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Character analysis of Jane Austen's pride and prejudice
The character analysis of pride and prejudice
Jane Austen's style of writing
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This passage is an account of a conversation that goes on largely between Mrs Bennet and Mr Bingley, yet at the same time, it manages to reveal aspects of the other characters in the way that they react to this situation. In accomplishing this, the passage is a showcase for many [vague] of the narrative techniques that Austen has employed consistently throughout the course of the novel.
In this extract, like many other passages, characters that go off on tangents and have long monologues to bored audiences hardly have anything worth saying, and it is the short, sharp, personal introspections of other characters that truly provide accurate assessments of situations and people. As in this excerpt, the more Mrs Bennet talks, the more she reveals herself to be shallow and ignorant, as when she goes off into a long discourse about Lydia leaving her (which Mr Bingley does not particularly care about), finally trying to end with a pointed remark towards Mr Darcy "he has some friends, though, perhaps, not so many as he deserves", leaving the reader to cringe [irony] with the stupidity and ignorance that she seems so eager to flaunt.
In fact, this is repeated throughout the entire novel, such that characters like Mrs Bennet, Lydia, and Mr Collins allow themselves to indulge in long, rambling monologues that no one is particularly interested in listening to, revealing themselves to be flat and superficial characters. Significantly, the characters that are developed, and have moral fibre, whilst thinking a lot and having a lot of reflection, largely permit themselves to indulge in over verbosity in conversation, as Elizabeth shows in this extract, making observations on her mother's behaviour ("such unnecessary, such officious attention!") and her own state of mind, yet she never actually voices out her thoughts to those present. This reticence is also reflected in Mr Darcy, who is similarly disinclined towards exposing his views. This provides a stark and glaring contrast between the various characters, and it is Austen's way of reminding us gently throughout the novel that the one who expounds the most may not necessarily be the most knowledgeable.
Austen allows characters such as Elizabeth, that are normally calm and rational, to indulge in exaggeration and melodramatics, before revealing a comic let down, an anti-climax of sorts. In this extract, Elizabeth works herself up into a frenzy, passionately decrying how that "their (Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley) society can afford no pleasure, that will atone for such wretchedness as this!" She then goes on to resolutely wish that she will "never see either one or the other again!".
When a bachelor from London comes to Longbourn, the Bennet sisters get excited to get to meet him at the ball. At the ball he is taken by Jane Bennet, the eldest of the five sisters. Mr.Darcy is Mr.Bingley’s friend and he isn’t taken by anyone, which makes everyone think of him as arrogant. But in a course of time he finds himself attracted to Elizabeth Bennet, the second eldest of the sister, because of her charm and intelligence. Jane’s and Mr.Bingley’s relationship continued and on her way to visit him she gets sick and Elizabeth walks all the way to the Bingley’s house to take care of her sister.
Bennet, throughout Pride and Prejudice, is essentially absent in the day-to-day lives of the Bennet sisters. He prefers to spend his days in his library, away from all of the chaos that his wife and his overly enthusiastic youngest daughters bring to the household. However, Mr. Bennet and Lizzie have a very close-knit relationship, predominately attributed to their sense of humor. They view the rest of their family through a similar lens; both of them realize that the obsession with social status and marriage is nonsense. Not moments after Mrs. Bennet received word of the arrival of Mr. Bingley and company at Netherfield, is Mrs. Bennet pestering Mr. Bennet to go to Netherfield and wait on Mr. Bingley. Mr. Bennet somewhat sarcastically responds, “‘I see no occasion for that. You and the girls may go,or you may send them by themselves, which will perhaps be still better, for you are as handsome as any of them, Mr. Bingley might like you the best of the party’” (2). Mr. Bennet’s use of ironic flattery in this assertion to win Mrs. Bennet over very nearly works. Mr. Bennet both allows Lizzie to refuse Mr. Collins and to oblige Mr. Darcy. When Lizzie declines Collins’ proposal and Mrs. Bennet begs Mr. Bennet to force Lizzie to go back on this, Mr. Bennet recognizes how senseless it would be for Lizzie to marry Collins for the family estate and compromise her own happiness.. Verbalizing his disapproval of the potential marriage, Mr. Bennet says, “‘An unhappy alternative is
Bennet is a very cynical and sardonic character. He always has something sarcastic to say. After Elizabeth had refused Mr. Collins proposal, Mr. Bennet said. “An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents—Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.” (Austen, 105). Mr. Bennet is being sarcastic by mocking the ridiculous way Mrs. Bennet was acting. Another example of when Mr. Bennet was being sarcastic was after Mr. Bingley and Jane had be separated. Mr. Bennet said to Elizabeth, “Your sister is crossed in love, I find. I congratulate her. Next to being married, a girl likes to be crossed a little in love now and then.” (Austen, 129). This is sarcastic because Mr. Bennet is making fun of the fact that the guy Jane planned to marry had left her. He is also saying that girls like drama in their love lives so they have something to talk about.
Why does Jane Austen have so many static characters? Well there may well be many answers but the ones that stand out include; characters in the text altering to add a twist to the book to make things more attention-grabbing and because back in the early 18th century men and women were supposed to act in a certain way, and if they acted differently they would be thought of as anomalous and people would think of them as different but not always in a good way. Darcy does not actually feel the need to change until Elizabeth turns him down and tells him that he’s not that grand and that he’s stuck-up. 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.
While the other characters have on glasses that can only see Bingley's social standing rather than character, Lizzy, on the other hand, acts for herself first and society second during this exchange. Elizabeth's tone shifts from suspicious to relaxed when she interacts with Darcy. Elizabeth converses pleasantly and has satisfying banter with him. Importantly contrasting with how brusque she responds to Bingley. Instead of disrespecting Darcy, she raises her own ideas to his point that “the country [can] supply but few subjects for [the study of character]” and insightfully replies “People themselves alter so much much, that there , is something new to be observed.”
Mr. Darcy was such an honest man, at many times, such as his openly admitting to his weakness of pride. As he returned to his good friend Mr. Bingley he was sorrowful and after his attempt to protect friends realised he only made a mistake. He told Ms. Bennet about a prior conversation with Mr. Bingley, “I told him, moreover, that I believe myself mistaken in supposing, as I had done, that your sister was indifferent to him.” He, trying to be the honest person he was admitted his faults openly and fixed everything. Never did he hold his actions as good or better, what he did was for him alone to know. His protecting of Lydia Bennet, a young sister of Elizabeth Bennet, was only mentioned by Mrs. Gardiner. When Ms. Bennet heard of the news she did nothing but tremble in tears at his caring nature. Mr. Darcy was to humble to boast about him giving 10000 to protect their family name or to openly admit to Mr. Wickham’s bad doing just to raise himself
The Bennets have five unmarried daughters, and Mrs Bennet, is one who agrees with the opening sentence: ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.’ The statement is one of great significance to the novel, because of its masterful irony, its humorous tone, and its foreshadowing of the entire novel. To Mrs Bennet, the arrival of Mr Bingley in the neighbourhood is seen as a great opportunity for one of her daughters to obtain a wealthy spouse. The first sentence is ironic because a man with a fortune does not necessarily need a wife, as much as a woman, who has no means of outside support in the 19th century, is greatly in need of a wealthy spouse. When the reader meets Mr Darcy, a wealthy and ‘fine, tall person’, with ‘handsome features’ ...
The first description of Elizabeth's state upon perusing Fitzwilliam Darcy's revelatory missive is characteristic of Austen when relating heavy emotion: she doesn't. "Her feelings as she read were scarcely to be defined," she tells us (Austen 233). Of course, all this negation of representational skills is purely for dramatic effect, and Miss Austen goes on to provide a full account of every aspect of Elizabeth's emotional upheaval per her reading of the letter, but not, however, without using the device again in the second paragraph, in treating the subject of the truth about Mr. Wickham. Elizabeth's feelings are conveyed as having been "...yet more acutely painful and more difficult of definition." Said difficulty is indeed short lived, as the next sentence reads, "Astonishment, apprehension, and even horror, oppressed her" (Austen 233).
In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy both go through dramatic changes in their attitude towards each other. Darcy is devoted to Elizabeth, but denies it because of her family and her lower status. Elizabeth believes Darcy to be arrogant and interfering. Through conversations these characters have, their true regard for each other is discovered. Austen effectively uses dialogue to develop the change in the principal characters’ moral temperament, and also to advance significant concerns in the novel such as marriage and wealth-based status.
When Elizabeth is face to face with Darcy, she must engage him in conversation, but when she examines the portrait, she does not have to speak: she can look at the painting for “several moments…in earnest contemplation” and even “return to it again” before leaving (162). Socially, great importance is placed on witty dialogue and polite conversation. At the first ball, the newly arrived Mr. Darcy is criticized for his reserve; rather than extend himself to form new acquaintances, he speaks only “occasionally to [a lady] of his own party” (8). Yet by refraining from conventional conversation, Mr. Darcy is able to form sound opinions. When he “wish[es] to know more of [Elizabeth]” he first “attend[s] to her conversations with others” before directly engaging her in dialogue (17). He even advises Elizabeth to take her time in getting to know him, urging “I could wish, Miss Bennet, that you were not to sketch my character at the present moment…the performance would reflect no credit on either.
The reader notices Austen’s use of satire at the beginning of the novel when she introduces Mrs. Bennet, the mother of a middle class English family in the 19th century. Mrs. Bennet makes it her life goal to get all five of her daughters married to upper class, wealthy men such as Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley. You notice that Mrs. Bennet’s aspiration of finding husbands for her daughters becomes a fixation. This is best seen when Mrs. Bennet is thrilled to hear about Lydia and Wickham’s marriage, that she forgets about the fact that her daughter’s elopement with Wickham nearly endangered her sisters’ chances of ever finding a spouse that would take care of them when their father dies. Another reason why we should question the sanity of Mrs. Bennet can be seen when she puts Jane, her eldest daughter’s health at risk by sending her to Netherfield on horseback with a storm impending....
Mr. Darcy is very proud and vain man. Darcy’s pride occurs because his family allows him to follow his principles “in pride and conceit” (Austen 310). Elizabeth decides soon after meeting him that he is a despicable man, much too abrupt and overweening, and obsequious to be liked by anyone, and lacking even the most basic social skills of the time he is very laconic with everyone
This passage is significant because it defines the depth of the relationship between Darcy and Bingley. In simple terms, the two are very good friends despite having quite opposite characteristics. Conveniently, Darcy enjoys Bingley’s easygoing nature, while Bingley appreciates Darcy’s reliability. The second half of the passage goes on to explains their differing qualities. However, when reading between the lines, or more specifically, when considering Austen’s word choice, queer connotations of Darcy and Bingley’s friendship are more visible.
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....
Elizabeth is introduced as the second eldest and prettiest of the five Bennet daughters. Towards the beginning of the novel, the Bennet daughters attend a ball in Netherfield with hopes of finding a man that they could perhaps end up marrying. At this ball, Elizabeth is briefly introduced to a man named Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy is a rich and prideful man who is misunderstood by main characters throughout most of the novel. Upon becoming acquainted, Elizabeth uses first impressions and opinions taken from others to form her own opinion of Mr. Darcy as a prideful, pretentious snob with whom she wants nothing to do with. Elizabeth cites his arrogance as Mr. Darcy's major flaw after others influence her opinions. One of Elizabeth's closest friends says of Darcy, "I beg you would not put it into Lizzy's head to be vexed by such ill treatment; for he is such a disagreeable man that it would be quite a misfortune to be liked by him" (pg 18). This statement shows that Elizabeth was influenced by others to make negative opinions of Darcy, without taking the time to get to know him herself. One of t...