Confidantes, Marriage, and Friendship in "Pride and Prejudice"

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One cannot accomplish much without the help and opinions of people such as their friends, siblings, or parents. This person, or confidante, must be willing to listen to and provide helpful thoughts and feedback. In Pride and Prejudice, a novel by Jane Austen, Elizabeth Bennet is a heroine who is in desperate need of a confidante. Jane Bennet, Elizabeth’s kind and honest sister, becomes that person Lizzy needs when she is feeling flustered. Jane perfectly fits the criteria of a confidante because she is optimistic and sanguine, in which she can provide Elizabeth a different, more positive, approach to her problems. The author uses Jane Bennet to portray a paradigm of a young lady in England during that time period, where marriages depended on money and family relations; she is a counterexample of Elizabeth because Elizabeth is more rebellious and against the status quo of the time period, whereas Jane would gladly fulfill her parents’ decisions for her. Although she might not be aware of it, Jane actually proves to be remarkably essential in Elizabeth’s engaging with Mr. Darcy; whenever Jane and Mr. Bingley are together Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy have an opportunity to converse and, ultimately, fall in love with each other.

Elizabeth seems to be a more realistic character than her benevolent sister, Jane. Elizabeth is able to scrutinize and recognize that people are definitely deceiving and limited. Jane, on the other hand, has a more optimistic way of viewing people. Elizabeth has noticed Jane’s cordiality towards other people multiple times and expresses her feelings when Jane reminisces on her meeting with Mr. Bingley: “‘You never see a fault in anybody. All the world are good and agreeable in your eyes. I never heard you speak...

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...hat she has grown to like him and, thus, this last gathering between the two results in an engagement. The author uses Jane to bring Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy together in a way that’ll make them fall in love with each other.

As a confidante, Jane is burdened with great responsibilities and she completes them most admirably. Jane functions as a kind-hearted, loving sister who can provide Elizabeth a different approach to her problems. The author also uses her as a gateway towards an eighteenth century society where marriages depend on money, fame, and power; and, thanks to Jane, Elizabeth has numerous meetings with Mr. Darcy, which, eventually lead to the engagement of the two lovers. Jane is always present when Elizabeth, her little sister, needs a sympathetic listener to confide in and, therefore, is the most honorable confidante in the novel, Pride and Prejudice.

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