Analyse the character of Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and
Prejudice.
Of all her heroines, Jane Austen
liked Elizabeth most. She once wrote to her niece Cassandra:
“I must confess that I think her
as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, and how I shall be able to
tolerate those who do not like her at least I do not know”.
Indeed, the trust placed by Jane
Austen in her favourite heroine wasn't at all misplaced, for during the last
one century and a half, countless readers of English fiction including some
very enlightened and discerning critics must have fallen in love with her. A.C.
Bradley once wrote, “I am meant to fall in love with her, and I do.” R.L
Stevenson was so enthusiastic about her that he said he wanted to ‘go down on
his knees’ whenever she spoke.
An intricate character
At the ironic level, Pride and
Prejudice present an antithesis between Intricacy and Simplicity. “Intricate characters
are the most amusing,” says Elizabeth in chapter IX. And she herself is one of
the intricate characters. She is profound and perceptive. There is a good deal
of intellectual complexity about her. She doesn't just represent prejudice, as
is commonly understood. Her prejudice stems from pride in her own perception,
as Darcy’s pride leads him into prejudice against the rural gently. When she is
rejected by Darcy for a dance, her pride is mortified by his, and she gets
prejudiced against him. This gets her into a number of unsavoury situations. She
is percipient, hence subject to failures of perception, and this is what
account for the intricacy of her character.
