Pride And Prejudice By Jane Austen - 1198 Words

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice follows headstrong Elizabeth Bennet’s journey to maturity and her discovery of true love. The novel documents Elizabeth’s constantly complicated relationships with those around her, especially her family members. Although Elizabeth’s actions as a sister are central to the story, Mr. Darcy’s role as a brother plays a markedly more important role in the trajectory of the plot. Darcy’s relationship with Mr. Wickham is crucial to Elizabeth’s understanding of him. Mr. Wickham had lead Elizabeth to believe that Darcy was a cruel and arrogant heir, selfishly hoarding his father’s large fortune and withholding Wickham’s promised inheritance. This untrue belief clouded her understanding of Darcy’s character and†¦show more content†¦Darcy’s interactions with Wickham both as a former brotherly friend and as an actual older brother ultimately lead her to refuse his proposal. Neither Elizabeth’s relationship with her sisters nor her relationship with Darcy could have caused such an intense dislike; Darcy’s roles as a brother had the greatest influence on Elizabeth’s feelings toward him. Darcy and Elizabeth’s relationship is an element of disorder in the novel, and this disorder is resolved with Darcy’s explanation of his true character in contrast to that which Wickham conveyed. Elizabeth’s personal relationships had no bearing on the resolution of this conflict. As shown in the end of the novel, her sister Jane’s opinion and her own mother’s opinion were of little importance to Elizabeth in regards to her engagement to Darcy. Mrs. Bennett, and more importantly Jane, were uninformed of Lizzie’s feelings towards Darcy, â€Å"Mr Darcy! Who would have thought it? And is it really true?† (Austen 325). Sisterhood played a minimal role in changing Elizabeth’s opinion of Darcy. Jane and Mrs. Bennett had little say in the matter, while the truth Darcy’s actions as a brother in regards to the Wickham fiasco, defined Lizzie’s feelings for him. Darcy’s role as an older brother to Georgiana further convinced Elizabeth of his decency and lead her down the path of falling in love. As previously noted, Darcy halted the financial support of Wickham because of his indecent pursuit of Georgiana.