Elizabeth Bennet Enlightenment

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.

As Fitzwilliam Darcy combats the moral flaw of pride, Pride and Prejudice’s protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, grapples with her own character downfalls. Elizabeth is a young woman of clever, astute, and sharp-witted manner. Notwithstanding, her satirical speech and propensity to make impetuous judgements often blind her as to the unbiased truth of matters. Elizabeth, who deems herself a superior judge of character,

At the dawn of the tale, Elizabeth, searching fiercely for romance, comes across a handsome militia officer named George Wickham. Elizabeth is instantly attracted to him; his pleasant appearance and charming personality are enough to draw her in. As she listens to Wickham speak, especially negatively about Fitzwilliam Darcy, an aristocrat, she does not question or slightly doubt a word that he is saying. She is so swayed by his good looks and charming manner that she does not think for a second that he could be a malicious man; she is falling under his spell ignorantly. Elizabeth’s strong desire for romance shuts down her judgement and causes her to fall in love with Wickham, without thought. At this point, she thinks it is best to follow the standards and be an idealist, because she has always been told to get married by her mother, Mrs. Bennet.

Although it may seem to the reader that Jane is idealistic or dishonest, she really says what is on her mind. Jane truly believes all people are good-spirited and that she will never be deceived by anyone. In this way, the author uses Jane Bennet to give the reader a different perspective of a certain character in the story: while Elizabeth is always criticizing the many characters in this novel, Jane is there to deliver a contradictory statement about those characters. Mr. Wickham reveals to Elizabeth that Mr. Darcy had prevented him from joining the ministry by refusing to supply the money Darcy’s father had intended to provide for Wickham. Upon hearing these revealing statements about Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth is appalled and outraged at how selfish a man can be. Elizabeth then relates to Jane about what she had discovered about Mr. Darcy but Jane provides her and the reader with a different, more optimistic point of view: “‘It is impossible. No man of common humanity, no man who had any value for his character, could be capable of it. Can his most intimate friends be so excessively deceived in him? Oh! no’” (Austen 74). Elizabeth’s decision to believe Mr. Wickham originates her prejudice towards Mr. Darcy into the novel. However, in the end, the reader finds out that Jane had actually been correct in that Darcy can never have done such a horrible thing and that he had actually given Wickham the money his father left for him.

Jane Austen develops a strong illustration of how challenging emotional circumstances can initiate a change in character, using Elizabeth Bennet as an effective demonstration in Pride and Prejudice. Cases such as Mr. Darcy's proposal, Charlotte's marriage, and the discovery of Mr. Wickham's past are compelling support for Austen's idea that alterations to one's behaviour and actions can occur as a result of being placed in a strenuous emotional position. Each influences Elizabeth in a different way, some causing rapid change, while others cause a slower, more gradual one. Self-reflection and the reconsideration of a character's worldview allow Austen to highlight the importance of change in trying situations.

Darcy illuminates her prejudice. Elizabeth constantly makes false accusations against people before even knowing who they are. During an argument with Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth says, “You appear to me, Mr. Darcy, to allow nothing for the influence of friendship or affection” (Austen 33). This demonstrates Elizabeth’s prejudice and her confident judgment of other people.

In Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet, the mother of the protagonist, Elizabeth, is generally portrayed as a buffoon who is an adversary for he daughter that is trying to force her into a marriage she does not want. One may wonder how she can be justified in any way, considering that she is known to embarrass her family members and behave idiotically. However, in the time period they live in, a marriage is necessary for all of the family to avoid a terrible fate. Mrs. Bennet, while often behaving improperly, does try to do the best for her daughters based on the world she lives in.

He is "divided between admiration-" purely because of the effect such exercise has had on Elizabeth's complexion, "and doubt", because such a minor illness would not have aroused such urgency in most women. Elizabeth's surprising visit isolates her from other women in society, thus revealing her

Elizabeth finally starts to learn about other people's true personality once she opens her eyes up, and she finally finds the good in other people. Elizabeth, upon meeting Miss Darcy, finds out that after being with her for, "very few minutes convinced her that she was only exceedingly shy. She found it difficult to obtain a word beyond a monosyllable (217). " Finally, after meeting Miss Darcy Elizabeth realizes that others were wrong, Miss Darcy is just a shy person, not proud and rude.

She is also a bright, complex and fascinating person who is realistic about life. Unlike her sister Jane, she is not ready to believe that everyone is perfect. She knows the "impropriety" of her father and is aware that it springs from the misfortunes of his life with his wife. It also provides for the volatility of their mother temperament and extreme social behavior. Even to the point sometimes cheeky and blunt, Elizabeth is not afraid to speak their minds.

Elizabeth thinks of Darcy as being “the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world” (15). After Darcy discomfits Elizabeth, “She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me” (13), she herself becomes prideful and prejudiced against him. Prejudice also is an issue for Darcy because he dislikes Elizabeth in the beginning for her low social status, for being impecunious and socially inept family: “Their struggle is as much as against each other as it is against the pressure of society or family. The novel presents a balance of power not only between two characters but between two conflicting modes of judgment” (Bloom 50), but Darcy is forced to deal with his pride and prejudice when he falls in love with Elizabeth. Elizabeth rejects Darcy’s first proposal based mostly on his pride and condescension.

Elizabeth's prejudice against Darcy is fuelled when she hears from Wickham that Darcy has treated him wrongly. Elizabeth accepts Wickham's story without exploring it fully because she believes that he is a gentleman and so is trustworthy. This is another example of how first impressions can be wrong, as Wickham is not a gentleman as Elizabeth first thought and has not told Elizabeth the whole truth about why Darcy treated him wrongly. When Elizabeth finds out the vital information that Wickham has not mentioned her opinion of both Wickham and Darcy changes dramatically. This is a crucial point in the novel as this is when Elizabeth realises how easily she has formed prejudices and opinions about people that are wrong.

Also, Elizabeth's perception of Mr. Wickham is incorrect (Molar 25). She thinks he is, and he does appear to be, a perfect gentleman on the outside because of the way he portrays himself, but really, he is one of the most flawed characters in the novel. Elizabeth is "completely taken in by the almost transparent duplicity" (Moler 25) of Mr. Wickham, especially when he speaks. "A thorough, determined dislike of me, a dislike which I cannot but attribute in some measure to jealousy. Had the late Mr. Darcy liked me less, his son might have borne with me better; but his fatherÕs uncommon attachment to me, irritated him I believe very early in life. He had not a temper to bear the sort of competition in which we stood, the son of preference which was often given me" (Austen 72), Mr. Wickham speaks with eloquence and Elizabeth takes it for face value, and believes everything he says. If what he says is true, problems do not arise, but what he says is false and is in fact hurtful to another man, Mr. Darcy. Austen shows it is important to see all sides of the story before making a judgement, otherwise it is called being prejudice. She also portrays the fact that there is probably a lot more to people than what they show to the world. This

Greenfield, Susan C. "THE ABSENT-MINDED HEROINE: OR, ELIZABETH BENNET HAS ……A THOUGHT." Eighteenth - Century Studies, vol. 39, no. 3, 2006, pp. 337-350,419-420, ……Arts & Humanities Database, …….http://nclive.org/cgibin/nclsm?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/198642629?account…….id=13217.

Darcy believes that Elizabeth is beneath him. After Mr. Bingley suggest that Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth dance, Mr. Darcy makes eye contact with Elizabeth and states, “She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me; I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men” (Chapter 3). In this quote, Darcy is saying that Elizabeth falls below his standards and he would rather not waste effort on someone no other man seems interested in. Elizabeth immediately takes offense to Mr. Darcy’s statement, and even makes fun of him for it. “She told the story, however, with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous” (Chapter 3). In other words, Elizabeth’s first impression was that Mr. Darcy was