Austen uses narrative to express Elizabeth’s emotions “Elizabeth’s astonishment was beyond expression. She stared…doubted, and was silent.” This illustrates Austen’s ability to use language well when she adds in that Elizabeth was silent therefore thinking and considering Mr Darcy’s feelings. The use of the word astonishment shows her sheer shock at Mr Darcy’s first proposal. This shows that Elizabeth, at that point, is being unconventional as any woman in that period would be lucky to receive an offer of marriage like that and should take the offer without thinking about it.
On the other hand Elizabeth was being conventional when Austen uses this quotation, which is also in the form of narrative “In spite of her deeply – rooted dislike, she could not be insensible to the compliment of such a mans affection,” The author uses a very strong phrase at the beginning of the quotation which is “in spite” this is saying that even though Elizabeth loathed Mr Darcy she could not help but honour the fact that she had been proposed to by a man of high status, this portrays her as being conventional because she is thinking of his feelings and knows she can’t just disregard his proposal.
Secondly, we are presented with another compelling sentence created by Austen to illustrate another of Elizabeth’s aspects to her personality which is the fact that she is very bold with her feelings and very outspoken judgements and she wears her heart on her sleeve; “why with... design of offending...me, you choose to tell me...you liked me against your will...” Elizabeth wonders why Darcy told her he liked her even against his own better judgement i.e., he gives the impression that he didn’t want to like her but he did. As a direct consequence Elizabeth was arrogant towards him by saying that his intentions were to insult and be offensive to her, and this shows her to be very unconventional as females of this period would be expected not to show such individual views, but rather be appreciative of the offer made by Mr. Darcy and to accept it.
In another side to her character, in the passage; “ruining, perhaps forever, the happiness of a most beloved sister?” Elizabeth shows a more conventional caring side to her character as she displays her self-sacrificing nature. The fact that Jane Austen uses a question mark is clever as it shows that Elizabeth wants Darcy to come up with another answer just so that she can ridicule him further. Also, another quotation which strengthens this point is: “Can you deny that you have done it?” this is yet another inquisitive remark by Elizabeth, but which is aimed at making Mr. Darcy feel uncomfortable about his approaches.
Furthermore, Elizabeth and Darcy start to have a disagreement over the situation with Wickham and his welfare in his younger years and more of the unconventional side to Elizabeth is displayed “‘And of your infliction,’ cried Elizabeth with energy” We see that Elizabeth displays a loud and argumentative side to her by the emphasis on “your” so that the statement was addressed to Mr. Darcy in a loud and determined manner. The use of “cried” also shows that Elizabeth was being more expressive than if Austen had just used the word said. Austen uses a short sentence to provide a quick and to the point statement.
Moreover, Elizabeth pronounces “Long before it had taken place, my opinion of you was decided.” This powerfully illustrates Elizabeth’s judgemental side. We can see this by the use of Austen’s Language in the words like “long before” and “decided” it shows that Elizabeth had created her opinion prior to meeting Mr. Darcy. This portrays her to be very unconventional as she is comfortable in displaying her bold judgements about different people.
In other areas of the novel, Austen uses irony when Elizabeth says “you could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it.” This is ironic because in the closing stages of the novel Elizabeth marries Mr. Darcy. It could be interpreted by the reader to be a definitive answer in that she states categorically that she would never marry him.
Considering the question of “How is Elizabeth Bennett an unconventional heroine?” We can see that Elizabeth is an unconventional heroine because she challenges expectations and stereotypes. Furthermore she is comfortable in expressing her own opinions in an age in which this was not expected of a female. She also, very unconventionally, refuses Mr. Darcy’s offer of marriage, which would have been viewed by most people as a very attractive offer considering his status and wealth. Elizabeth refuses to conform because she believes strongly that she should be her own person and be very honest in her beliefs and judgements of people. She is also a rule breaker, illustrated by not wishing to be seen as a stereotypical woman in the Regency period.
Finally, and very unusual in a female of this era, Elizabeth appears to be comfortable with conflict and is prepared to challenge widely held beliefs.
All of this information demonstrates the views of the author, for example Austen doesn’t want to conform to popular belief about women in the Regency period.
