In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, the primary difference between the characters Charlotte and Elizabeth is that Charlotte is a pragmatist whereas Elizabeth is a romantic.
Charlotte's pragmatism is expressed in many of her views of marriage. Charlotte is not the sort to believe that marriage will be happy forever due to love. Instead, she believes that all marriages have their tribulations and all women, at some point, are likely to be unhappy with their husbands. We see Charlotte express this perspective when, at a dinner party held at Lucas Lodge, Charlotte warns Elizabeth that Jane is too reserved in nature and, if Jane truly is interested in Bingley, she needs to begin showing "more affection than she feels" towards Bingley if she is going to "secure" him for herself as a desirable, rich husband (Ch. 6). When Elizabeth protests against Jane attempting to "secure" Bingley before she knows enough about his character, Charlotte gives the following reply that reveals a great deal about her personal philosophies:
Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other or even so similar before-hand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always contrive to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life. (Ch. 6)
Charlotte further reveals her pragmatism in accepting Mr. Collins's proposal. Though he may not be the most intelligent or humble man, to the annoyances of Elizabeth, Charlotte feels his character is good enough for her to have accepted him. More importantly, due to the living he has from Lady Catherine de Bourgh on the Rosings estate and the fact that he is the heir of Longbourn, Charlotte knows he will be able to provide for her with the only thing she asks for, "a comfortable home" (Ch. 22). Charlotte's comfort is particularly essential because, being the eldest daughter of parents with many children and newly acquired wealth, Charlotte knows she will not inherit any fortune from her father and will not have comfortable provisions unless she marries a wealthy man. Furthermore, she is plain, 27 years old, and very unlikely to ever receive another proposal.
In contrast, Elizabeth lets her feelings rule her judgements, showing us she is far more romantic than Charlotte. The fact that Elizabeth lets her feelings rule her judgements is not only seen in her reactions to what Charlotte says and does but also in her rejections of both Mr. Collins's and Mr. Darcy's proposals. As mentioned earlier, Elizabeth is very shocked when Charlotte advises that Jane should "secure" Mr. Bingley before she is fully certain she is in love with him, seeing as how love has plenty of time to develop after marriage. Elizabeth is even more shocked by Charlotte's acceptance of Mr. Collins though Elizabeth does later come to see that Charlotte's marriage to Mr. Collins truly does provide Charlotte with the best situation for Charlotte and that Charlotte is happy. In addition, contrary to Charlotte, Elizabeth makes her decision to reject Mr. Collins based purely on her feelings. Elizabeth, as well as the entire Bennet family, could benefit greatly from one of the Bennet daughters marrying Mr. Collins since doing so would ensure Longbourn remains in the Bennet family and ensures security for the other Bennet sisters should any of them be unable to find husbands. Yet, unlike Charlotte, Elizabeth put her feelings above financial comfort, as we see when she replies, "I thank you again and again for the honour you have done me in your proposals, but to accept them is absolutely impossible. My feelings in every respect forbid it" (Ch. 19). We see Elizabeth make the exact same decision with respect to Mr. Darcy's first proposal. Though Elizabeth would benefit financially a great deal from the marriage, she refuses based on her feelings at the moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment