Compare and contrast the marriage proposals received by Elizabeth Bennet. Is it inevitable, in your view, that she will refuse the first two proposals and accept the third?
Compare and contrast the marriage proposals received by Elizabeth Bennet. Is it inevitable, in your view, that she will refuse the first two proposals and accept the third?
For women in the late 17th and early 18th century, marriage was exceptionally important as it was incredibly difficult for them to find a reasonable living by themselves and would have otherwise had to live off the hospitality of a family relative. Like today, most women would have preferred to marry for love but in spite of this, many had to find a husband who could offer both security and a dependable income or else they might have to marry beneath their social class. Pride and Prejudice is based around the theme of marriage and how each of the Bennet sisters manages in finding an ideal match, particularly the two eldest: Jane and Elizabeth.
Elizabeth Bennet received her first proposal from Mr. Collins, a clergyman living on the estate of Lady Catherine de Bourgh; from the letter he sent, he is first introduced to the book as being a pretentious and insensible man, demonstrated by Mr. Bennet's ironic comment that he seems to be "a most conscientious and polite young man". This is also reflected in his long sentence structure and lavish language throughout the piece. As a result, before he and Elizabeth have even met she is baffled by him, declaring him an "oddity" because of his "mixture in servility and self-importance".
Their first encounter confirms his absurd personality; during the evening he managed to spend quarter of an hour apologising for a simple comment and praised Lady Catherine uncontrollably throughout dinner. The Bennet girls mock him considerably and none even contemplate the idea of marrying him. His lack of sensitivity is demonstrated again to the reader when he switches from preferring Jane to Elizabeth as his future wife in the time it takes for Mrs. Bennet to "stir the fire" once finding out that Jane already has a prospective husband, Mr. Bingley.
The proposal itself demonstrated his foolishness and their miss-match in personalities too; when Elizabeth seems reluctant to be alone with him, he attributes this to be modesty and delicacy, which again reflects his own vanity and how little he understands her character. He then continues to
list his reasons for marriage without waiting for a response from Elizabeth as his self-importance allows him to naturally assume that he will receive a positive response. Throughout his address he also created a very uncomfortable atmosphere, making reference to his inheriting Longbourn "after the death of your (Elizabeth's) honoured father" and how little she will receive after her mother's decease. This made it near impossible for Elizabeth to take his proposal seriously and she tried desperately to interrupt him before he got carried away.
On top of this, he seemed to regard Lady Catherine's opinion on ...
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list his reasons for marriage without waiting for a response from Elizabeth as his self-importance allows him to naturally assume that he will receive a positive response. Throughout his address he also created a very uncomfortable atmosphere, making reference to his inheriting Longbourn "after the death of your (Elizabeth's) honoured father" and how little she will receive after her mother's decease. This made it near impossible for Elizabeth to take his proposal seriously and she tried desperately to interrupt him before he got carried away.
On top of this, he seemed to regard Lady Catherine's opinion on marriage of greater consequence than his feelings for Elizabeth herself: one of his reasons for marrying was because it was on "the particular advice and recommendation of the very noble lady..." but reconsiders that he perhaps ought to have mentioned this earlier. In truth, his whole proposal seemed to fixate around Miss de Bourgh, mentioning her footstool, manners and the "kindness of Lady Catherine", almost ignoring Elizabeth's feelings on the subject entirely. Since Elizabeth is a strong-minded, independent character, a proposal in which her feelings aren't considered and the purpose is to marry solely for convenience with no affection would almost completely contradict her moral beliefs. Mr. Collins only seems to concentrate on how "it will add very greatly to my (his own) happiness" and this consequently leads to her total refusal of him.
Mr. Darcy, on the other hand, was first introduced as having "handsome features", being a "fine figure of a man" and "having ten thousand a year". However, after he refused to dance with Elizabeth and stated that she was "not handsome enough to tempt" him, she formed an immediate disposition against him and everything he did subsequent to this point was interpreted critically. This is why, when Mr. Wickham later tells a farfetched story in which he criticises Darcy she trusts him completely in order to further her dislike of him. Her misjudgements also lead her to believe that Darcy was the root cause of the Bingley party moving away, and subsequently of Jane's unhappiness.
Prior to Darcy's proposal, she just hears confirmation of his interference with Jane and Bingley's relationship from Colonel Fitzwilliam, which intensifies her resentment towards him since she believes that it was his own arrogance and pride that allowed him to separate the couple; as did she deem that this was the grounds for his apparent cruel behaviour to Wickham. In addition to this, she had just re-read the letters she had received conveying Jane's sorrow over Bingley's absence, "as if intending to exasperate herself as much as possible against Mr. Darcy". The moment Darcy arrived to express his feelings of love towards her could not have been chosen at a worse time.
By Darcy starting by saying that "In vain have I (has he) struggled" against his feelings for her, Elizabeth was not encouraged to respond positively either as it was implied that he saw her as socially inferior and such a connection would have degraded himself. Again, like Mr. Collins, he generally concentrated on how the marriage would affect himself rather than how Elizabeth might have been feeling, tending to talk about things other than love such as "family obstacles" and his efforts to feel no affection towards her. Moreover, he too anticipated a secure response because of the importance of social status and money in a marriage at the time, which frustrated her even further. It would have been unrealistic both in terms of the novel itself and of Elizabeth's character for her to have accepted Darcy at this stage.
Following her refusal of Darcy, nevertheless, Elizabeth's agitation shows how unexpected the offer of marriage was to her and how little she had thought her response through. She is also somewhat shaken from Darcy's reaction to being refused; however much she despised him previously she could not help feeling sorry for the pain she inflicted and tries to avoid him as much as she can. Regardless of this, Darcy knows her character too well, finds her walking and gives her a letter which explains all the points Elizabeth made against him in her refusal. Despite his saying that he won't repeat his proposal, he still doesn't want her to think ill of him. His justification of why he separated Jane and Bingley and the truth about Wickham, cause Elizabeth to realise her misjudgements and reconsider her opinion of Darcy. As she re-reads the letter, she begins to understand his character further and softens towards him. She still, however, regards him prudently as even now she believes that it was his "pride and insolence" which allowed him to express no regret about his interfering with Jane and Bingley's relationship.
After, when she visits Pemberley, Elizabeth makes a note that, had she accepted Darcy, then she would have mistress of the estate; if it had not been for Darcy's apparent arrogance, she would have regretted her decision in not accepting him. The housekeeper's accounts of Darcy and an insight into his childhood years, nonetheless, are "most opposite to her ideas" changing her feelings towards him even further. Her remarks that she has "never had a cross word from him" and that "he was always the sweetest-tempered, most generous-hearted boy" gradually allow her to appreciate his true nature and qualities, thus making her review her judgements and view him differently.
Their subsequent meeting at Pemberley also allows Elizabeth to view Darcy in higher esteem. By seeing him where he is most comfortable and at ease, the "commendations bestowed on him by Mrs. Reynolds" are confirmed to Elizabeth. Despite the sudden nature of their meeting, Darcy's civil manner and courtesy towards her family are a crucial factor in Elizabeth's acceptance of Darcy when he proposes again. Additionally, Elizabeth sees him in a new light while he is with Georgiana; the housekeeper comments that "there is nothing he would not do for her". This interaction gives Elizabeth the opportunity to see Darcy socialising with someone he is relaxed and open with, demonstrating how affectionate he can be.
As well as this, his involvement in Lydia's well-being after her elopement with Wickham turns Darcy, to some extent, into the 'hero' character in the book. When we find out Darcy was at Lydia's wedding, helped to find her and offered financial support, it reveals more of his caring and sensitive nature, making it somewhat inevitable that there will be a happy ending for him and Elizabeth. The fact he had wanted to keep his involvement a secret also proves that he wasn't doing a good deed just to be admired and in Elizabeth's favour.
Before Darcy proposes, Lady Catherine's visit, rather than persuading Elizabeth of her unsuitability, manages to give the couple hope; by Lady Catherine's fear of that Darcy might propose, Elizabeth realises that he still feels for her and by Elizabeth not promising to deny him if he should ask again, Darcy is given the prompting necessary for him to do so. In contrast to his first, Darcy's second proposal begins with his saying that his only thoughts when he helped Lydia were for Elizabeth. By plainly stating his true feelings for her instead of with how he has tried to resist them, Elizabeth feels more compassion for him and consequently makes it clear that her feelings could not be more different to when Darcy first asked her hand in marriage.
Unlike the first proposal, the second is not set out as a conventional proposition but is more of a mutual agreement between them and apology for their previous actions. This lay-out suits Elizabeth's character much more as her feelings are being considered as equal and nothing is expected of her; Darcy is not convinced of a positive reply. Austen then uses indirect speech, for example: "Elizabeth... ... gave him to understand that her sentiments had undergone so material a change since the period to which he alluded" to convey the warmth between the couple but also give them a somewhat private moment to themselves.
Because of Elizabeth's realisation of her misunderstandings concerning Darcy and the nature of his proposal, it makes it realistic for her response to have changed between both offers of marriage. The growing affection between them leading up to their apologies, as is seen during their meeting in Pemberley, makes it inevitable that she would have eventually accepted his offer.
Katie Turner 10P
