Comparing Elizabeth In Pride And Prejudice By Jane Austen

Darcy. Mr. Darcy is prideful, rich, reclusive, and of high society where Elizabeth is cordial and of the common people. Mrs. Bennet is very selfish, controlling, and dramatic, yet Elizabeth is down- to- earth. Lydia Bennet is immature and elopes while Elizabeth is mature and looking for love. Jane, the oldest sister, says she wishes to marry for love yet she marries for money. The contrasts between Elizabeth and her family set her apart as if she is special.

Austen compares Elizabeth and Jane to show how differently they are viewed by society. Austin shows that simply being pretty, patient and kind does not guarantee happiness. While Jane was tortured awaiting Mr. Bingely, Elizabeth was chasing her own happiness. Elizabeth wasn’t the prettiest or the sweetest, but certainly was no damsel in distress. Lizzy broke through the restraints of a proper, societal woman in which her sister followed to a tee.

The intent of this essay is to compare and contrast the characters of Elizabeth Bennet and Charlotte Lucas. The main points that will be compared and contrasted include the relative beauty, age and the characters of Elizabeth Bennet and Charlotte Lucas. The similarities and differences in their families, position in society and their wealth, their differing attitudes to marriage, and finally, who has the better deal and why, will also be discussed. By the end of this essay, the reader will be able to discern the differences and similarities in both Elizabeth and Charlotte.

In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen creates a unique environment which allows her characters to evolve and to transform. One of the characters, Elizabeth Bennet, the second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, faces challenges that impact her decisive demeanor. Likewise, Fitzwilliam Darcy, Elizabeth’s love interest, confronts many obstacles which come against his character as well. Through several key experiences, both Elizabeth and Darcy undergo internal transformations – Elizabeth’s quick judgments become humbleness while Darcy’s arrogance is replaced with humility.

  In her novel, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen portrays Elizabeth Bennet as "strong and intelligent, yet bewitching in a completely feminine way". Elizabeth's possession of these attributes: strength of character and moral integrity, great intelligence, and an attractive personality, make her an admirable person. Yet Elizabeth has faults, which makes her more human. Austen's portrayal of Elizabeth is realistic and masterful, often juxtaposing her with characters lacking her attributes to heighten our appreciation of her.

Even though, Elizabeth is very smart she is too quick to let her opinions stop her from understanding the people around her. She also lets her emotions cloud her judgment, especially when her friend Charlotte Lucas decides to marry Mr. Collins. She states, “And to the pang of a friend disgracing herself and sunk in her esteem, was added the distressing conviction that it was impossible for that friend to be tolerably happy in the lot she had chosen”(87). About halfway through the book, Elizabeth realizes ‘“How despicably have I acted!” she cried. “I, who have prided myself on my discernment... Pleased with the preference of one, and offended by the neglect of the other, on the very beginning of our acquaintance, I have courted prepossession and ignorance and driven reason away, where either were concerned. Till this moment, I never knew myself”’. She sees that her clouded judgment has misled her in seeing the true nature of Darcy and Wickham. Towards the end Elizabeth and Darcy are finally together and she reveals to him that she was being rude towards him at the beginning and he tells her that he was attracted to her because of her ‘liveliness ’, she tells him “You may as well call it impertinence at once. It was very little less”. In observing this evolution Austen shows us that we need to put our pride

She seems to convey the underlining message that they are both sharp but that they bring out the quickness in one another with their intense , quick discussions. Elizabeth is apt enough that she is able to push Darcy

Darcy as a proud, arrogant man based upon his actions at the assembly where she first sees him. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy first meet at a ball where she instantly believes him to be a rude individual as she watches him only dance with women he knows and hears him call her tolerable. Elizabeth is offended by Mr. Darcy’s actions at the ball, and uses this knowledge to instantly form a negative opinion of his character. Mr. Darcy’s good nature and kind heart is therefore overlooked by Elizabeth as they continue to see each other, and she does not let go of her original prejudice of him until the end of the novel when she eventually realizes her love for him and marries him. Elizabeth’s poor and unchanging opinion of Darcy led to her initially saying no to Darcy’s first marriage proposal. Had Elizabeth not held a grudge on Mr. Darcy for his original actions at the ball, she could have realized her love for him sooner. Her mistrust of Darcy also led to repercussions that negatively affected her and her family’s lives. She would not have been deceived by Mr. Wickham and she would have saved her family from shame and embarrassment if she would have waited longer to form an opinion of Mr.

In Jane Austen's book, Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet is frantic, single minded, and she inconsistently believes what she hears. Elizabeth is prejudiced, reserved, and has a firm belief in her “abilities” of “discernment.” The opposition of Mrs. Bennet and Elizabeth’s personalities brings out Elizabeth's prejudice. The illumination of the motif, Prejudice, is central to the book so that it can contrast with the motif, Pride, through out the book. Mrs. Bennet is a foil character to Elizabeth. Whenever Elizabeth and her mother are together it becomes blatantly obvious how different they are from each other. Simply at the dinner table, Elizabeth is quiet and her mother is usually talking non-stop about marriage. Throughout the book, Mrs. Bennet's

Elizabeth's character changes throughout the book. As the book goes on her character changes into a more accepting character. One that doesn't jump to conclusions as easily. There are times that her emotions overwhelmed her and turn into anger but those events become resolved by the end of the novel.

Darcy. Bingley is attracted to Jane. Mr. Darcy is arrogant, and does not dance with Elizabeth. Darcy judges Elizabeth and she hears. She builds a prejudice.

John Locke once said, “I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts,” and this statement couldn’t be truer. In her novels, Jane Austen uses a similar technique to bring her characters to life and make them more relatable to her readers; thus providing a window into the characters’ inner ideals. In one of her masterpieces, Pride and Prejudice, we especially see Austen’s brilliant characterizations into play that speak volumes of insight into society and human nature. More specifically, Austen ingeniously uses Elizabeth Bennet’s actions, her words, her outlook on others, and her comparison with other characters to display Austen’s own innate ideologies.

Elizabeth and Darcy's relationship is contrasted with the other couples in the novel. It can especially be seen between the relationship Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have. The sensible characters in the novel accept the standard of intelligence and sensitivity and their relationships are determined by it. Mr. Bennet cannot be happy with his wife because he does not respect her. He retreats

Similarly, Mary's awkward and reclusive actions promote her as an agreeable suitor; this makes her the only Bennett sister to not have the opportunity to be married. The two oldest sisters contain the most agreeable and independent personalities among the Bennett sisters, which foreshadows their successful relationships. Jane’s positive attitude causes Bingley to be attracted to her, but Darcy questions Bingley’s choice. By the end of the novel, Bingley realizes that he made a mistake to leave Jane. Jane’s marriage is the first marriage bring prestige to the Bennetts. As for Elizabeth, her personality first comes across unagreeable to suitors, but suitors realize that she is the next respectful Bennett sister besides Jane. Darcy's entitled personality clashes with Elizabeth's prideful attitude; eventually, Darcy discovers that Elizabeth's odd behaviors results from taking care of her family. He admires her commitment; like Elizabeth, Darcy values his sister more than anyone. Darcy and Elizabeth family values cause them to find common ground away from their previous views of each other. Austen wrote the Bennetts' family dynamics to foreshadow the success of the sisters’ future marriage; they also demonstrate the importance of family values in a relationship.

Mr. Bennet denies but he secretly goes without telling anyone. The Bennetts are then invited to a ball at the Bingleys mansion. This being where the Bennett sisters and their primary love interests will first meet. At this ball though things don't go exactly as planned in regards to Elizabeth. Charles Bingley instructs Fitzwilliam Darcy to ask Elizabeth to dance. In response Fitzwilliam calls Elizabeth tolerable and says that Jane is the only beautiful girl at the ball. This is overheard by Elizabeth and sparks her first impression of Fitzwilliam. Which at this point she sees him as a rude, arrogant, and proud member of the Upper class who doesn't like to dance with females of a lower social status. Although initially Elizabeth does find Fitzwilliam to be tall and handsome. This leads Elizabeth to have a dislike of Fitzwilliam which then will make way for her current attitude towards him during this point in the novel. Throughout a series of events Darcy’s idea of Elizabeth changes into the polar opposite of his idea of her at the beginning of the novel. Elizabeth’s idea of Darcy changes much more slowly throughout the novel at one point turning down a proposal from Darcy toward the beginning of the second half