Elizabeth Bennet
"In marrying your nephew, I should not consider myself as quitting that sphere. He is a gentleman; I am a gentleman's daughter; so far we are equal." (56.51)
Elizabeth Bennet is the main character the novel seems to follow as the story progresses. She is not the model of a typical woman during her time period, as her intelligence and opinionated-self did not fit into societal standards at the time. Elizabeth's intelligence is also the root cause for her known stubbornness and quick judge of character. She exhibits these characteristics consistently throughout the novels in various events, such as her first encounter with Darcy. Elizabeth is described as a character of modest beauty and has many admirable qualities to her. Elizabeth's take on marriage contrasts the ideology that society had already set in the time period. Women were not supposed to marry for love, but rather for wealth and a sustained life. Elizabeth looks beyond the theme of wealth in hopes of finding someone she truly loves to marry. She disregards the concept of only marrying for money, that seems to drive so many other relationships within the novel.
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Fitzwilliam Darcy
Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien, and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year. The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley, and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, 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 pleased; and not all his large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy to be compared with his friend. (3.5)
Mr. Darcy is a gentleman of high social class and wealth. He arrives at Netherfield Park as company to his good friend Mr. Bingley. We are introduced to him at the ball, in which the above quote happened. The many people at the ball upon hearing his vast fortune, viewed him in the most positive light they could. As the night progressed however, they found his mannerisms to be snobby and his pride to be overexerting. Immediately the Bennet's and most of the town take to a great disliking of Darcy. As the story progresses, he takes a eventually takes a great liking to Elizabeth, but all offers towards her are refused in the greatest. She counts his attitude and character as her main reasons for refusing his first proposal of marriage to her (even though he owns a vast fortune). We see a major shift in Mr. Darcy's character in the latter half of the novel, and we soon find Elizabeth returning her love for him. Mr. Darcy at first viewed his wealth and fortune as a reason to act so prideful and snobbish. He almost considered himself above the local society, and this produces many problems for him throughout the novel.
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Jane Bennet
"My dear Jane!'' exclaimed Elizabeth, "you are too good. Your sweetness and disinterestedness are really angelic; I do not know what to say to you. I feel as if I had never done you justice, or loved you as you deserve.''
Jane Bennet is the eldest of the five Bennet daughter's, and is also considered to be the prettiest among all of them. Jane is considered to be one of the sweetest, and most benevolent of girls in all of England. She holds no ill-feelings or prejudices towards anyone, and is seemingly harmless. Similar to Elizabeth in a sense, she also yearns to marry for love but knows that she must marry for wealth and fortune if she is to help sustain her family. She gets the best of both worlds in meeting Mr. Bingley, a respectable, wealthy gentleman who just recently moved into the area. She immediately grows fond of him, and the feeling is reciprocated by Mr. Bingley. There are a few bumps in the road in terms of their impeding relationship, but the two eventually marry. Jane is a rare example of a happy marriage in this time period. She gets to marry the one person she truly loves, and she also gets the fortune that comes with him. Most if not all girls married for the latter, and even then the fortune was not as vast and great as Mr. Bingley's.
Mr. Bingley |
"Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week"
Mr. Bingley is a gentleman of extreme wealth and fortune. He is first introduced in the story through Mrs. Bennet who describes his "large fortune", and wishes Mr. Bennet would go see him to introduce himself. Mr. Bingley meets the Bennet's at a local ball, and the eldest daughter Jane immediately catches his eye. They grow quite fond of each other and get married at the end of the story (after a few mishaps). Mr. Bingley is considered to be one of the most amiable men in the story. He is always polite and respectful, and it seems like his wealth is only an added bonus rather than a deterrent to his character like Mr. Darcy. He doesn't let his wealth get to his head and affect his mannerisms, and he isn't afraid of jeopardizing his social class by marrying Jane who is of a lower class.
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Mr. and Mrs. Bennet
Oh! Single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!"
"How so? How can it affect them?"
"My dear Mr. Bennet," replied his wife, "how can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them."
"Is that his design in settling here?"
"Design! Nonsense, how can you talk so! But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes."
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are the stereotypical example of a marriage in this time period. Mrs. Bennet quite obviously did not marry Mr. Bennet out of her love for him, but rather for his ability to sustain her in life. This comes to be shown through their relationship with each other in this stage of their lives. Mr. Bennet spends the majority of his time away from his wife in the library, as it seems as if he cannot stand her incessant bickering anymore. Mrs. Bennet seems solely focused on marrying away each and every one of her daughters to wealthy suitors. She is delighted by the fact that Jane and Mr. Bingley seem to be fond of each other, as Bingley possesses a great fortune. Her obsession with her daughters finding wealthy individuals to marry disregards any notion of love for the daughters. This is exhibited in the scene where Mrs. Bennet gets furious at Elizabeth for not marrying Mr. Collins, who is well off in terms of monetary value but not in mannerisms and intelligence. Wealth is all that seems to matter to Mrs. Bennet, whereas Mr. Bennet shows no input on the topic.
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Mr. Wickham
“There certainly was some great mismanagement in the education of those two young men. One has got all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it.”
When Mr. Wickham is first introduced, he seems to be an amiable gentleman with no flaws to him. He is a sweet-talker in a sense, and Elizabeth takes a great liking to him. While he may seem to be the most perfect of men, this is ultimately not the case. As we progress throughout the novel, we come to find that Wickham is indeed the exact opposite of what we are intended to first perceive of his character. Through Mr. Darcy, we come to find out that Wickham intended to trick Darcy's sister into marrying him so that he could acquire her wealth. He is driven by his greed, and this further proven through his "elopement" with the Bennet's youngest daughter Lydia. He had no plans to really marry Lydia, and was just going to have some "fun" with her, but he ends up marrying her due to the fact that Darcy is willing to pay of all his debts if he does. His greedy ways have continued on and do not seem to stop as exhibited by Lydia's letter to Elizabeth asking for some money to help them out.
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Lydia Bennet
"And we mean to treat you all," added Lydia, "but you must lend us the money, for we have just spent ours at the shop out there." Then, showing her purchases—"Look here, I have bought this bonnet. I do not think it is very pretty; but I thought I might as well buy it as not. I shall pull it to pieces as soon as I get home, and see if I can make it up any better." (39.3)
Lydia Bennet is the youngest of the Bennet daughters, and can also be considered the "silliest". Lydia spends most of her days in Meryton with her sister Kitty, flirting with all the militia men and shopping. They are the stereotypical example of uneducated girls during this time period. They have no real intelligence and mannerisms, and are only concerned with how cute the men are. She almost ruins the reputation of the Bennet family by running away with Wickham, as she would have almost surely have engaged in sexual acts with him as she is a easily persuaded young girl. Luckily, the situation is adverted and the two get married. Lydia is far too young to consider the monetary aspect of marriage. She only accounts for how good looking and amiable Wickham seems to be and does not consider the fact that they have no real money between them. She doesn't realize that Wickham makes no real money, and the money he does make, he spends. Lydia is in for a long, terrible marriage with Wickham, and this is already shown through her letter to Elizabeth already asking for money to help her out with.
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Lady Catherine De Bourgh
"You have no regard, then, for the honour and credit of my nephew! Unfeeling, selfish girl! Do you not consider that a connection with you must disgrace him in the eyes of everybody?[…] You are then resolved to have him?"
We are introduced to Lady Catherine De Bourgh through Mr. Collins, who is a clergyman at her estate. She is considered to be one of the wealthiest and most powerful woman in the country. She is considerably snobby, and prideful woman who seems to have gotten her way on everything in life. She cannot stand being interrupted, and Elizabeth is probably the first person brave enough to stand up to her. She places a great deal on connections and wealth, and cannot stand the fact that Darcy may or may not have proposed to Elizabeth. She considers Elizabeth to be of a great deal lower than her and Darcy in terms of social class, and pokes fun at her connections in life. Austen uses Lady Catherine as an example of class snobbery in this time period. The value she places on wealth and connections when marrying exhibits the same feelings many of the upper class also felt during this time period.
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