Pride and Prejudice
...tting the two oldest girls well settled. And once settled, they can help get their younger sisters well married. To complicate matters, the Bennet estate is entailed to a male relative, Mr. Collins, who will inherit everything when Mr. Bennet dies. Mr. Collins, being a gentleman feels that his is unfair, so to even up matters, decides to marry one of the Bennet girls, preferably one of the eldest.. Mr. Bingley falls in love with Jane but Mr. Darcy tells him not to marry her. He thinks the Bennet family is crazy and not rich enough. Elizabeth becomes prejudiced against Mr. Darcy because of his interference. Mr. Darcy falls in love with Elizabeth - a blow to his pride - but when he proposes to her, she rejects him. Later when she visits his country-estate, she begins to fall in love with him. However, his help when Lydia elopes with Mr. Wickam dissolves Elizabeth’s prejudice. He is still in love with her, proposes, and they get married. Elizabeth and her interactions with Darcy are the primary focus of this story. Throughout, Elizabeth has an undue influence over Jane, just as Darcy has over Bingley. Elizabeth is a strong will young women, and Darcy an arrogant, self-centered aristocrat. Together, they are explosive! Although Elizabeth in all her truthful bluntness never acknowledges her love for Darcy for the most part of the novel, it is quite evident from her responses to his words and behavior at Lady Katherine's house. She is interested in his prospects of marriage, she ridicules Ms. Bingley, she employs every possible way to prove to herself that she does not care, and at the same time prove herself to him, while showing that she does not care. As for Darcy, he sees only what she tries to show. Amazingly, he is more a personage of a romantic than neoclassical novel. He struggles within himself, and then in a desperate frustration decides to declare his feelings to Elizabeth, thinking that his truthfulness, his openness with her will prove his loyalty, and his love. Ironically, he does count on Elizabeth to be more calculating than she actually is, and rather surprised at her feelings. Yet, it is natural to humankind to act differently in different situations, and discover and rediscover its soul. Darcy's actions are the mirror of his inner thoughts and struggles. He is far from flawless, and, in accordance with a standard of a tragic hero, he eventually falls prey to the manipulations of a woman, however unintentional and natural they may be. So perhaps he falls prey to the manipulations of nature. Marriage, one of the bases of the novel, was somewhat a tragic experience for Mr. and Mrs. Bennett. Mr. Bennett was captured by a pretty face, and was in a marriage that tied him to a foolish woman for the rest of his life. Though he was not happy in his marriage to Mrs. Bennett, he was content eno...