Elizabeth: ‘... No one who has seen you together can doubt his affection...’ ‘...She follows him to town in the hope of keeping him there, and tries to persuade you that he does not care about you.’
Elizabeth is a very strong character and speaks her mind, which we admire about her. She believes in herself which enables her to stand up to such characters as Mr.Collins, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and Darcy.
Elizabeth to Mr.Collins: ‘... I am perfectly serious in my refusal. – You could not make me happy, and I am convinced that I am the last woman in the world who would make you so.’
Elizabeth to Lady Catherine: ‘...Allow me to say, Lady Catherine, that the arguments with which you have supported this extraordinary application, have been as frivolous as the application was ill-judged...’
Elizabeth to Mr.Darcy: ‘... Had not my own feelings decided against you, had they been indifferent, or had they even been favourable, do you think that any consideration would tempt me to accept the man, who has been the means of ruining, perhaps for ever, the happiness of a most beloved sister?’
In many circumstances we see how Elizabeth was way above her time. She would probably fit in well today with her strong sense of woman’s rights and her bold character.
Elizabeth is also a witty character and responds quickly to people’s remarks. She is able to laugh at matters such as when Darcy said she was ‘tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me;’ Instead of being terribly resentful towards Darcy she mocked him by telling the story to others with great amusement.
She told the story however with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively, playful disposition which delighted in anything ridiculous.
However, Elizabeth is not all good and ‘sparkling’. She too, has her weaknesses. She often jumps to conclusions and is taken in by appearances. When she first meets Mr.Wickham she is taken in by his charming manners and believes everything he says.
Elizabeth’s first impressions of Mr.Wickham: ‘... but Mr. Wickham was as far beyond them all in person, countenance, air, and walk...’
Elizabeth’s reaction to what Wickham says about Darcy: ‘I had supposed him to be despising his fellow –creatures in general, but did not suspect him of descending to such malicious revenge, such injustice, such inhumanity as this!’
Although Elizabeth says that she didn’t think Darcy was quite as bad as this, she doesn’t mention any reason of why it could be untrue. She immediately presumes that this is what Darcy did and he becomes even more unappealing to her.
When they hear the news of Bingley leaving, Elizabeth immediately thinks that it is Caroline’s doings and that it is nothing to do with Mr.Bingley. This could just be to comfort her sister, but Elizabeth says that this is her opinion and goes on to insult Caroline Bingley, saying that she is ‘such a simpleton’.
The book contains many ‘unpleasant’ characters but in ways they are very true to life. It is perhaps possible that Jane Austen based them on people she knew!
Mr.Collins is insensitive and foolish and he is the object of great satire in the novel. He can exaggerate things so much that it becomes rather insulting and irritating.
‘...Mr.Collins was at leisure to look around him and admire, and he was so much struck with the size and furniture of the apartment, that he declared he might almost have supposed himself in the small summer breakfast parlour at Rosings;...’
This comparison of the drawing room at Meryton with the ‘small summer breakfast parlour’ at Rosings doesn’t seem very complementing at all. In fact it is quite the opposite as he compares it to the ‘small summer breakfast parlour’; meaning that this wonderful drawing room is only a fraction of the beauty at Rosings. The more Mr.Collins tries to compliment people the more he ends up insulting them.
Mr.Collins is not perceptive enough to see that Lady Catherine is overbearingly patronising. He is too busy trying to please her and flatter her that he doesn’t realise how domineering she really is.
Mr.Collins also has shallow feelings as he is quick to move from one girl to the next. Although he is quite hurt at being rejected by Elizabeth he still holds his head high.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh is a very pompous woman. She feels that her rank as a lady gives her the right to offer opinions to anyone and everyone on any subject at all. She is always used to getting her own way and is quite astonished when Elizabeth stands up to her.
Lady Catherine: ‘Miss.Bennet, you ought to know that I am not to be trifled with. But however insincere you may choose to be, you shall not find me so.
We see from this that Lady Catherine thinks a lot of herself. She believes that she is not a hypocritical woman but this in itself is untrue as she is quite a two-faced woman.
Mrs.Bennet has only one thing on her mind and that is to get her daughters married off. She even worked out a ploy to enable Jane to stay spend the night Netherfield. But this didn’t turn out so well as Jane became ill.
Mr.Bennet: ‘Well, my dear, if your daughter should have a dangerous fit of illness, if she should die, it would be a comfort to know that it was all in pursuit of Mr.Bingley, and under your orders.’
Here, Mr.Bennet is mocking his wife for saying that it doesn’t matter that Jane is ill because at least she was trying to get Mr.Bingley. In fact he feels that it is all Mrs.Bennet’s fault that Jane is ill and she shouldn’t have tried to interfere.
Lydia is just like her mother. She is completely frivolous and doesn’t ever seem to think sensibly about anything.
Lydia: ‘...I am glad I bought my bonnet, if it is only for the fun of having another bandbox!...’
She also feels that getting a husband takes priority and she loves having fun with the officers.
Lydia: ‘...Have you seen any pleasant men? Have you had any flirting? I was in great hopes that one of you would have got a husband before you came back. Jane will be quite an old maid soon, I declare....’
This is quite a rude comment about her sister but we seem to mock Lydia because she doesn’t realise how shallow she is.
But the book is not made up entirely of unpleasant characters. Jane is in no way an ‘unpleasant human being’. She thinks well of everyone and doesn’t ever wish to criticize. But this can also make Jane quite a weak character.
Elizabeth: ‘My dear Jane! You are too good. Your sweetness and disinterestedness are really angelic; ...’
Charlotte Lucas is realistic. She is sensible in accepting Mr.Collins’ proposal. She sees that by marrying him it will help her economically.
Mr.Bennet is very sweet to Elizabeth and when she returns from Hunsford he is very glad to have her back.
Mr.Bennet: ‘I am glad you are come back, Lizzy.’
Mr.Bennet also seems to manage to cope with his wife, finding a comical side to her and mocking most of what she says.
I do not entirely agree that Elizabeth is all ‘sparkling’ nor that all the characters are ‘unpleasant’ but the contrast of the different characters makes the story more convincing. The ‘unpleasantness’ of the other characters brings out Elizabeth’s great nature and this is how she appears to ‘sparkle’ throughout the novel.
