The Best of the Bureau/The_Best_of_the_Bureau_Bureau_Development_Inc._1992.iso/dp/0124/01246.txt

Text File | 1992-08-07 | 35KB | 620 lines

$Unique_ID{bob01246}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Works of Jane Austen
Character Analyses and Critical Commentary}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Austen, Jane}
$Affiliation{Instructor Of English, Rutgers University}
$Subject{elizabeth
darcy
marriage
bennet
moral
mrs
darcy's
wickham
elizabeth's
pride}
$Date{}
$Log{}
Title:       Works of Jane Austen
Book:        Pride and Prejudice
Author:      Austen, Jane
Critic:      Fitzpatrick, William J.
Affiliation: Instructor Of English, Rutgers University

Character Analyses and Critical Commentary

Character Analyses

Elizabeth:

     "I must confess and I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared
in print, and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at
least, I do not know." (From Jane Austen's Letters.)

     Although not so beautiful as her older sister Jane, Elizabeth is quite
attractive. Her striking eyes and flashing wit denote a personality every bit
the match for Darcy's. She has inherited her father's sense of humor and
irony, but without his cynicism. Her ability to see humor in Darcy's
slighting her, her disregard for decorum in tramping off through the mud to
visit her sister, her critical and witty conversation, reveal a vigorous and
intelligent young woman superior to, and without the pretense of, the
society around her. Much of the story is seen through her searching
intelligence. She is constantly reacting to the self-revelations of others,
and in so doing reveals the positive standard of morals and good sense. Her
judgment of Mr. Collins and Charlotte, her embarrassment at her family's
crudities, her appreciation of Pemberley - her high moral standards, good
manners, and taste - distinguish her from Longbourn. This makes Darcy's
victory over his pride easier - socially more rational - than it might
otherwise have been.

     We must not forget that Elizabeth is "not yet one and twenty." This
somewhat accounts for her lively, "impertinent" spirits, for her pride in her
own wit and perception, and for her susceptibility to Wickham's charms. She
has not yet had much experience in life and, in a way, the novel is the story
of the completion of her education. She has more to learn than she thinks she
has, and the reader delights in the irony that at the moments when she is
triumphing in her wit - during the several dialogues with Darcy in the first
half of the book - she is most deceived about the effects of her sharp
remarks.

     Her prejudice has two aspects: it is against Darcy because of his insult
to her and his pride; it is for Wickham because of his attractiveness and
attentions to her. Events force her to turn her critical scrutiny inward, and
she reveals her honesty and courage and flexibility by forthrightly facing
the truth about herself and others. This constantly busy intelligence is
Elizabeth's salient trait. It becomes a virtue that transcends class lines.
It is Elizabeth's consciousness of her own superiority that permits her to
stand up proudly to Lady Catherine and to reject Darcy's insulting proposal.
Yet, with all her intellectual and moral superiority and her proud
independence and unconventionality, she is not marked with the egotism we see
in most of the other characters. Her concern for her family, her attempt to
step into the gap caused by her father's abdication of his responsibility,
again reveal a maturity worthy of Darcy.

     In Elizabeth we see action guided (at last) by reason, informed by
self-knowledge. She is the model of prudent behavior, and her marriage is
the measure of the others in the book.

Fitzwilliam Darcy:

     "Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person,
handsome features, noble men; and the report that was in general circulation
within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year.
Till his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity; for
he was discovered to be proud; to be above his company, and above being

     Darcy enters the plot almost accidentally, through his friendship with
Bingley. Everyone (including Darcy) is busy with the romance of Bingley and
Jane, when all the time below the surface the real drama is taking place in
the half-suppressed and halting growth of Darcy's and Elizabeth's love for
each other. Darcy's character is a challenge to the perceptiveness of all the
other persons in the novel. The many different interpretations of his
personality establish him as one of those "intricate" characters Elizabeth
says are most amusing. Along with Elizabeth and Mr. Bennet, he is capable
of thought and self-scrutiny. His true complexity and moral worth is
revealed gradually and is a correlative to Elizabeth's own essay in
self-discovery. Almost alone of all the characters is he variously
interpreted. The reader is not given a complete picture directly, but rather
Darcy is presented as seen by Elizabeth, Bingley, Georgiana, Wickham,
Caroline, Mrs. Bennet, Mrs. Reynolds, Meryton, Lambton.

     As a member of the great landed gentry and of noble descent on his
mother's (Lady Anne Fitzwilliam) side (and having been spoiled as a child),
Darcy embodies the pride of his superior social status - thus the objection to
Elizabeth's low connections. But although events force Darcy to modify his
snobbish identification of social desirability and social status, his pride
is revealed to have a stronger root in his consciousness of being the
possessor of superior intelligence and will. This makes him contemptuous of
the trivial socializing that amuses his friends, and disdainful of Caroline
Bingley's vulgar pursuit. He has the virtues of his social position; he is
liberal and honorable - and in the end, humble as well. Love humbles him and
makes him worthy of love.

Jane:

     The eldest of the Bennet girls has two distinguishing characteristics:
she is very beautiful, and she is very unperceptive (or, to put it more
gently, she is so pure of heart and mind that she will go to any length not
to believe evil of any one). On the most superficial level, the plot is the
story of the romance of Jane and Bingley; but actually, their story provides
only the occasion for the real interest of the novel. Jane and Bingley exhibit
neither pride nor prejudice. The themes of social status arise only indirectly
in their case. Choice for them is never problematic. Their function rather is
to show how people can suffer from the pride and prejudice, the egoism, greed,
and snobbery of others.

Bingley:

     As he admits in a conversation with Elizabeth, Bingley's character is
not at all intricate. His distinguishing trait is readiness "to yield to the
persuasion of a friend." Indeed, the mechanics of the plot turn largely on
Darcy's ability to control his friend. Bingley's fortune (100,000 pounds) has
brought him none of the snobbery so prominent in his sisters. He enjoys the
trivial social affairs his friend finds so boring. Mr. Bennet satirizes his
mild manner when he warns him and Jane that their servants will answer
their gentleness with wholesale theft.

Mrs. Bennet:

     "Her mind was less difficult to develop. She was a woman of mean
understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was
discontented she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get
her daughters married; its solace, visiting and news." (I)

     Mrs. Bennet fails by all relevant criteria. According to the standards of
society, she is inconsiderate, ill-mannered, and vulgar. As a parent she is
partly responsible for the superficial characters of her three younger
daughters. Lydia is clearly in her mother's mold. Mrs. Bennet thinks of
marriage mainly as a means of social and economic advancement - although she
seems contented enough just to have her daughters married to anyone. She
has no feminine charm. Her dull mentality and duller moral sense cannot
distinguish Collin's worthlessness. Next to marriage, her great preoccupation
is the entail on her husband's estate, which she talks of incessantly.
With such prospective moth