Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice in all characters:-
Introduction:-
As Pride and Prejudice is a very well-known novel, innumerable critics have analysed it and given their opinion of it. Everett Zimmerman is one of those critics; he states in his article “Pride and Prejudice in Pride and Prejudice” that this novel is Jane Austen’s best novel. He praises it in the following way:
"The moral concerns of this novel are, it must be admitted, narrower than those of the later novels,but this very limitation leads to the happy resolution which tempts critics of pride and prejudice to compare it to a composition."
Personally, I like Pride and Prejudice because it has so many interesting components: an intriguing plot, humurous language full of irony, and many well-described characters with original personality traits and common flaws. I particularly like how Jane Austen describes the actions of the peripheral characters; she speaks about their peculiarities in a very amusing way, and she is very good at making the reader picture just how ridiculous the characters are.
About Author:-
Austen began writing Pride and Prejudice under the title First impressions in 1796, at the age of twenty-one. She probably wrote the first draft as an epistolary novel, meaning the plot unfolded through an exchange of letters. In 1797, Austen's father offered his daughter's manuscript to a publishing company, but they refused to even consider it.
Shortly after completing First Impressions, Austen began writing Sense and Sensibility, which was not published until 1811. she also wrote some shorter stories during this time, which she later expanded into full novels. Between 1810 and 1812, Austen rewrote Pride and Prejudice for publication. While the original ideas in the novel came from a 21-year-old girl, the final version reflects theliterary and thematic maturity of a thirty-five year old woman who had spent years painstakingly drafting and revising, as Austen did with all of her novels. Pride and Prejudice is the most popular of Austen's novels.
Let's discuss the characters analysis of the Pride and prejudice
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 behaviour that pervade her class-bound and often spiteful society.
"Oh! you are a great deal too apt,
you know, to like people in general.
You never see a fault in anybody.
All the world are good and agreeable
in your eyes. I never heard you speak
ill of a human being in your life."
Nevertheless, her sharp tongue and tendency to make hasty judgements often lead her astray; Pride and Prejudice is essentially the story of how she 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, antagonising 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 recognise the nobility of Darcy’s character, she realises the error of her initial prejudice against him.
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy:
The son of a wealthy, well-established family and the master of the great estate of Pamberley, 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 realises, 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.
Elizabeth's rejection of his advances builds a kind of humility in Darcy. 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 judgement of him.
George Wickham :
A handsome, fortune-hunting militia officer. Wickham’s good look sand charm attract Elizabeth initially, but Darcy’s revelation about Wickham’s disreputable past clues her in to his true nature and simultaneously draws her closer to Darcy.
Mr. William Collins :
A pompous,generally idiotic clergyman who stands to inherit Mr. Bennet’s property. Mr. Collins’s own social status is nothing to brag about, but he takes great pains to let everyone and anyone know that Lady Catherine de Bourgh serves as his patroness. He is the worst combination of snobbish and obsequious.
Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley :
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, Jane and Bingley 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.
Lydia Bennet:
Lydia is the youngest and wildest Bennet daughter. She is her mother’s favorite because like Mrs. Bennet, she is preoccupied with gossip, socializing, and men. Lydia is described as having “high animal spirits and a sort of natural self-consequence.” She is attractive and charismatic, but she is also reckless and impulsive. Lydia’s behavior frequently embarrasses her older sisters, and when Lydia receives the invitation to go to Brighton, Lizzy makes an impassioned speech about her sister’s character. She explains that “our respectability in the world must be affected by the wild volatility, the assurance and disdain of all restraint which mark Lydia’s character” Lizzy also articulates her fear that Lydia is on the road to becoming “a flirt in the worst and meanest degree of flirtation.” Lydia has an innate tendency toward wild and selfish behavior, but as a character she also sheds light on the failings of her parents, and father in particular. Because of her young age and lack of education, Lydia is presented as not entirely culpable for her behavior because she lacks parental guidance and discipline.
Although Lydia seems initially a harmless and entertaining character, her elopement with Wickham shows that her selfish actions can cause real damage. In the note explaining that she has run off with Wickham, Lydia writes “What a good joke it will be!” From Lizzy’s point of view, however, the focus is “the humiliation, the misery, she was bringing on them all.” Lydia does not think about the repercussions of her actions for herself or for her sisters. She does not learn any responsibility or sense of propriety over the course of the plot. Although Lydia’s reputation is barely salvaged through a hasty marriage, she focuses on her own importance, declaring, “Jane, I take your place now, and you must go lower, because I am a married woman.” She spends her married life relying on the generosity of her sisters and “moving from place to place in quest of a cheap situation.” In a novel where many other characters experience psychological development and growth, Lydia remains foolish and headstrong throughout.
Mrs. Bennet:
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.
Mr. Bennet:
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 Mr. Bennet 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. He is in fact a weak father who, at critical moments, fails his family. In particular, his foolish indulgence of Lydia’s immature behaviour 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.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh:
A rich, bossy noblewoman; Mr. Collins’s patron and Darcy’s aunt. Lady Catherine epitomizes class snobbery, especially in her attempts to order the middle-class Elizabeth away from her well-bred nephew.
Charlotte Lucas:
Elizabeth’s dear friend. Pragmatic where Elizabeth is romantic, and also six years older than Elizabeth, Charlotte does not view love as the most vital component of a marriage. She is more interested in having a comfortable home. Thus, when Mr. Collins proposes, she accepts.
Mr. Gardiner and Mrs. Gardiner:
Mrs. Bennet’s brother and his wife. The Gardiners, caring, nurturing, and full of common sense, often prove to be better parents to the Bennet daughters than Mr. Bennet and his wife
Georgiana Darcy:
Darcy’s sister. She is immensely pretty and just as shy. She has great skill at playing the pianoforte.
References:-
Studyguide.com
Sparknotes.com
Word count :- 1885
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