Elizabeth Bennet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Elizabeth Bennet - Essay Example (87) Elizabeth is intelligent, and has a quick and lively wit. This in particular distinguishes her from Lydia and Mrs Bennet, because Pride and Prejudice makes heavy use of dialog to characterize people and tell the story. Elizabeth thinks and speaks on a variety of subjects, whereas Lydia and Mrs Bennet are concerned only with parties, officers, and husbands. Elizabeth is sometimes deeply embarrassed by the behavior of her family, and recognizes that Lydia's behavior is out of control in part due to lack of discipline on her mother's part: "supported by [her] mother's indulgence, what chance could there be of improvement" (175) Both Elizabeth and Lydia are vivacious and lively, but while Elizabeth tempers these qualities with good manners and her understanding of and attention to social conventions, Lydia lacks any sort of good judgment. She is unable and unwilling to restrain her impulsive nature, and is never able to understand that her behavior reflects badly on herself and her family. Returning to Longbourne after marrying Wickham, Lydia is unrepentant, full of "ease and good spirits" (255) and thinks only of boasting about her marriage, and other "subjects which her sisters would not have alluded to for the world". (255) Elizabeth shares few, if any qualities with her mother