Pride and Prejudice is a book filled with many manners, morals, and characters. All of which contribute their own unique quirks to the story. One such character that is not as appreciated as she should be is Elizabeth Bennet. She does not go through any type of physical transformation throughout Pride and Prejudice, but she goes through an internal transformation. Elizabeth’s character is shown when she does not trust Mr. Darcy in the beginning, but when she becomes better acquainted with him and realizes that her initial impression was incorrect, her opinion of him changes for the positive.
Pride and Prejudice has many great qualities because it includes characters like Elizabeth Bennet who helps to make Pride and Prejudice a well-written novel. Pride and Prejudice takes place in 19th century England (Austen 1). The two main families in Pride and Prejudice are the Bennets and the Darcys (Austen 2). The story revolves around five sisters: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, Lydia (Austen 2). Pride and Prejudice also features a protagonist in Elizabeth Bennet, and an antagonist in Mr. Darcy (Austen 3).
Elizabeth is the second oldest of five daughters. She is witty, intelligent, kind, and compassionate (Austen 5-9). Pride and Prejudice begins with Elizabeth’s father telling her to get rid of the two people who have come to visit them: Mr. Collins and his cousin Mr. Darcy (Austen 11). Elizabeth thinks that everything that they say is ridiculous because it just relates back to either money or marrying someone for money (Austen 12-30). This is when we learn about Pride and Prejudice’s characters.
At first glance Elizabeth seems like a vain, snobby girl who looks at money and men solely for how much they are worth (Austen 3). This is proved when she does not like Mr. Darcy because he is rich and proud (Austen 16-17). However, Pride and Prejudice shows that Elizabeth has her own set of morals. Pride and Prejudice takes on the matter of love versus wealth during Mr. Collins’s proposal to Elizabeth which happens several times throughout Pride and Prejudice (Austen 29-36).
When Mr. Bingley comes into town with his sisters, Lydia and Kitty both become obsessed with him because he has a great house, five thousand pounds a year, as well as good looking (Austen 45-49). This is when Pride and Prejudice shows that Elizabeth has her own set of morals as well as a mind of her own. Pride and Prejudice is about how Elizabeth learns from her mistakes, but Pride and Prejudice also shows how quick she can be to judge people. Pride and Prejudice starts to become more complex when Elizabeth meets Mr. Darcy for the second time at a dinner party (Austen 50-56).
Pride and Prejudice is an 1813 novel by Jane Austen. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education, and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th century England. Elizabeth is often considered to be one of Jane Austen’s less conventional heroines. Pride and Prejudice allows for a number of different interpretations, but Pride in Pride and Prejudice refers not to Elizabeth who possesses it but rather to Mr Darcy when he makes his first appearance at the Meryton Assembly Ball.
It is when Darcy reprimands Elizabeth that her prejudice against him begins to take root because it appears that he was considerate only towards his fellow men. However, Pride is something that Elizabeth has shown to have inherited from her mother as she “entertained no real sense of shame”. Elizabeth’s Pride can be linked with her prejudice towards Darcy for if it had not been for Lady Catherine’s letter, Elizabeth would not have believed Wickham’s story about Mr Darcy being responsible for his current financial status.
When first introduced to Mr Darcy, Elizabeth is immediately prejudiced due to the way he looks down on others at their first meeting and because of his treatment of her sister Jane. When this Pride and Prejudice quote by Jane Austen is mentioned: “I cannot boast of knowing more than half-a-dozen, among my intimate acquaintances, who are worth the meanest creature breathing”, it is not Elizabeth who is speaking but Lady Catherine. Pride is shown to be something that she has passed down to Elizabeth because Pride was not just an element of Lady Catherine’s character, but also formed part of her being.
Lady Catherine De Bourgh shows Pride throughout Pride and Prejudice because it can be seen in her words to Elizabeth when she first meets her at Rosings Park where Pride can clearly be seen in the quote: “I am sorry to confess that the mode by which you acquired your fortune has been as indelicate as I feared”. The way that Pride comes across in this piece of writing is similar to how Pride appears in Charlotte Lucas’s, Mr Collins’s future wife’s, Pride and Prejudice character analysis essay.
Pride has also been portrayed in Lady Catherine’s Pride and Prejudice actions such as when she goes to visit Elizabeth at Longbourn, Pride is shown in the quote: “I shall now take the liberty of observing to her that her dress is very unbecoming” which clearly shows Pride because Lady Catherine has no right or cause to make such a remark about Elizabeth and therefore would not normally say something like this, except due to Pride.
Pride is an element of Mr Darcy’s Pride and Prejudice character because he allowed his pride to govern him into thinking that it was his duty to look down on others; for example, at the Meryton Assembly Ball where after seeing Elizabeth for the first time he thinks Pride in Pride and Prejudice quote: “she is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me” which shows that Darcy allowed Pride to govern him into thinking that Elizabeth was unworthy of his love. However, Pride can be seen as a negative characteristic through the Pride and Prejudice characters Mrs Bennet and Lydia because they have no modesty or humility, just Pride.
Pride is an important theme within Pride and Prejudice as it manipulates the actions of many of the characters throughout Jane Austen’s work such as with Mr Collins where after being told by Lady Catherine to marry Elizabeth he becomes so closely attached to her because out of Pride she refuses him resulting in him wanting nothing more than to marry her Pride and Prejudice quote: “I am not now to learn that it is usual with young ladies to reject the addresses of the man whom they secretly mean to accept, when he first applies for their favour; and that sometimes the refusal is repeated a second, or even a third time.
I shall not be in pink because Pride and Prejudice irony truly my dear girl . You have formed a wrong opinion of me I assure you”.
