Abstract
A summary of chapter nine of the novel. The sisters and Mrs. Bennet are having breakfast at Mr. Bingley house. Mrs. Bennet contradicts Mr. Darcy over the merits of country life and town life, which reveal her own parochial attitude. Elizabeth is crucially embarrassed. This essay reflects on the development of the characters in this passage and the issues which are represented.

From the Paper
"In this short excerpt we find Mrs Bennet, her three daughters Elizabeth, Kitty and Lydia, Mr Bingley and his two sisters and Mr Darcy having breakfast in Netherfield. Elizabeth's comments are characterized by humor and irony. In this extract we are introduced to Elizabeth as 'a studier of character', as Bingley exclaims. This remark is in itself ironic, especially when we later find out that Elizabeth more than once analyzed characters completely wrong, for example in her judgment of both Darcy's and Wickham's personalities."

Tags:novel, character, personality, pride, prejudice

Abstract
The paper examines Jane Austen's headstrong character of Elizabeth Bennet and how rebels against financial influence in her own life, and Charles Dickens' Pip who seeks good reputation and wealth. The paper discusses the Bingley- Jane, Darcy-Elizabeth and Pip-Estella unions, and how both Austen and Dickens illustrate that the power of love and happiness is able to overcome financial boundaries and prejudice. The paper highlights Victorian society's view of class and marriage through the many characters that articulate monetary station as a meaningful element of getting married.

From the Paper
"Throughout history, money has played an important role in shaping and directing the motives and attitudes of the population. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Chrales Dickens' Great Expectations are novels which demonstrate the negative effects of Victorian England's monetary influence on one's personal intentions, especially marriage. Austen's headstrong character of Elizabeth Bennet rebels against financial influence in her own life while Dickens' Pip seeks good reputation and wealth. Elizabeth and Pip both refuse to recognize and accept the role and identity handed to them. Both characters distinguish that their own individual needs are not necessarily the same as what society imposes on them; they rebel against their very society in order to gain the independence necessary to discover what they really desires from life. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife"(Austen 1)."

Tags:wealth, class, social, hierarchy, Bingley, Jane, Darcy, Elizabeth, Pip, Estella

Abstract
The paper closely examines some of the various representations of marriage in "Pride and Prejudice", in order to show how its author, Jane Austen, uses the theme of marriage as a vehicle to explore and critique the repressed social and economic status of women of her time. The paper uses the expedient marriage of Charlotte Lucas to Mr. Collins as an example of how Austen highlights the economic insecurities facing women of a certain age in Regency society. The paper explores whether Austen's novel was intentionally limited to topics such as marriage because it was the only accessible form of self-definition for young ladies in her society, and focuses on Jane's marriage to Mr. Bingley to illustrate this point. Finally, the paper highlights the marriage of Elizabeth to Mr. Darcy and questions whether the fairy-tale conclusion of Austen's novel simply accommodates social expectations or rather constitutes a new promise of hope for women at the turn of the nineteenth century.

From the Paper
"Given the poor education and limited employment options available to women during Austen's time the only possibility of security for financially dependant women was the prospect of finding a marriage partner. Not to succeed in the marriage market place was to fail in the most urgent of female missions, as winning a husband was essential if a young lady wished to occupy a fully respectable position in society. The motive for marriage as financial necessity is expressed most clearly in Pride and Prejudice through the character Charlotte Lucas. Aged twenty-seven, without "having ever been handsome"(1995:113), without an especially large 'portion' and with no great expectations "I ask only a comfortable home;" (1995:115) she rationalises her decision to marry Mr. Collins "solely from the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment."(1995:113)"

Tags:Regency, society, women, status, husband, self-definition, repression

Abstract
This paper examines how "Pride and Prejudice" is a prime example of Austen's didactic style of writing and how she uses character and dialogue to great effect in detailing her feelings on morality and class. It looks at how her primary message is that social class does not determine one's sense of morality and that people of upper-class society may act with limited decorum and have an unsound moral grounding. It shows how these extremes are explored effectively via utilization of the characters Miss Bingley, Lady Catherine De Bourgh, Mrs Bennet, Jane Bennet, Elizabeth Bennet, and the Gardiners.

From the Paper
"In contrast, the Gardiners, Jane and Elizabeth are characters who conduct themselves in a manner that is above the expectations of station. The Gardiners, for example, are working class citizens, yet they are portrayed by Austen as perhaps the most wholly good and respectable characters in the text. Mrs Gardiner is a much more appropriate mother figure for the Bennet girls, given her values and behaviour, and the mutual respect between Elizabeth and Mrs Gardiner places her high esteem in the readers' eyes. The efforts on behalf of Mr Gardiner to retrieve Lydia also inspire admiration in the reader, and in Darcy, whose opinion the reader should greatly value by this stage in the novel, as he is known then to be generous and of sound character. Jane and Elizabeth too, are excellent examples of characters whose behaviour is above their station. Although they are middle class, Jane and Elizabeth are portrayed as such decent and moral characters (in particular Jane) that they should be seen as fit for upper class position."

Tags:bennet, darcy, elizabeth, gardiners, jane

Abstract
This paper examines the novel "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen, focusing on her characters' character flaws and assets. The author analyzes dialogue pertaining to each of the novel's main characters in an effort to illustrate that the degree to which each character takes him- or herself too seriously influences his or her final fate. The author's hypothesis is that those characters who display an ability and/or willingness to laugh at themselves wind up happy and fulfilled, while those who refuse to do so, pay a price for their vanity.

From the Paper
"The most sympathetic major characters in the story are Elizabeth Bennet, Jane Bennet, Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth Bennet, the heroine of the story, early on displays a sense of humor about herself. After she is cruelly snubbed by Mr. Darcy at the Meryton ball, she does not stay hurt for long. "She told the story however with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous." To Austen this is high praise indeed. The ability to delight in anything ridiculous is more important than raw intelligence, great education, or impressive accomplishments. Elizabeth's sister Jane does not share her keen wit, but Jane is suffused with modesty, despite her exceptional beauty and grace. As Elizabeth tells Jane, "compliments always take you by surprise, and me never." Of course, in depicting herself as being less self-deprecating than her sister, Elizabeth is actually being self-deprecating."

Tags:vanity, pretention, Elizabeth, Jane, Bennet, Bingley, Darcy, character

Abstract
This paper suggests that there is a very complex nature to the idea of pride, as Jane Austen treats it and that in the novel "Pride and Prejudice" it can mean anything from a healthy self-esteem to a haughty disdain for the perceived inferiorities of others. It examines how the treatment of prejudice includes the notion that one can be prejudiced against but also prejudiced in favour of something or someone.

From the Paper
"Other characters in the novel that parody Darcy's and Elizabeth's pride but to an extreme extent are firstly, Lady Catherine. Lady Catherine has pride in her superior social status and blood. Her pride is unlike Darcy's though which is straightforward and honest. Her pride is extreme, overbearing and puffed-up. She is a snob and tries to run the lives of all those who are under her, thinking that it's her God-given right. She is also prejudice to those who belong to an "inferior" class then herself. She has a preconceived idea about Elizabeth and her inferior upbringing."

Tags:social, status, lady, catherine, jane, bingley, collins

Abstract
The paper examines the characters of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy in Jane Austen's classic novel, "Pride and Prejudice", and shows how the significance of other characters, especially Mr. Wickham, can be gauged in relation to these two lead figures. The paper shows that the minor characters in the novel are created to highlight the significance of the themes on which the characters of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy develop.

From the Paper
"Wickham highlights the theme of pride and prejudice in relation to Elizabeth who initially views him in very favorable light. Her feelings change when she discovers the truth but it takes a very long time to finally see Wickham as he is. It is not Elizabeth's imprudence that makes her vulnerable to Wickham's fake charms and false stories but sheer prejudice against Mr. Darcy that blinds her sense of true judgment."

Tags:Bingley, Lydia

Abstract
The paper shows how Jane Austen expresses her opinions on the fashions of the day through her characters' views on the topic in her novels "Pride and Prejudice," "Northanger Abbey," "Mansfield Park," "Sense and Sensibility," and "Emma."

From the Paper
"Fashion, and the propriety of dress, act as indicators of character in Jane Austen's novels Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma. When reading a novel from another era, it is easy to overlook or misunderstand that which would have been readily comprehended by a contemporary reader, such as the implications of various kinds of dress. Thus, in evaluating the text, references to historical context and contemporary attitudes must be made. Conversely, by examining the author's attitudes about dress, it is possible to make assumptions about the opinion of the day."

Tags:Miss, Steele, Jenning, Elinor, Marianne, WIlloughby, Elizabeth, Hurst, Bingley, Wickham, Lady, Catherine, Mr., Collins, Darcy, Lydia, Kitty, Bennet, Catherine, Murland, Isabella