The Character of Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice

 Elizabeth Bennet is Pride and Prejudice, whereas all the other characters contribute to the book, she is the reason for its existence. Her personality, her attitudes and her development bring together the story and all the characters. Austen had in her mind the character of Elizabeth Bennet whom she regarded "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print". In a letter to her sister, Cassandra, Jane Austen wrote: "The work is rather too light, and bright and sparking; It wants shade ...". But on the whole she was satisfied, particularly with the character of Elizabeth, Who was the favorite among  her heroines, as she has been with countless readers.

                   Elizabeth, addressed in the novel as Lizzy and Eliza, the second daughter of the Bennets, is twenty year old when the story begins. She  is, (as we learn from Darcy's comments), attractive but not beautiful, with lovely eyes which show her intelligence and personality. She is clever, quick, lively, with an ability not only to  see the humor in people and events, but  also to laugh at herself. She posses   a keen wit and enjoys studying people's character. She is her father's favorite, and is characterised  as a sensible, yet stubborn, young woman.

                        Elizabeth displays  her relatively casual attitude towards the more trivial aspects of social conventions by ignoring her "accomplishment" of playing the piano, and not practising it delightly, by trampling the mud, and by refusing the love proposal of "rich" men (Mr. Collins and Darcy) in possession of a good fortune. Her first impression of Darcy distances her from prospective suitor. When she overhears Mr. Darcy decline  Mr. Bingley's  suggestion of dancing with her because, "she is not handsome enough to tempt me", she holds Mr. Darcy in contempt, misled by his cold outward behavior. This brings us to Elizabeth's main fault-prejudice. As Darcy is pride, so Elizabeth is the Prejudice of thee book's title. Her prejudice mounts after he "wounds (her) pride "with his personal insult at the dance party. In fact, she may see and judge for herself, but unfortunately these judgments  are often based on appearance rather than reality, on her strong emotions, not on rational thought.

                                          She also refuses the matrimonial proposal of the ridiculous Mr. Collins, for his stupidity and meanness. Her cleverness and strength of character, give her a feeling of natural superiority. She, like her father and Darcy, knows she is more intelligent than others and she enjoys that. She does not patronize Collins, but she sees the difference between herself and the clergyman very clearly. In short, she suffers fools, but always feel superior to them.

                                            The two main targets for Elizabeth's prejudice are Darcy and Wickham. She remarks that from the beginning she meant to be 'uncommonly clever' in disliking Darcy and Wickham. She remarks that from the beginning she meant to be 'without any reason'. In fact, her original dislike is seen as being justified. Darcy's first comment was cruel enough to offend. Afterwards, however, she delight in provoking him, and when he is denounced by Wickham, is more than ready to believe the accusations about him. In fact, she totally accepts Wickham's story about Darcy. Her view about Wickham is a prejudice one. From the start, she is 'out of her senses' about his looks and charm, continually repeating to herself and Jane that  his appearance means he must be telling the truth.

                             Darcy's letter opens her eyes to the truth. When his intervention saves Lydia from a horrific fate, Elizabeth expresses  a sense of gratitude towards him. Her viewpoint shifts as she realizes how "blind, partial and prejudiced " she has been. She also realizes that she is guilty of the same fault she accused Darcy of having-pride. Faced with this truth about herself, realizing she has been badly affected by both her pride and prejudice, she accepts the fact, thinks about it and acts on her conclusions.

              Along with  her developing character, Elizabeth's views on love and marriage also change. Austen uses her to show us the mature, ideal marriage, and by contrasting through her eyes other less worthy marriage as an equal partnership is also valid. Her refusal of Collins is correct. She  rejects Darcy's condescension. But her susceptibility towards Wickham's charms makes her involved inn a romantic relationship, though it is merely a temptation, a financially unstable marriage. During her change of heart, she abandons, along with her prejudice, her ideals about romance. She admits its validity in Jane's and Bingley's case, but only because they are perfectly good people. She also needs a real partner like Darcy. Their relationship is based on sound judgment, perfect communication, maturity and mutual support.

                 At the end of book, Elizabeth is the happy heroine, the center of everything. She has not only changed herself through her love for Darcy, but has changed Darcy through his love for her. She has found an inner maturity, now reflected by her outward adult status and marked by her forming her own family, united in love. Her humour, charm and great good sense make her one of the most popular figure with the endless generations of the readers of pride and prejudice.