Elizabeth
Bennet
The second daughter in the Bennet family, and the most
intelligent and quick-witted, Elizabeth is the protagonist of Pride and
Prejudice and one of the most well-known female characters in English
literature. Her admirable qualities are numerous—she is lovely, clever, and, in
a novel defined by dialogue, she converses as brilliantly as anyone. Her
honesty, virtue, and lively wit enable her to rise above the nonsense and bad
behavior that pervade her class-bound and often spiteful society. Nevertheless,
her sharp tongue and tendency to make hasty judgments often lead her astray; Pride
and Prejudice is essentially the story of how she (and her true love,
Darcy) overcome all obstacles—including their own personal failings—to find
romantic happiness. Elizabeth must not only cope with a hopeless mother, a
distant father, two badly behaved younger siblings, and several snobbish,
antagonizing females, she must also overcome her own mistaken impressions of
Darcy, which initially lead her to reject his proposals of marriage. Her charms
are sufficient to keep him interested, fortunately, while she navigates
familial and social turmoil. As she gradually comes to recognize the nobility
of Darcy’s character, she realizes the error of her initial prejudice against
him.
The son of a wealthy, well-established family and the
master of the great estate of Pemberley, Darcy is Elizabeth’s male counterpart.
The narrator relates Elizabeth’s point of view of events more often than
Darcy’s, so Elizabeth often seems a more sympathetic figure. The reader
eventually realizes, however, that Darcy is her ideal match. Intelligent and
forthright, he too has a tendency to judge too hastily and harshly, and his
high birth and wealth make him overly proud and overly conscious of his social
status. Indeed, his haughtiness makes him initially bungle his courtship. When
he proposes to her, for instance, he dwells more on how unsuitable a match she
is than on her charms, beauty, or anything else complimentary. Her rejection of
his advances builds a kind of humility in him. Darcy demonstrates his continued
devotion to Elizabeth, in spite of his distaste for her low connections, when
he rescues Lydia and the entire Bennet family from disgrace, and when he goes
against the wishes of his haughty aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, by continuing
to pursue Elizabeth. Darcy proves himself worthy of Elizabeth, and she ends up
repenting her earlier, overly harsh judgment of him.
Elizabeth’s beautiful elder sister and Darcy’s wealthy
best friend, Jane and Bingley engage in a courtship that occupies a central
place in the novel. They first meet at the ball in Meryton and enjoy an
immediate mutual attraction. They are spoken of as a potential couple
throughout the book, long before anyone imagines that Darcy and Elizabeth might
marry. Despite their centrality to the narrative, they are vague characters, sketched
by Austen rather than carefully drawn. Indeed, they are so similar in nature
and behavior that they can be described together: both are cheerful, friendly,
and good-natured, always ready to think the best of others; they lack entirely
the prickly egotism of Elizabeth and Darcy. Jane’s gentle spirit serves as a
foil for her sister’s fiery, contentious nature, while Bingley’s eager
friendliness contrasts with Darcy’s stiff pride. Their principal
characteristics are goodwill and compatibility, and the contrast of their
romance with that of Darcy and Elizabeth is remarkable. Jane and Bingley
exhibit to the reader true love unhampered by either pride or prejudice, though
in their simple goodness, they also demonstrate that such a love is mildly
dull.
Mr. Bennet is the patriarch of the Bennet household—the
husband of Mrs. Bennet and the father of Jane, Elizabeth, Lydia, Kitty, and
Mary. He is a man driven to exasperation by his ridiculous wife and difficult
daughters. He reacts by withdrawing from his family and assuming a detached
attitude punctuated by bursts of sarcastic humor. He is closest to Elizabeth
because they are the two most intelligent Bennets. Initially, his dry wit and
self-possession in the face of his wife’s hysteria make him a sympathetic
figure, but, though he remains likable throughout, the reader gradually loses
respect for him as it becomes clear that the price of his detachment is
considerable. Detached from his family, he is a weak father and, at critical
moments, fails his family. In particular, his foolish indulgence of Lydia’s
immature behavior nearly leads to general disgrace when she elopes with
Wickham. Further, upon her disappearance, he proves largely ineffective. It is
left to Mr. Gardiner and Darcy to track Lydia down and rectify the situation.
Ultimately, Mr. Bennet would rather withdraw from the world than cope with it.
Mrs. Bennet is a miraculously tiresome character. Noisy
and foolish, she is a woman consumed by the desire to see her daughters married
and seems to care for nothing else in the world. Ironically, her single-minded
pursuit of this goal tends to backfire, as her lack of social graces alienates
the very people (Darcy and Bingley) whom she tries desperately to attract.
Austen uses her continually to highlight the necessity of marriage for young
women. Mrs. Bennet also serves as a middle-class counterpoint to such
upper-class snobs as Lady Catherine and Miss Bingley, demonstrating that
foolishness can be found at every level of society. In the end, however, Mrs.
Bennet proves such an unattractive figure, lacking redeeming characteristics of
any kind, that some readers have accused Austen of unfairness in portraying
her—as if Austen, like Mr. Bennet, took perverse pleasure in poking fun at a woman
already scorned as a result of her ill breeding.
D.N. Aloysius
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