Characters In Pride And Prejudice

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“Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.” -Charlotte Lucas Set in late 18th century Regency England, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice uses the lives of close friends, Elizabeth Bennett and Charlotte Lucas, to illustrate two very contrasting characters with very different outlooks on the societal issues specific to their time. Both Elizabeth Bennet and Charlotte Lucas were of a time where duty to one’s community and family were paramount and preferred over independent living, but Elizabeth’s idealistic attitude about society and relationships was more uncommon than Charlotte’s rather pragmatic stance. In Pride and Prejudice, we are presented with the characters of close friends, Elizabeth Bennet and Charlotte Lucas,…show more content…
The Bennet family belonged to the privileged British social class called the landed gentry, which consisted of landowners who could live entirely off their rental income. During Jane Austen’s time, ownership of land was an important indicator in determining one’s social status, and in chapter 2, we are told that “Mr. Bennet’s property consisted almost entirely in an estate of two thousand a year”. On the other hand we have the Lucas family, who belonged to the socially inferior trading class. Sir William Lucas had been in trade in Meryton before retiring after he was presented with a knighthood upon becoming mayor of his town. Although Sir William Lucas had been knighted, he did not have the necessary income to support a lifestyle in tune with his title, consequently leaving his eldest daughter, Charlotte, in a predicament where she was too wealthy and upper class to marry a working man, but too plain and poor to attract the attention of a truly wealthy man. Throughout the novel, it is clear that Charlotte understands her situation. This understanding causes her to act realistically, and which, ultimately, influences her decision to marry Mr. Collins. This is in stark contrast to Elizabeth, who, after being proposed to by Mr. Collins, rejected…show more content…
In chapter 13, we are introduced to the character of the pompous Reverend William Collins, or Mr. Collins, the cousin and heir of Mr. Bennet. Elizabeth described Mr. Collins to Jane as being a “conceited, pompous, narrow-minded, silly man”. With the odious character of Mr. Collins, he did not seem to be a desirable man to marry, but for both Elizabeth and Charlotte, he was just what they needed for the situations they both were in. If Elizabeth married Mr. Collins, herself and her family would be able to continue living at the Longbourn Estate when it was passed on to Mr. Collins. This would also provide a means of financial security for both Elizabeth and her mother, who would not have to be displaced from her home in the case that she became a widow, as was custom. In Charlotte’s case, at her age, with such a strong desire to marry, but being in the social predicament she was in, Mr. Collins was the ideal man for her to marry. Without the characteristics or wealth to marry a man of higher class and with too much pride and wealth to marry a man of lower class, she could only marry a man of equal stature. With Mr. Collins being an educated man, with the prospect of growing income in the future, he was perfect for Charlotte. Although Mr. Collins was, realistically, the
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