Elizabeth Bennet may not look much like Frodo
Baggins, but a ring is central to her quest, too. Marriage is the key to
happiness—or at least that's what she hears from nearly everyone around her. As
the second daughter of a country gentleman who can't leave his estate to a
girl, Elizabeth is headed straight for poverty if she doesn't marry a man who
can provide for her.
She is not like her family members. She is
different. She is witty, vivacious, loyal, clever, beautiful, loving. Also she
is so judgmental, vain, impulsive, stubborn, outspoken. On the other hand her
family members are not like her. Her mother just want money boys who are well
suited with army personality. Her father is only amusing and always making
jokes which is not a life. Her elder sister Jane bennet is gentle, patient,
beautiful, optimistic but too innocent to live the life. But our Lizzy (family
and friends often call Elizabeth, Lizzy or Eliza) is not like them. She is like
“she always has her eyes on us”. A person who can never be ignored.In fact, she
prides herself on being a good observer, and she's observed that marriage can
also be a one-way ticket to unhappiness.
The problem is that not everyone gets her sense of
humor. Sometimes that's good, like when she's making fun of Mr. Collins to his
face. And sometimes it just leads to misunderstandings, like when she tells Mr.
Darcy that she "rather wonder[s] now at [his] knowing any" accomplished
women (8.51-52). She's making fun of the ridiculous standards that he and Miss
Bingley have come up with for accomplishment, but she's the only one laughing.
Lizzy can't even be serious with her sister—or, to
be honest, with us. When Jane asks how long she's loved Darcy, she says,
"It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But
I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at
Pemberley" (59.16).On the one hand, she's joking by making herself seem
like a gold-digger who loves Darcy's estate and money, and not him. On the
other hand—it's kind of true. She did have a change of heart at Pemberley.
Lizzy's constant joking makes her character a little hard to read, like that
friend who can never tell us straight up how she feels. Learning to be
straightforward with Darcy (and herself) is one of the many changes she
undergoes.
Elizabeth also prides herself on being a good judge
of character and she is only 20. She is good at reading situations. When she
watches Mr. Collins sidle up to Mr. Darcy, she can tell how it's going even
from across the room. What a witty girl just not like her family.
Mr. Collins is right there next to him, but he's so
self-absorbed that he can't see how much Darcy despises him. Not Lizzy, who can
see exactly what's going on. She's right a lot of the time, like when she tells
Jane that Miss Bingley "follows [Bingley] to town in hope of keeping him
there, and tries to persuade you that he does not care about you" (21.19).
And she's right again when she sees that Darcy "had no doubt of a favorable
answer" during his first proposal (34.6). But Lizzy isn't always right,
and that's the hard lesson she has to learn. All it takes to blind her powers
of observation is a pretty face. Let's look at the moment that happens.
After Lizzy reads the letter in which Darcy explains
the Wickham situation, she spends a lot of time berating herself for her
actions: “She grew absolutely ashamed of herself. Of neither Darcy nor Wickham
could she think without feeling she had been blind, partial, prejudiced,
absurd.” "How despicably I have acted!" she cried; "I, who have
prided myself on my discernment!... I have courted prepossession and ignorance,
and driven reason away, where either were concerned. Till this moment I never
knew myself." (36.18-19) We should notice this ending sentence,
"'Till this moment I never knew myself" That's some character growth,
right there. Lizzy is admitting that she was "prejudiced" (ahem,
title alert): she let Wickham's pretty face and charming manners make up for
the fact that he behaved totally inappropriately, and she let Darcy's bad manners—which,
admittedly, were pretty bad—convince her that he was actually a bad person.
In fact, the whole second half of the novel is full
of these moments of self-revelation. When Lydia makes some snide comments about
Wickham's new flame, calling her a "nasty little freckled thing"
(39.14), Lizzy has to admit that she's no better than her sister: although she
is "incapable of such coarseness of expression herself, the coarseness of
the sentiment was little other than her own breast had harbored and fancied
liberal!" (39.13-15). She is even judgmental to herself.
But a little embarrassment turns out to be a good
thing, since Lizzy learns to temper her behavior a little bit—not when it comes
to important things, like being true to her own convictions about what's
right—but when it comes to things like paying attention to her future husband's
feelings. After they've finally cleared up all misunderstandings, she's dying
to tease him about Bingley, but stops herself: "she remembered that he had
yet to learn to be laughed at, and it was rather too early to begin"
(58.46).
Good move, Lizzy.
She began to comprehend that he was exactly the man
who, in disposition and talents, would most suit her. His understanding and
temper, though unlike her own, would have answered all her wishes. It was a
union that must have been to the advantage of both; by her ease and liveliness,
his mind might have been softened, his manners improved; and from his judgment,
information, and knowledge of the world, she must have received benefit of
greater importance. (50.15) A marriage needs "true affection"
(18.56), and Lizzy does love Darcy, but that's not what matters. What's really
important for the success of this marriage is that (1) she respects him; (2)
they complement each other; and (3) they can support themselves.
The contrast about her character is that, though she
wants to play by her heart but she doesn’t. she lead her life both by her heart
and mind. That’s why she ended up happily with Darcy. If she leads her life
like her mom, she would definitely get a person like her father and her life
would be devastated. We love the Ellizabeth character from “Pride and
Prejudice” so much.
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