Darcy enters the room Elizabeth is all alone in and abruptly declares his love for her. She politely declines his proposal for marriage, which turns into an angry accusation
At first, when he believes he is superior to the Bennet family and lets gives his pride control over his thoughts, he seems to be arrogant, snobbish, and morally bad. Nevertheless, his love for Jane overpowers his pride and begins to change the way Mr. Darcy is seen. This shift is not immediate as evidenced by his initial proposal to Elizabeth which is insulting and offensive to her, but as Lizzy confronts him by confessing her thoughts about him and he gets a chance to explain himself and Mr. Darcy is seen through a different light. This also makes Mr. Darcy more aware of what society thinks of him and as a result, makes his pride fade away. This is seen when he secretly pays for Mr. Wickham’s debts and bribes him to marry Lydia. For much of the novel, the moral question towards his character is uncertain, but when we see how Mr. Darcy’s mannerism change the complexity of his character become more intricate.
Pemberley “as often as he chose.'; Darcy even suggests that he could “supply him with
Mr. Darcy changes from disagreeable to agreeable after he asks Elizabeth to marry him but she declines because of his bad nature and atrocious manners towards her. Mr. Darcy is the most changed character throughout the novel because at the start of the book he is considered proud and arrogant by the people of Meryton at the ball but by the end of the novel he is considered passionate, pleasant and very well mannered. Mr. Darcy may have made an immense change for people to like him but characters like Mr. Bingley remain static through the entire book. One of Jane Austen’s main points in Pride and Prejudice was to make clear that change wasn’t acceptable back then.
Mr. Bennet's sarcastic comments prove his disconcerting on the whole topic. When Jane is invited to meet with Mr Bingley and his sister, Mrs. Bennet, suggest that she go by horseback. hopes that she could probably get ill and extend her stay. Mrs. Bennet's. mind is always thinking of ways to marry her daughters.
When Darcy and Elizabeth were first introduced at the Netherfield ball their relationship could hardly be thought of as positive. After their initial conversation Elizabeth overhears Darcy speaking unkindly about her and then refuses to dance. These actions give Elizabeth a negative
Mr. Bingley dances with Jane twice and paid special attention to her, telling Mr. Darcy “she is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld!” (Austen Chapter 3). Eventually this courtship comes to a sudden pause when Jane receives a letter from Mr. Bingley’s sister Caroline informing her that the Bingleys have left Netherfield with no intention of returning. The letter also hints that Mr. Bingley is interested in marrying Mr. Darcy’s sister Georgiana (Austen Chapter 21). Although Elizabeth explains to Jane that “Miss Bingley sees that her
Darcy alienated himself from the others at first because of his intense pride. His prejudice against the Bennets because of their poverty was also something that he would have to overcome. For Elizabeth, her prejudice. against Darcy came from his snobbery. It caused her to not see his feelings for her and believe whatever Wickman said.
The Bingley family represents a very wealthy family, whose son would be a prize for any girl, and who is deeply interested in Jane, the eldest, beautiful Bennet daughter. The family though doesn't believe the Bennet's to be of a high enough standard, and move their brother to London to distract him with Mr. Darcy's sister, who supposedly was as unlikable as Mr. Darcy himself. Disliked by many because of his pompousness and pride, Mr. Darcy ruined his chances with Elizabeth for himself. In his own desire, he would have easily married her, she even hated to dance with the man.
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...
The novel Pride and Prejudice, is a romantic comedy, by Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice is a story about an unlikely pair who go through many obstacles before finally coming together. Pride is the opinion of oneself and prejudice is how one person feels others perceive them. The novel, Pride and Prejudice, uses plot, the characters of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet, and the status of women and social standing, to portray the theme of the novel - pride and prejudice.
Catherine, nicknamed Kitty, is the fourth daughter in the Bennet family. She is “weak-spirited, irritable, and completely under Lydia’s guidance” (206). Like her younger sister, she is carefree and shows little remorse for her behavior. Lydia is the youngest daughter of the Bennet family and the tallest. As the favorite of Mrs. Bennet, she is “self-willed and careless” (206) and, like Catherine, she is “ignorant, idle, and vain” (207). Little concerns her more than potential husbands and officers of the militia. Each daughter of the Bennet family is vital to the complexity of Pride and Prejudice as each of their temperaments contradicts and complements those of the others.
Comparing and contrasting darcys and Elizabeth are relevant to relationships now. Now just like people now and back then, many people get into relationships for many of the wrong reasons. One reason is for the possibilities of gain from the other person’s money and/or wealth. Darcy realized that her family was money hungry. Today many families have become estranged due to money issues and complications. Darcy has pride in his character or morals and has a prejudice for the Bennet’s and their money. Now people do the same things for money, rather than choosing to live happy and stable lifestyles. Another comparison is having the ability to tell the truth or being deceitful. Darcy is telling Elizabeth many lies to make him look more appealing
When reading the letter from Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth is at her earliest stage realizing Mr. Darcy’s goodness. Mr. Darcy addresses how he was uninformed of Jane’s love for Mr. Bingley and comes to complete ground with the rumor including
‘Mr Darcy danced only once with Mrs Hurst and once with Miss Bingley, declined being introduced to any other lady and spent the rest of the evening walking about the room speaking occasionally to one of his own party. He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world, and everybody hoped that he would never come there again. Amongst the most violent against him was Mrs Bennett, whose dislike of his general behaviour, was sharpened into particular resentment, by his having slighted one of her daughters.’ (Page 12)