Pride and Prejudice -
Lizzy the Superwoman

"Elizabeth is one of the finest products -- strong and intelligent, yet bewitching in a completely feminine way -- of our civilisation." Discuss Jane Austen's portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet in the light of this claim.

Jane Austen does indeed portray Elizabeth Bennet as "strong and intelligent, yet bewitching in a completely feminine way". Elizabeth's possession of these attributes: strength of character and moral integrity, great intelligence, and an attractive personality, make her an admirable person, -- or would, if she existed. Yet Elizabeth has faults, which makes her more human. Austen's portrayal of Elizabeth is realistic and masterful, often juxtaposing her with characters lacking her attributes to heighten our appreciation of her.

The claim that Elizabeth is strong is indisputable. The strength of her personal integrity is highly evident in her refusal of Darcy's first marriage proposal. At the time, she believed Darcy to be arrogant and selfish, based on Wickham's account of Darcy's disgraceful behaviour towards him. She was also furious with him for ruining Jane's chance of happiness (through marrying Bingley). Yet, it would have been prudent for her, a girl with only £1,000 and 4% interest annually from it, to marry Darcy, whose estate is worth £10,000 a year. She never wavers, though -- "her intentions did not vary for an instant". The strength of her convictions and loyalty towards her sister made her reject his offer, and with it, probably all possibility of her every marrying "well" and securing a comfortable future. Also, she was not intimidated by Darcy's wealth and high social status, daring to tell him exactly what she thought of him and to risk his anger by offending him -- "You could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it." It is very clear that Elizabeth's principles are uncompromisable.

Elizabeth is courageous enough to admit being wrong and objectively assess her past behaviour. after reading Darcy's letter, she realised that she had judged him wrongly -- his belief that Jane did not truly love Bingley had some basis in Jane's undemonstrative nature, and Wickham's accusations of him had been all lies. She berated herself for her misjudgements and for being blinded by appearance to Wickham's untrustworthiness, which should have been evident in the discrepancy between his words and actions. She was "absolutely ashamed" of herself, and attained self-knowledge -- "Till this moment I never truly knew myself." She faced up to the unpalatable truth about herself, and determined to change. Her courage and strength are commendable. This is in contrast to, most strikingly, Mr. Collins, who completely lacks the capacity for reflection and self-awareness. The reader laughs at his self-importance and ridiculously obsequious, sycophantic manner.

Elizabeth also possesses moral strength. She constantly tries to restrain Lydia's frivolity and inability to do what is fitting, or just plain good manners, in what looks to be a losing battle. When Lydia interrupts Collins' reading aloud of a sermon, Elizabeth bids her to hold her tongue. She strongly feels the impropriety and shame of Lydia's constant and avid seeking out of male attention and company. When Lydia is invited by Mrs. Forster to join the regiment in Brighton, Elizabeth endeavours to make her father stop Lydia. Unlike her father, who never restrains Lydia but rather enjoys the sight of her making a fool of herself, Elizabeth does try. She has the moral strength to do her duty by attempting to prevent the further degeneration of Lydia's character and morals, and the consequent endangering of her family's respectability.

Elizabeth's strength of character is tested and proven under difficult circumstances. Upon receiving the news of Lydia's elopement, she hurries home, not shying away from unpleasantness but instead, eager to "share with Jane in the cares that must now fall wholly [gd.] upon her". Her sense of responsibility makes her, together with Jane, the only ones in the immediate family who are any use in this time of trouble. In contrast, Mrs. Bennet has a weak character. She is too busy being hysterical, blaming everyone else and making doomsday predictions, while Kitty and Mary are too wrapped up in their own concerns and lacking in sense to be of any help. Elizabeth's strength of character is also displayed when she coolly stands up to Lady Catherine and her imperious demand that she promise never to agree to marry Darcy, with great calm and dignity. [+ righteous anger]

The second claim, that Elizabeth is intelligent, is also displayed throughout the book. Intelligence has several aspects. There is the intellectual, reflective aspect. Possessing [gd.] intelligence is one thing; putting it to good use is another. Elizabeth is intellectual, with a love for reading and for the study of character. She draws on what she has read and on personal experience to make observations that show her originality and reflectiveness. For example, she says to Bingley, "It does not necessarily follow that a deep, intricate character is more or less estimable than such a one as yours." This is an interesting philosophical comment, which unintelligent Mrs. Bennet promptly misunderstands as an insult, hastily bidding [!] Elizabeth to be quiet. Another comparison that would highlight Elizabeth's intelligence is to Mary, who fancies herself an intellectual, but who reads without reflection and asserts without experience. Consequently, she is either wrong or irrelevant in her comments, and always a great bore.

Elizabeth is also intelligent in that she is clear-headed and astute. She sees through Caroline Bingley's hypocrisy in proclaiming her affection for Jane and yet working against her interests in trying to keep her brother away from Jane. This is in direct contrast to Jane's naiveté, which lead her to believe whatever Caroline says. In this matter, Elizabeth is proven right, and sweet, gullible Jane eventually realises what Elizabeth saw from the outset -- that deception was practised -- "It must have been his sisters' doing", Jane admits.

Elizabeth possesses a great deal of emotional intelligence. For example, she and Jane managed to persuade their father to receive Lydia and Wickham in the house. He was absolutely set against doing so, yet they were sensitive and intelligent enough to persuade him otherwise -- "they urged him so earnestly, yet so rationally and so mildly".

The last claim, that Elizabeth is bewitching in a completely feminine way, is the least objective of the three. Since Darcy is the one who finds her bewitching -- "Darcy had never been so bewitched by any woman ..." the demonstrations of Elizabeth's bewitching personality are seen through his eyes. In Elizabeth's conversations with Darcy, she combines a show of her natural intellect and love of character observation with a light-heartedness of manner that is sometimes delightfully teasing. Her insights are original and deep, and her conversation, intelligent and interesting. Her attributes of character, the strength and intelligence discussed previously, certainly play a part in his attraction to her. Neither is he blind to her physical charms. For one, he appreciates her "fine eyes". [+ figure]

Perhaps what is most bewitching about her is her unconsciously charming manner. Darcy finds her personality most enchanting. She is unaffected and not self-conscious. Darcy is often serious and grave; Elizabeth is often light-heartedly witty. He finds her completely natural behaviour very refreshing. For example, at Rosings, when he made an observation about her, she "laughed heartily at this picture of herself".

Darcy must find Elizabeth bewitching also because she is so different from other women. No doubt many women he knows covet the wealth and status that would come of being his wife; thus they flatter him and agree with him all the time, hoping to gain his favour. Elizabeth is different. She wants to marry for love, and is unimpressed by Darcy's [gd.] material wealth and social status, daring to disagree with him.

That is why Caroline Bingley fails to secure Darcy for herself. In contrast to Elizabeth, she tries too hard. She falls over herself to agree with Darcy and voices opinions that are not her own, but which she hopes will receive Darcy's approval, such as "there is no enjoyment like reading!" Her eagerness is comical -- "Darcy took up a book; Miss Bingley did the same ... Miss Bingley's attention was quite as much engaged in watching Mr. Darcy's progress through his book, as in reading her own". Elizabeth does not try at all. When Caroline took Darcy's arm and left Elizabeth to walk by herself, Darcy "felt their rudeness" and suggested they go into a wider avenue. Elizabeth did not snap at the chance, she "laughingly answered 'No, no' ... then ran gaily off". Her unconcern surely must have fascinated Darcy no end. Yet, she manages to remain completely feminine, for her tone in verbally sparring with him is arch, and her manner, charming. Even in laughingly answering him and gaily running off, she unconsciously impresses him with her spirited nature and fine figure, which must be displayed to best advantage while skipping off. Her refusal of Darcy's proposition gives her a certain allure, and keeps him interested.

Like any human being, Elizabeth has faults. Chief among them is a tendency to be impulsive. She can swing to extremes of emotion, saying things on impulse like "What are men to rocks and mountains?", which, as her Aunt Gardiner points out, "savours strongly of disappointment". Her judgements can also be hasty and impulsive. For example, she was susceptible to Wickham's good looks and "honest" countenance, immediately believing his account of Darcy's dishonourable behaviour towards him. This judgement was shallow, which is unusual for her. Despite Jane's urging her to exercise caution before passing judgement, Elizabeth insisted on making up her mind based on appearances -- "...there was truth in his [Wickham's] looks." She can be wrong. While she was right about Caroline's insincerity, she was wrong about Wickham and Darcy's characters. Yet, as was pointed out earlier, she comes to a point of self-awareness and endeavours to correct her faults, which are all a human being can do. Everyone is imperfect, after all.

In all, Elizabeth's character, as portrayed by Jane Austen, is highly worthy of praise. She is indeed "strong and intelligent, yet bewitching in a completely feminine way." After having been intimately acquainted with her throughout the book, one comes to the conclusion that Elizabeth may very well be "one of the finest products ... of our civilisation" and a model of strength, integrity and intellect to aspire towards.