Character analysis 1

Stephen Simmons
AP English 11/Mr. George
11/28/09
Elizabeth & Caroline

Elizabeth Bennet is an intelligent woman who conforms to society’s traditions and acts beyond them; she is a woman born in the wrong time.
Elizabeth is distant from many other women in society due to her character. Some women tour the town and flaunt their beauty to men. Elizabeth,however, reads and educates herself. “Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters"(Austen 2). One learns soon after reading the first couple of chapters that Elizabeth is too educated for her time. Elizabeth can see through the societal blindfold to a world that is free and not structured upon the ideals of marriage and class. However, Elizabeth willfully puts that blindfold on and adapts to the atmosphere until her knowledge can be spread among others, such as Mr. Darcy. Although Elizabeth has a great understanding of life and morals, she tends to judge people before she is acquainted with them. For someone as educated as herself, this is a major flaw and one that does not benefit herself or others. Her prejudice against others such as Mr. Collins, Mr. Darcy, and Wickham does not benefit herself in any way. After Collins proposed to Elizabeth, it was made clear that “It is impossible for me[Elizabeth] to do otherwise than decline them[the proposal]"(82). Elizabeth’s fault was not in her rejection, but in the reasons for doing so. Although not directly stated, the events leading up to this have been mocking Collins and making fun of his awkward and obsessive nature. Based on her brief acquaintance with Collins and her prejudice against him, Elizabeth leaped without looking, and rejected Collins before she really got to know him. In rejecting Collins not only did she deny herself a husband, but she denied her family their home. Elizabeth does the same thing with Mr. Darcy and Wickham. She is too eager in her assumptions and judges them before she is fully acquainted with them. Despite her tendency to judge, Elizabeth remains above everyone else in terms of intelligence and logic. The vast majority of people today marry for love and to be with one person for the rest of their lives. There are few who still marry for wealth and class, which is what society in the novel expects of young women. Elizabeth is one who would marry because of love and follow our modern day ideals, as opposed to those in her society.
Elizabeth is like a lioness. Like lionesses stalk and choose their prey based on who is the weakest and the easier catch, Elizabeth judges the men in order to find the most appealing one. A lioness is knowledgeable of its surroundings and uses them to her advantage while hunting and defending herself. Elizabeth is aware of the society she lives in and uses her knowledge of the atmosphere and class system to disprove Mr. Darcy’s affection and create a personal attack and rebuttal. Lionesses stand beside the king of the jungle, the lion, as Elizabeth stands beside Darcy.
Elizabeth is Hugh Laurie in the television series House: He constantly strives to be more intelligent than others, as well as find ease in his life.