I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared

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I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared

in print – Jane Austen on Elizabeth. To what extent do you believe

Elizabeth Bennet to be delightful? You should consider her words and

actions throughout the novel.

“I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever

appeared in print” – Jane Austen on Elizabeth. To what extent do you

believe Elizabeth Bennet to be “delightful”? You should consider her

words and actions throughout the novel.

Jane Austen mentions in a letter that Elizabeth Bennet is “as

delightful a creature as ever appeared in print.” This quotation shows

that Jane Austen clearly likes the character of Elizabeth and she

thinks that Elizabeth is better than any heroine in a work of

literature. The definition of delightful is “greatly pleasing or

entertaining”. Therefore Jane Austen creates delight in her readers of

Pride and Prejudice”.

Elizabeth Bennet could be considered delightful for many reasons. She

is funny, clever, and witty so she brings delight to the reader of the

novel. Elizabeth delights in anything ridiculous which also makes her

a delightful character.

“She had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything

ridiculous.”

(Vol. 1, chapter 3, p. 8.6)

She also enjoys teasing Mr Darcy and Mr Collins. Elizabeth’s playful

character can be seen when Elizabeth delights in mocking Mr Collins

about the ball.

Elizabeth’s spirits were so high on the occasion, that though she did

not often speak unnecessarily to Mr Collins, she could not help asking

him whether he intended to accept Mr Bingley’s invitation, and if he

did, whether he would think it proper to join in the evening’s

amusements.

(Vol. 1, chapter 17, p.72...

... middle of paper ...

...e to her character because she has

flaws and of course no one is perfect. Elizabeth is delightful because

she can acknowledge her flaws and she is also willing to change. These

are both attractive qualities. Throughout the whole novel, we can see

that Elizabeth is real and ordinary. She is not blindingly beautiful

and she is not extremely intelligent. This makes us relate to her even

more. Heroines which are too good to be true come across in some

novels as dull because they should not be perfect. Elizabeth however

is a flawed heroine just like ordinary people. One could argue that

she is not delightful because of her prejudice to Mr Darcy which was

wrong, but at least she realised her mistake and was willing to change

her attitude towards him. Elizabeth creates delight in the readers of

Pride and Prejudice” and so therefore she is a delightful character.

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