第1个回答 2010-06-20
The characters of Elizabeth
In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen portrays Elizabeth with many vivid characteristics. Hence, Elizabeth, the protagonist of this novel has become one of the most well-known female character in English literature. Elizabeth is a pretty girl with bright wit, honesty, quickness of observation, vivaciousness and humorous and strong sense of personality and dignity. All of the features enable her to realize that a poor woman she is, she still has the equal right to seek happiness. So under the sense of being sensible, Elizabeth becomes the most outstanding person among her counterpart. “She was a young woman with really nothing but her prettiness and a certain sharp smartness of communication.” Elizabeth is sensible and values true love as something noble and never trade self-esteem and money with love. At the same time, with a romantic heart she has a dream of owning her romantic love. Indeed Elizabeth is full of pride and prejudice on her detachment of marriage. She would not accept a marriage unless it is on the basis of understanding, love and equalities. So she still rejects him at the first time because Darcy’s proposal seems to be a sacrifice to her by saying that she has not known him for a month before she feels that he is the last man in the world she could ever be prevailed upon to marry. (Jane Austen, 1978: 151) But she accepts Darcy when he gradually realizes that his pride is so ridiculous and shows his love for her whole-heartedly. In her opinion, such equal love is true love and is what she wants in her marriage.
What’s more, Elizabeth’ independence helps make her a unique woman in pursuing marriage. At the beginning in the novel, she firmly refuses Mr. Collins’s proposal against her mother’s expectation. It is mainly because that she thinks she dose not and will never love him. And though she once holds good feelings for Whickham, considering him to be the most agreeable man she has ever met, but meanwhile, she thinks it is too imprudent to fall in love with him. After all, it is the fact that Whickham is a bad man. Then when she knows the truth about Darcy, she shows great sympathy on him and loves him. Elizabeth makes all her choices under her independence that gives her more courage to gain great happiness—perfect love and marriage in the manner of romanticism but realism.