In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice the reader is exposed to many major characters such as Elizabeth, Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Darcy, and Charles Bingley, but there are also minor characters that are important to the story too. Throughout Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen uses these minor characters to play significant roles in the lives of the main characters as well as play a symbol of certain themes. The entire novel is filled with many key characters that add to either the story or to the characters personalities and perspectives. Three minor characters that play a small, but significant role in the outcome of many events in Pride and Prejudice are Charlotte Lucas, Lady Catherine, and Miss Bingley. These three characters hold many ideas …show more content…
Throughout the novel Lady Catherine is a foil to Elizabeth to show Elizabeth’s best characteristics. Elizabeth is shown to be more independent and self-confident than prior when she confronts with Lady Catherine such as in Chapter 29, “Elizabeth’s courage did not fail her. She had heard nothing of Lady Catherine that spoke her awful from any extraordinary talents or miraculous virtue, and the mere stateliness of money and rank, she thought she could witness without trepidation” (pg. 158). The other role of Lady Catherine is her personality on the effects of society and class. One particular account of this is in chapter 29, “Lady Catherine is far from requiring that elegance of dress in us which becomes herself and her daughter. I could advise you merely to put on whatever of your clothes is superior to the rest—there is no occasion for anything more. Lady Catherine will not think the worse of you for being simply dressed. She likes to have the distinction of rank preserved.” (pg. 158). This expresses the ideas that Jane Austen was trying set forth with Lady Catherine in the principles of what society and class had as an effect with the plot of Pride and Prejudice and the surrounding …show more content…
She plays a significant role of the development of the other characters especially Mr. Darcy. She is a very rude, deceitful, and undesirable character with the desire to take Darcy into marriage. Throughout the novel she plays many roles in the development of Darcy, Jane, and Elizabeth. She uses her wealth and more importantly her status to affect and influence the characters around her through the actions she commits. One moment in the novel that shows her selfishness is her desire of Mr. Darcy by making friends with Jane Bennet to later sabotage Janes chance to marry Charles Bingley due to family conflicts and her interests. This leads to Caroline wanting to marry Mr. Darcy and have her brother, Charles, marry Miss Darcy. Through these simple acts it leads to conflict with Elizabeth and her character as Mr. Darcy is shown to have significant concentration in Elizabeth throughout the novel. Caroline plays an important role in the development in both Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy as it soon leads to their marriage at the end of the
We’ve all done it: walking down a hallway, judging someone or thinking someone is less than what we perceive ourselves to be based on the color of their skin or how they are dressed, or even their physical features. The author of The Language of Prejudice, Gordon Allport, shares how we live in a society where we are ridiculed for being less than a culture who labels themselves as dominant. This essay reveals the classifications made to the American morale. Allport analyzes in many ways how language can stimulate prejudice and the connection between language and prejudice.
"Do not make yourself uneasy, my dear cousin, about your apparel. Mrs. Benet is far from requiring that elegance of dress in us which becomes herself and her daughter. I could advise you merely to put on whatever of your clothes is superior to the rest—there is no occasion for anything more. Lady Catherine will not think the worse of you for being simply dressed. She likes to have the distinction of rank preserved." (Austen, 1813). The quote showed how Lady Catherine likes to look socially inferior, even though she does not have so much wealth. In Pride and Prejudice the main topic of discussion was social class. Whose family owned what, or how much a man is worth.
the message the authors communicate, the differences between the main characters and the foils must be first observed. In Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, one of the minor characters is Charlotte Lucas, which is Elizabeth Bennet’s friend. While her role in the novel is relatively small, her actions are nevertheless significant in understanding Elizabeth. In the novel, Charlotte hastily agrees to marry Mr. Collins. At the age of 27 years, Charlotte already qualifies as an old maid and thus feels the pressure of marrying unless she grows old poor and alone. The pressure in turn represents Charlotte as...
This is evident at the end of the novel when the two most intellectually advanced characters unite in what Austen portrays as the most prosperous marriage, again reinforcing the importance of a superior mind. Not only does Caroline serve as a foil in the way of education, Austen also uses her character to scrutinise the behaviour considered necessary to secure a husband. For instance, just after Caroline had been described as having little interest in her book, she attempts to impress Mr Darcy by declaring, “after all there is no enjoyment like reading!”(Austen 54) Here, Austen ridicules Caroline and condemns her for warping her opinions in order to gain the affections of Darcy degrading her to “his faithful assistant” (Austen, 39) In comparison, Elizabeth challenges societal confines by placing value in maintaining her own opinion and not capitulating to people of a higher rank. She refused to dance with Darcy, a male of a higher class, demonstrating the lengths she will go to in terms of crossing social boundaries in order to articulate her opinion. Ultimately Caroline fails in her incessant attempts to charm Darcy whereas Elizabeth’s rejection of the traditional social behaviour and innate wit captivates his attention and eventually his heart, leading the reader to deem Caroline’s attitude and accomplishments as inferior to
There are many reasons why Miss. Strangeworth reminds me of someone that I know, and cherish very much. In all honesty, her personality accurately represents the most important person in my life: my own mother. It’s quite easy to tell that Miss. Strangeworth is a very meticulous woman, with a lot of perfectionist tendencies; a few of which are to nitpick people’s lives and make sure that even the most minute detail is up to her standards. Of course, organization and precision are good qualities to have, but at the extent used by one of my closest family members, and Miss. Strangeworth as well, they become flaws rather than strengths. For example, the other day, I ran
Both of these issues caused her anger and discontent towards mr.darcy because she had strong feelings for mr.wickham and believed such a good person did not deserve to be mistreated. And with jane, she was angered because she believed mr.bingley and jane could have been happy together and that mr.darcy had ruined any opportunity of that.
In Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Lady Catherine De Bourgh's words, actions and dialogues all reveal her as a supercilious and domineering figure. Lady Catherine's "manner" of receiving her visitors making them realize their "inferior rank", shows her selfishness, and portrays her as a character who not only is arrogant, but has an unpleasant attitude. Selfishness often applies to those egoistic of character, and Lady Catherine's sense of superiority over her guests suggests she makes her guests realize that their potential is lower than hers and that she is more powerful than them. Lady Catherine's supercilious trait is portrayed in her comments to Elizabeth Bennett about her "instrument", which she calls "capital", being "superior" to her.
The reader is first acquainted with Mr. Darcy's arrogance at the Meryton Ball. Speaking of Elizabeth Bennet, he so snobbishly says that she was, " tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me" (Austen 9). His feelings of superiority to the people of the town lend Mr. Darcy to be judged as a man with a repulsive and cruel personality. The women, who had found him dashingly attractive at first glance, deemed him a man unworthy of marriage because he offered no positive qualities other than wealth. Not only did Darcy refuse to dance with Elizabeth, but he makes it clear that no woman in the room was worthy or met his standards of a suitable partner stating that, " there is not another woman in this room, whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with" (Austen 8). In the beginning of the novel, Mr. Darcy is only concerned with the wealth and social standing of the people in the town. Because of their lesser social rank, he feels they are un-deserving of his presence and refuses to communicate with them. As the novel progressed, however, Darcy became more and more accepting of the Bennet family. Growing most fond of Elizabeth Bennet, the straightforward, clever daughter, he finally breaks and confesses his true feelings of love for her. "In vain...
Throughout Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy is a grave symbol of pride. He notes on how his societal ranking is too high above Elizabeth’s for it to be rational to marry her, while proposing to her for the first time. In a letter to Elizabeth, Darcy also notes how the Bennet family’s improper manners and actions negatively influence the perception of their family and undermine the acceptable traits and actions of Elizabeth and Jane. He is easily looked down upon, most pertinently by Elizabeth until his past is revealed in a
Pride and Prejudice started as a book written by Jane Austen, and is now a beloved movie. It debuted in 1995 and was directed by Simon Langton. Because of the beautifully made dresses, magnificent balls, and star-crossed lovers, this movie is admired by many. Pride and Prejudice has captivated the hearts of several due to the elegant lifestyle, exquisitely written words, and romantic story depicted in the movie.
The character of Lady Catherine de Bourgh is an integral element of the plot, contributing to, as well as influencing, the final outcome of Darcy's marriage and the various factors associated with it. Lady Catherine, a prominent and influential noblewomen in the English aristocracy, thrusts her domineering predilections onto her family, friends, and acquaintances, starting with the pompous clergyman she patronizes, Mr. Collins. Lady Catherine exerts her influence upon Mr. Collins by frankly telling him that he "must marry ...a gentle woman for [her] sake" (92). This effectively causes Collins to peruse Elizabeth, the daughter of the man whose estate he will inherit. After being rejected by Elizabeth, Collins marries Elizabeth's childhood friend Charlotte. On a trip to visit the newly married couple, Elizabeth finds herself and Lady Catherine's nephew, Fitzwilliam Darcy, at a dinner party hosted by Lady Catherine herself. At the dinner party, Lad...
First of all, Austen shows that the characters contained a great deal of pride and prejudice. For example, Mary is one of the first main characters to mention one of the terms and states an excellent definition and opinion:
Catherine, nicknamed Kitty, is the fourth daughter in the Bennet family. She is “weak-spirited, irritable, and completely under Lydia’s guidance” (206). Like her younger sister, she is carefree and shows little remorse for her behavior. Lydia is the youngest daughter of the Bennet family and the tallest. As the favorite of Mrs. Bennet, she is “self-willed and careless” (206) and, like Catherine, she is “ignorant, idle, and vain” (207). Little concerns her more than potential husbands and officers of the militia. Each daughter of the Bennet family is vital to the complexity of Pride and Prejudice as each of their temperaments contradicts and complements those of the others.
The Ways the Theme of Pride and Prejudice is Revealed Through the Characters of Elizabeth Bennet and Darcy
In the two literary works, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, there are two significant female characters. In Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth is the protagonist; she is the second oldest of her five sisters. She is honest, witty, and usually has good judgment of people. Catherine is the main female character of the first half of Wuthering Heights. She is impulsive, ill tempered, and wild due to the conflict she has having between being two people; while she is around Linton she is well behaved, and in front of Heathcliff she rejects normal social conventions. Both females are entangled in complex love relationships.