First Ball, First Impressions
The Bennet family attends a ball in Meryton where they socialize with people including Darcy and Bingley. Bingley and Jane have an immediate connection and begin to grow fond of each other. This event is significant in that it establishes one of the major themes involved in the novel. When Darcy is suggested to ask Elizabeth to dance, he refuses after seeing Mrs. Bennet and Kitty and Lydia's ill-mannered behavior. "She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me," he says. Elizabeth is offended by his pride and arrogance and from this moment on, is firm in her negative opinions of him.
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From: Mr. Darcy
To: Elizabeth Bennet
Darcy's letter to Elizabeth implies that he acknowledges Elizabeth's judgment. In his letter, Darcy attempts to explain himself and the situation with Wickham in order to clear Elizabeth of her misconceptions. Mr. Darcy would never
have shared the type of personal information he did with someone outside of his
most intimate acquaintances. That he did so with Elizabeth, indicates how
strong his feelings were. This event is significant in that it made Jane aware of her tendency to make hasty judgments.
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Lydia's Elopement
Wickham's charms and good-looks were able to deceive Lydia into running off with him. Because the Bennets were not well-off, we can assume that Wickham was not in search of money, but was seeking to use Lydia for his personal benefit and pleasure. Lydia's elopement threatened not only the Bennet reputation, but also Jane and Elizabeth's chances of marrying Bingley and Darcy. This turn of events was, however, fixed by Darcy who payed Wickham to marry Lydia and essentially saved the Bennet family from a tarnished reputation. Elizabeth was able to discover the nobility of Darcy's character, and realize the error of her initial prejudice against him.
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Lady Catherine Confronts Elizabeth
After Lady Catherine is informed that her nephew, Mr. Darcy, was shortly to be engaged to Miss Bennet, she makes a visit to Longbourn in order to confront Elizabeth and this news. Lady Catherine makes it well-known to Elizabeth that she would never approve of this marriage and insults the Bennet family for their behavior and Lydia's elopement. We would think that Elizabeth's headstrong character would be unaffected by Lady Catherine's harsh words; however, Elizabeth is greatly offended and hurt to hear Lady Catherine's disapproval considering she is, in fact, in love with Mr. Darcy. This cat and mouse conversation is significant in that it demonstrates the arrogance and incivility of the upper class towards the lower class. In addition to this, it was a validation of Elizabeth's true feelings for Darcy.
The Bennet Sisters Get Married
Good people deserve to have good things happen to them which is exactly what happens to Jane and Bingley. Out of all the characters in the novel, Jane and Bingley lacked pride and prejudice and were able to reach their romantic happiness with one another. Elizabeth and Darcy were also able to reach romantic happiness; however, endured many obstacles in order to reach it. For instance, pride. Pride was one aspect that kept them from revealing their true feelings for one another. Darcy's pride in his social superiority and Elizabeth's pride in her judgment of people prevented them from seeing each other's true nature. Both were also prejudiced in that Elizabeth judged Darcy based on the moment he refused to ask her to dance and Darcy judged Elizabeth's ill-mannered mother and reckless sisters. After overcoming these obstacles Elizabeth and Darcy were able to discover and accept each others true character and fall in love. This event is significant in that it demonstrated Austen's message about overcoming all obstacles for the sake of love.
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