Orgullo y Prejuicio Flashcards
MEMORABLE COMIC CHARACTERS
- Mrs. Bennet
- Mr. Collins
- Lady Catherine
- Caroline Bingley
Mrs Bennet (COMIC CHARACTER):
always talking of her nerves and the prospects of marrying her daughters
Mr Collins (COMIC CHARACTER):
idiotic, socially clumsy, pedantic, sycophantic with Lady Catherine and impertinent with Elizabeth
Lady Catherine (COMIC CHARACTER):
the personification of pride, too full of her own importance and power
Caroline Bingley (COMIC CHARACTER):
proud, snobbish, pretentious, too clearly interested in marrying Darcy for his wealth and social rank
Other characters, not so comic, equally memorable:
- Mr. Bennet
- Wickham
- Mr. Darcy
Mr Bennet:
- anti-social behaviour, hiding in his library, not
wanting to be disturbed, always reading, always
ready with a quip, a witty, ironic remark - His saving grace is his regard for ‘Lizzy’
Wickham:
• his charm and impudence, his ability to keep his
countenance
• flirts with Elizabeth
• pays his addresses to Miss King for her fortune’s
sake
• finds no difficulty in later coming back to
Longbourn as Lydia’s husband
• as Mr Bennet notices, Wickham can still say
pretty things to all the family
Mr. Darcy:
JA’s first attempt at sketching the prototype of the perfect
gentleman (Mr Knightley in Emma)
• Not meant to be the hero, today is in competition with Elizabeth
• Popular culture: Colin Firth’s Darcy for the BBC, prequels and
sequels, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Me and Mr. Darcy, Pride and Prejudice
and Zombies
• Icon of masculine sex-appeal – never meant to be in the original
Wickham:
- The foil and contrast of Mr Darcy
- The rake – William Hogarth’s The Rake’s Progress
- Lives above his means, gambling debts, unethical, flirts with women, builds lies to get out of predicaments, deceitful, selfish, but impeccable address, polished manners, has the looks, the appearance of the gentleman, none of its substance
- His fate ought to have been to die in a duel: Jane Austen rescues him through Lydia
The most memorable character of them all is:
Elizabeth Bennet
Jane Austen said of Elizabeth:
‘as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print’
Elizabeth Bennet:
- her ‘liveliness’ (she is energetic, doesn’t mind walking and getting mud on her petticoat)
- her ‘wit’ (she is intelligent, controls any conversation
she enters into and has a wonderful sense of humour)
Caroline Bingley:
• Caroline Bingley’s snobbish pride in his
brother’s money contrasts with Elizabeth’s pride
in herself and her own abilities
• Caroline is rich and elegant in a sophisticated way
but also unlearned, uneducated: her pretended
love for books is a gimmick to attract Darcy and
contrasts with Elizabeth’s real interest in books
• Caroline tries to be witty and comes across as
bitchy; Elizabeth’s wit flows naturally as the
product of an intelligent, observing mind
Georgiana Darcy’s shyness offers a contrast to
Elizabeth’s confidence
Characters we strongly associate with the words ‘pride’ and ‘prejudice’:
- Elizabeth Bennet: proud of her family, of herself, but prejudiced against Darcy, prejudiced against
Charlotte Lucas’s decision to marry Mr Collins - Mr Darcy: proud of his wealth and social status, but prejudiced against Elizabeth and Jane for the vulgar
manners of their family, their non-genteel connections, prejudiced against Jane for thinking she is toocold with Bingley and that her interest in him arises from the prospect of marrying well
Pride leads to Prejudice:
- Darcy’s pride in his rank and fortune makes him prejudiced against others
- Elizabeth’s hurt pride makes her prejudiced against Darcy
Many other characters are also victims of either pride, prejudice or both:
• Lady Catherine, Miss Bingley, Mrs Hurst, Wickham
FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
The novel’s original title of First Impressions is revealing
• Clue about one of its recurrent themes
• One has to be careful about trusting first impressions
• Most obvious instance: Elizabeth’s first impressions of Darcy and Wickham change after she reads Darcy’s letter
Elizabeth relies too much on her first impressions of
Darcy and Wickham
Elizabeth and Jane spend a good deal of time in the novel discussing, comparing and disagreeing about the motives of
- Bingley and Darcy
- the Bingley sisters
- Wickham
Mrs Bennet asks Mr Bennet to go to visit
Mr Bingley, so the two families can be on visiting terms
Surprises pepper the novel throughout: (7)
- The absence of Wickham at the Netherfield ball (surprise for Elizabeth, who expects him there)
- Charlotte Lucas acceptance of Mr Collins - when told about it, Elizabeth exclaims “Engaged to Mr Collins! My dear Charlotte, - impossible!”
- Darcy’s proposal to Elizabeth, followed by his letter – Elizabeth is taken aback
- Elizabeth’s rejection of Darcy’s proposal – Darcy is astonished
- Elizabeth learns about Wickham’s true character - Elizabeth is shocked
- Elizabeth is surprised to hear from the housekeeper at Pemberley that Darcy is a very good master who never has a bad word for his employees
- Darcy’s unexpected arrival at his house and his meeting Elizabeth there by chance
Pride and Prejudice’s plot falls neatly into
two parts