Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice

Bahyan .M. Mawloud 96540352

I have watched this movie twice and I like it very much because I admire the characteristics of its protagonist, Elizabeth. Therefore, in this paper I would like to analyze and reflect on some traits of this character’s personality. Though this movie’s plot talks about life and marriage in an aristocratic society of early 19th century in England, there are some circumstances in the movie that are still being practiced in nowadays societies especially in terms of social statues and marriage.

In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth is the second daughter in the Bennets family. She is a rational, quick-witted, and caring lady who stands by her own observations in life.

I really admire Elizabeth’s rational thinking which makes her different from other female characters in the movie. When it comes to marriage, she never falls for money or social statues, instead she fellows her instinct and her true feeling for love. As Mrs. Bennet, Elizabeth mother’s only concern is to get her five daughters married with somehow a wealthy man, when the foolish and pompous Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth, she tries to convince Elizabeth to marry him only because he is the inheritance of Bennets family’s properties. However, Elizabeth refuses to marry him because he is not the one for her; therefore, she neither falls for his wealth nor her mother’s irrationality. Moreover, though she has a feeling for Fitzwilliam Darcy, she refuses the wealthy Darcy’s first marriage proposal, because at that time she considers him arrogant and unpleasant. She tells him that he was the one who steered Bingley away from Jane and disinherited Wickham. She does not accept to marry him until Darcy sends her a letter explaining that he urged Bingley to leave Jane because he thought their romance was not serious; As for Wickham, he writes that Wickham is a liar and that the real reason of their disagreement was because he wanted to elope with Darcy sister, Georgiana. The letter makes Elizabeth to reevaluate her feelings about Darcy. At some point it the movie, Elizabeth finds out the person who actually helped her family to find her sister, Lydia, who eloped with her lover was Darcy. Later Darcy confesses to Elizabeth about his essential arrogance of his upbringing, and tells her that he regrets of it and that she made him to be humble. After all these, Elizabeth finds Darcy’s true personalities and agrees to marry him. These examples reflect the rationality of Elizabeth.

Another trait of Elizabeth by which I’m really impressed is her quick-witted mind. She is quick to recognize most people's principal characteristics. For instance, she recognizes the superficiality of several members in her family. Moreover, shortly after meeting Lady Catherine, she characterizes her as a control addict, and her sister's lover Charles Bingley as a simple and good-hearted young man. Elizabeth quickly discovers Fitzwilliam Darcy’s aristocratic demeanor (pride) characteristic which is the main reason for her rejection of his first proposal of marriage.

Elizabeth is a very caring and understanding person. One example for this is her deeply caring about Jane, her older sister. When Jane becomes ill while Eliza is at Netherfield, Darcy's home, Elizabeth walks three miles through the mud to visit her. She mostly stays by Jane's side during the visit, preferring her company to the superciliousness of Miss Bingley and Hurst. It is Elizabeth that tries to cheer Jane up after Bingley leaves Jane, and it is only Elizabeth who Jane confides in. Another example is when Elizabeth hears about Collins and Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth’s best friend’s engagement and after Charlotte explains to Elizabeth that she is getting older and needs the match for financial reasons, Elizabeth understands her and does not feel bad about her instead she promises to visit them at their new home.

However, by trusting entirely to her own observations, and her own initial assessments (prejudice) of Darcy, Elizabeth threatens her future happiness with Fitzwilliam Darcy at the beginning of the movie and the novel. On the other hand she does not entirely fail in that because she finally finds out his true characters, and she does so in a very honest and intelligent way.

All these incredible traits of Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice make me to admire her very much. And I really like the movie not only because of Elizabeth, but also because it reflects many aspects of life at that time in England.