Department of English and American Studies Philosophical Faculty Palack University in Olomouc

The Bennets: Sisterly Love in Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice

Lucie Podevov English Philology

Mgr. Ema Jelnkov Ph.D. Ladies in Literature 30th April 2012

A sister is always there to defend you no matter what, said once Felicity Martin, and her quotation perfectly captures the relationship of Elizabeth Bennet to her four siblings in a novel Pride and Prejudice (1813) written by Jane Austen. The aim of this essay is to describe the relations between Miss Bennets, yet the emphasis will be primarily put on the protagonist, Elizabeth. Jane, Lizzy, Mary, Kitty, Lydiathese are the names of five daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. They live in a village called Longbourn, of which they were the principal inhabitants (Austen 12). Owing to their fathers sufficient income, the family can afford keeping servants for everyday work, which means that girls have enough free time to spend on amusing themselves by the nineteenth-century accomplishments typical for a lady of certain social class. As the age of the sisters differs (Jane, of two-and-twenty, is the oldest, while Lydia, having only fifteen years, is the youngest one), there are also different ways how or with whom to pass the days. Jane gels with Eliza, Kitty is swayed by Lydia and Mary finds her interest in books. As the quotation in the first paragraph of the essay points out, one sister should be there for the other. So, Elizabeth is the one who acts like a guardian angel. Because the book tells the story of overcoming the prejudice of the protagonist, Miss Elizabeth, (and the pride of Mr. Darcy) in the first place, and the second main problem is the marriage of Miss Jane and Mr. Bingley, the majority of these pages will be covered with the theme of relationship between the two oldest sisters. Both Elizabeth and Jane are charming young ladies, clever and with the sense of the appropriate decorum, when finding themselves in the company of people from higher class. They share their secrets or worries, therefore they feel, understand, know and trust each other, and help one another whenever it is possible. You never see a fault in anybody. All the world are good and agreeable in your eyes. I never heard you speak ill of a human being in my life, says Elizabeth to Jane (Austen 14); it is hard for the latter to admit that some people are not always acting pleasantly. In Lizzys case, on the contrary, she is easily prejudices, being able to form her opinion on the basis of seeing a person for the first time, and it takes a long time to change her mind (as she needs good reason to revise it).

Elizabeth is aware of the fact that Jane does not express her feelings openly, but, at the beginning, she does not attach great importance to the fact. For instance, Elizabeth knows Jane is truly in love with Mr. Bingley. Nevertheless, she does not perceive that people not familiar with Janes character might think it is just a guise to gain a lot of money from rich husbands income. This is exactly what Mr. Darcy fears, and thus it is a source of misunderstandings and sufferings: both Jane and Mr. Bingley suffer, because they think their love is not returned; Elizabeth suffers, because her sister is unhappy; Mr. Darcy suffers, because his best friend is unhappy. Yet before all goes wrong, Jane is invited to Nethefield. Her mother, considering it a perfect opportunity, sends her there in a bad, rainy weather, in a hope of Miss Bennet becomes ill, and so she will have to stay in the house of Mr. Bingley till she gets better. After receiving a letter from Jane, Elizabeth, feeling really anxious, determines to visit her immediately (Austen 27); she stays here for a few days, caring for Jane, until her health returns again. Mr. Bingley, after his sister asserts that it is damnable behaviour of younger Miss Bennet to walk three or five miles alone only to see how Jane is doing, remarks: It shows an affection for her sister that is very pleasing (30). Another feature of their relationship is the protection. While Elizabeth is on the trip with her aunt and uncle, The Gardiners, she meets Mr. Bingley, who has some questions about her family, with the emphasis on especially one particular member. Not to hurt her, cause any stress or recall back the memories, Elizabeth conceals the meeting from Jane. There is more what Elizabeth hides, at least at first. Besides the inquiries of Mr. Bingley, she does not tell Jane that her feelings towards Mr. Darcy have changed to the point of affection, after she read the letter with explanations containing the clarification of why he discouraged Mr. Bingley from marrying Miss Bennet (the matter of money, not love, as stated above), and why he cannot stand Mr. Wickham. Jane knows only that her sister rejected his proposal, because she has thought Mr. Darcy is a serious, disagreeable and very proud man. When the sisters come back home from London, Elizabeth tells Jane everything concerning Mr. Wickhams ill character and the unfair, prejudiced manner of speaking to and about Mr. Darcy. The other subject of the letter, the thwarted relationship of Miss Bennet and Mr. Bingley, is a taboo for Janes ears,
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because Elizabeth perceives that there are still some feelings for the master of Netherfield in her sisters heart. When the two gentlemen appear at the Longbourn house, Elizabeth is confused. She does not know why Mr. Bingley is there, she is afraid Jane will not make it to stay unaffected by previous circumstances; and why Mr. Darcy has came, too. But as the conversation between the two former lovers proceeds, Elizabeth, and Mr. Darcy too, sees that they both feel the same affection as they felt before Bingley left Netherfield. When the visit is over, Jane joined her [Elizabeth] with a cheerful look, which showed her better satisfied with their visitors, than Elizabeth, and the dialogue ensues: Now, said she, that this first meeting is over, I feel perfectly easy. I know my own strength, and I shall never be embarrassed again by his coming. I am glad he dines here on Tuesday. It will then be publicly seen that, on both sides, we meet only as common and indifferent acquaintance. Yes, very indifferent indeed, said Elizabeth, laughingly. Oh, Jane, take care. My dear Lizzy, you cannot think me so weak, as to be in danger now? I think you are in very great danger of making him as much in love with you as ever. (Austen 260261) While Elizabeth becomes Mrs. Darcy and lives in Pemberley, Jane surname is changed to Mrs. Bingley, and after living in Netherfield a year, the Bingleys moves to the county next to Pemberley; the sisters now live in the estates near each other and frequently make visits. Next pair of girls to write about is Kitty and Lydia. The latter loves to be in the centre of young mens attention, thus she uses every opportunity to meet and flirt with them. Although Kitty is her two years older sibling, it seems that she will do anything that Lydia suggests, for instance their frequent walks to the near town of Meryton, especially after the arrival of militia. Taking the pleasure in the regiment of soldiers as well as in the forthcoming balls, they both talk about nothing else. On one hand, Elizabeth had frequently united with Jane in an endeavour to check the imprudence of Catherine and Lydia, on the other hand, Mrs. Bennet is very lenient towards them, while her husband is satisfied with making fun of
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their stupidity. That is the reason why their youngest daughters were ignorant, idle, and vain (Austen 166). Lydia is her mothers darling, therefore when she wants to go to Brighton with the Fosters, she is allowed, in spite of Elizabeth explaining her father the possibility of destroying family respectability, but Mr. Bennet argues: Lydia will never be easy until she has exposed herself in some public place or other, and we can never expect her to do it with so little expense or inconvenience to her family as under the present circumstances. (Austen 179) Blinded by the number of officers in Brighton, Lydia goes away from her home, leaving Kitty cryingnot because she is sorry for being left alone, but because she is jealous and envious. It is a lost cause for the eldest sisters to persuade Catherine to resign and behave reasonably. When Elizabeth is on the northern tour, the letter containing the message about the elopement of Lydia with Mr. Wickham is delivered. Knowing that Wickham does not in fact want to marry poor Lydia, she also knows her family will be in the centre of mockery from neighbours. Fortunately, Wickham is wellpaid, and the couple is married. Lydia is obliged to leave the native village for good, as she accompanies her dream husband to Newcastle, in the North. Mr. Bennet forbids Kitty to visit her there and keeps her away of the youngest sisters bad impact: She was not of so ungovernable a temper as Lydia; and, removed from the influence of Lydias example, she became, by proper attention and management, less irritable, less ignorant, and less insipid. (Austen 297) Kitty takes benefit from being left alone by Lydia. She spends a great deal of time with her older sisters in Pemberley. There, she is under the influence of a better company. She learns how to become a lady and give up the bad habits she got from Lydia. The latter profits from wealth of Elizabeth and Jane, because her sisters send her now and then money, as they know very well that two people like Lydia and her husband cannot live with the small income they have. Mary, as well as Lydia and Kitty, is considered to be silly by her father. Hence, these three girls should easily become close friends, but their avocations are so very different from what could form collectively spent time. Mary would rather read books or play the piano then go to balls or walk to Meryton to catch
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sight of a soldier. She is the most ordinary member of the Bennets, who works hard for knowledge and accomplishments and is always impatient for display (Austen 21). Her endeavour for manifestation of her skills in society terrifies Elizabeth, since Marys abilities are not as great as she thinks they are. Eliza tries to avoid sisters embarrassment whenever it is possible. An illustration of this is suggested when the family is invited to the Netherfield ball, where Mary has a chance of presenting herself as a weak singer without noticing anything. Elizabeth observes the performer is being ridiculed by Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst, so she asks secretly her father for stepping in. Because Mary is a minor character in Pride and Prejudice, not much space remains for developing her relationships or character. It is mentioned in the last chapter of the book that she continues living at home, becoming the companion of Mrs. Bennet: Mary was obliged to mix more with the world, but she could still moralize over every morning visit; and as she was no longer mortified by comparisons between her sisters beauty and her own, it was suspected by her father that she submitted to the change without much reluctance. (Austen 297) To sum up, Miss Bennets have generally good relations between themselves. Elizabeth and Jane are the best friends, have excellent husbands and live in great estates. Their friendship has never experienced any problem in terms of damaging their warm feelings towards one another. On the contrary, the sisterly relationship of Lydia and Catherine practically disappears, as Lydia lives with Mr. Wickham in the North after their marriage. Kitty is forbidden to visit her no matter when, but enjoys the company of her older sisters. Mary still stays away from her siblings, but has to spend her time more with her mother than her favourite books. As the story develops, every one of them reaches more or less happy ending.

Works Cited

Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice. 1813. London: Penguin, 1994. Print.