Preview

Elizabeth's Dissatisfaction

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
529 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Elizabeth's Dissatisfaction
Elizabeth’s Dissatisfaction
Elizabeth Bennet’s personality in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is unconventional, independent, and somewhat cynical, in contrast to what was considered acceptable social behavior of women of her time. Elizabeth is extremely forthright, and though her honesty and lack of pretense is considered forward by some, her directness gives her a clear and often unflattering perception of others. She is critical of many social norms and conventions. Near the beginning of Chapter 23, Elizabeth says to her sister, Jane, “The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters and of little dependence that can placed on the appearance of either merit or sense.” Elizabeth believes that once someone makes a mistake, there is no going back. Elizabeth saw you can’t depend on the appearance of someone and their “rank” because she was shown that people aren’t what they seem to be. Elizabeth’s decision was influenced by certain experiences she had with different people, people who claim to be sophisticated and well-brought up but act rude and are quite the opposite of how they appear. Mr. Collins, for example, is an arrogant, conceited and overall pathetic man. Mr. Collins actions are almost comical because he thinks very highly of himself when everyone else takes him for a joke. With his mindset he also automatically assumes that he is more than compatible for the Bennet daughters. Elizabeth continuously rejects his proposals, but Mr. Collins is so full of himself he doesn’t believe she really means it. Mr. Collins insultingly misjudges Elizabeth as just another girl that would swoon over any marriage proposal

that was thrown in her direction. Ms. Bingley and Mr. Bingley are also both good examples. Ms. Bingley thoroughly expresses that she is brought up in money and higher class, she lives for all of the superficiality of the more sophisticated life. People

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Why Did Elizabeth Fail

    • 245 Words
    • 1 Page

    It seems that Elizabeth’s power as Queen and her ability to appoint other female leaders, began to change the submissive mindset that women were forced to have. Overall, the main difference that caused Elizabeth to succeed in her role and hold onto her throne against Mary and other rivals was the fact that she refused to share her power and did not allow herself to be controlled through marriage or successors. This fact alone separates her greatly from her cousin Mary, who knew all too well the implications of a political marriage. Through Elizabeth’s turmoil and isolation, she prevailed and became a strong and memorable monarch. She used her birth of a domestic union as an advantage with the people and considered herself once a subject as…

    • 245 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Elizabeth's prejudice against Darcy stems from his original insult of her and his socially superior demeanor. Darcy's insult leaves Elizabeth "with no very cordial feelings towards him" (Austen 9); however, she speaks humorously about the "ridiculous" comment with her friends. Although Elizabeth dismissively jokes about Darcy, her pride inwardly pains, which she subtly admits while the Bennet women are visiting the Lucases. Elizabeth's prejudice continues to grow through her constant arguments with Darcy about various topics including successful women and acceptance of advice from friends. Through these arguments Elizabeth's unfavorable opinion of Darcy's pompous and arrogant personality grows.…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Elizabeth Bennet Foil

    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages

    settle for just anyone, even though her mother insisted she get married as soon as possible. Elizabeth has a troublesome time being serious, often making jokes at the expense of others. She makes fun of Mr. Darcy saying “I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing any.” (8.51) This is one example of the frequent biting comments she makes towards a number of individuals throughout…

    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The narrative describes how the prejudices and first impressions (especially those dealing with pride) of the main characters change throughout the novel, focusing on those of Elizabeth Bennet. She had a smart first impression about Mr. Collins and how absurdly self-serving he is and about Lady Catherine de Bourgh and how proud and snobbish she is. Her first impressions of Wickham and Darcy steer her in opposites which ironically so, they do not like each other. Wickham is first thought to be a gentleman by all. His good looks and his easy manner hits Elizabeth without question. Elizabeth and many of the other characters see Darcy as proud. His pride is shown here, “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 tuned the tide of his popularity; for he as 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.” (Austen, 11). This first impression is given to Elizabeth and she takes it quite harshly. Instead of pride seen in him, Elizabeth sees vanity and she says, “Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.” (Austen, 19). First impressions are taken in the novel highly and Mrs. Bennet also makes sure that her daughters are ready for a first impression because her first priority is to get her daughters married so that they may be with a fine husband. These are only a few of the major examples of first impressions, prejudice and pride in the novel, as these themes show up throughout the…

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jane Austen suggests pride is worse than prejudice. Vanity coupled with pride is by far more offensive than prejudice. Mary explains to Lizzy and Charlotte that pride is “a very common failing.” Mr. Darcy was pronounced to be “the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world.” and even his wealth could not excuse his pride. Mr. Wickham’s comment regarding Mr. Darcy reinforces this line of thinking. “Everybody is disgusted with his pride.” In the novel, Austen demonstrates that both pride and prejudice can be unhealthy qualities. Elizabeth and Darcy both have qualities of pride and prejudice, and it almost cost them their relationship. Elizabeth’s prejudice towards Mr. Darcy is predicated on Mr. Wickham’s false charges against him and Mr. Darcy’s…

    • 213 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In her novel, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen introduces two contradicting characters, Miss Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Charles Darcy. In the beginning, Austen paints Elizabeth as a benevolent character, while she portrays Darcy as arrogant and judgmental. According to Butler, however, their distinctions fade and more similarities emerge as the book progresses. Butler describes these similarities as discovered by Elizabeth “whenever [she] discusses Darcy’s faults” (Butler 223). Despite their recently unfolded similarities, Darcy is more Christian-like than Elizabeth, which is confirmed through his attempts to obtain her love, insinuating that humble people have to exert additional effort in order to achieve marital pleasure.…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Darcy is the character most often associated with pride and Elizabeth Bennett with prejudice. Ironically the novel was originally called ‘First Impressions’ an aspect Darcy seems to lack originally. Understanding the world can be perceived in many different aspects; literally or figuratively. The protagonists; Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy capture our attention from the beginning of the novel. Austen is able to contradict the patriarchal society that existed in the nineteenth century, as she builds Elizabeth to be rational, strong and independent. Women were mainly seen in this time to entertain yet Elizabeth did not carry these traits. Her perspective of the world was different to how her mother saw her future, she rejects two men of which rank highly on the social ladder proposal towards her. Ironically she ends the novel marrying the wealthiest of them all. Whereas, Darcy originally is not fond of Elizabeth ‘She is tolerable, I suppose, but not handsome enough to tempt me’ his second glance at her changes his judgement he describes her eyes to be. Darcy emits a character full of pride and…

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    As Elizabeth’s depression progresses her symptoms seem to range from one extreme to another. At the beginning of her college career she turns to the party scene, and starts to heavily abuse drugs and alcohol, and has emotionally unattached promiscuous sex. She ignores the underlying problems, and turns to various coping mechanisms, such as the drugs and alcohol. Additionally, she turns writing into a coping mechanism, and becomes so obsessed with perfect writing, than she literally loses herself, and goes sleepless. The above symptoms become so extreme that her friends check her into the hospital where she begins to outlandishly deny any problems existing in her life. In…

    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Elizabeth

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The human desires of greed, wealth, and power have been embedded into the world's history as political figures have led invasions of other countries countless numbers of times. Whether invaded or being invaded, a country requires strong and capable leaders to see them through this difficult time. In 1588, Queen Elizabeth I of England gave a motivational speech to her troops using the rhetorical devices of diction, sentence structure and ethos, to motivate her subjects positively and to prevent the fear of the pending invasion in their hearts.…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Elizabeth Bennet is a perfect example of such a woman that has a strong independent nature, and stands for the right for women to marry for love rather than for status or wealth. This being said, her personality gives her the potential for extraordinary happiness because she won’t settle for being unhappy. Elizabeth Bennet is intelligent, the most intelligent of her sisters. Her intelligence is actually part of what makes her Mr. Bennet’s favorite, but Mrs. Bennet’s least favorite; there is already paradox. Mrs. Bennet seems to ignore Elizabeth’s intelligence and states that she is no better than the rest of her sisters. The readers also get a different sense of her intelligence not only by her dialogue, but also by her observation skills. She enjoys watching people’s behaviors to decipher their personalities, for example when she states, “intricate characters are the most amusing” (chap.9)…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The character of Elizabeth Bennet portrays startling unique and individualistic personality traits throughout her story in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Indeed, Austen uses Elizabeth’s frank nature to challenge traditional notions of gender. Unlike other romantic heroines, Austen chooses to depict Elizabeth as a level headed, deductive, and observation individual who is objectively distant from her social world. Thus, Pride and Prejudice challenges traditional notions of female stereotypes through the actions of Elizabeth Bennet.…

    • 1793 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Elizabeth

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How far do you accept the view that relations between Elizabeth and her parliaments in the years 1566-1588 were characterised more by co-operation than by conflict?…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Despite his wealth and availability, Elizabeth does not want to marry him because of his arrogance, nonsensical attitude, and boastful nature of his wealth and connection to Lady Catherine. Moreover, Elizabeth describes him as “tall and grave and pompous, wrapt in a cloud of solemn vanity, servility, stupidity, and spitefulness, but without the faintest gleam of self-consciousness or suspicion of the ridiculous figure” (Austen, 2005, p. 218) which illustrates his awkward and unappealing nature. Mr. Collins’s aversion for Lady Catherine de Bourgh is furthermore developed by Austen’s creation of the parallel between the stature of both of these characters. While Mr. Collins is considered of a lower class due to his religious affiliation, Lady Catherine is of the elitist class due to her wealth, elegance, and her husband’s connections. In this respect, Mr. Collins is seen to worship Lady Catherine for providing him with his income and humble abode.…

    • 1723 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Our first introduction to pride and prejudice is at a ball Mr. Bingley throws. His sisters and a dear friend of his, Mr. Darcy, accompany him.. Eighteenth-century England was quite preoccupied with status, especially concerning wealth and reputation. Darcy's reluctance to speak with anyone stemmed from his lack of respect for anyone outside his close-knit circle. His good breeding was obvious only to those whom he knew well. Elizabeth is prejudiced against Darcy for entirely different reasons. She received information that was one-sided and made unfair assumptions on Darcy's character. She prejudged him; combining the superficial view she had of him and some rumours. The roles of pride and prejudice can be summed up in the exchange between Darcy and Elizabeth, after he proposed. Darcy clearly defines the reasons for his prejudice: "Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your connections? To congratulate myself on the hope of relations whose condition in life is so decidedly beneath my own?" (Pg.164) Elizabeth's prejudice…

    • 1308 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pride and Prejudice

    • 1049 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The two main characters, Elizabeth and Darcy, undergo changes both in attitude and circumstances and in the end truly discover themselves. Elizabeth fosters her own personal dislike of Darcy after his comment at the Merryton Ball: “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me” (13). Elizabeth overhears this comment and is left feeling like she took the brunt of his arrogance. This comment is the greatest cause of Elizabeth’s prejudice against Darcy. A major turning point occurs after Darcy’s proposal and the subsequent letter in which Elizabeth realizes: “vanity, not love, has been my folly…Till this moment, I never knew myself” (171). As she examines her family, she realizes her own blindness to Wickham’s account of Darcy, and it becomes apparent that Darcy was cautious to associate himself with her. It is this introspection of her own actions and prejudice that allows her true love for him to blossom. In addition, after Elizabeth’s comments about his attitude during the first proposal, he acknowledges that he was too selfish and admits that: “By [her he] was properly humbled” (297). Darcy acted the way he did because that was what he was brought up to believe on account of his wealth and status. The first proposal to Elizabeth is a valuable lesson Darcy learns about himself and recognizes these faults in his character. Had they not learned…

    • 1049 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays