How Does Jane Austen Present Elizabeth A Foil Character In Pride And Prejudice

At the conclusion of Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen resolves the novel while using particular writing style and technique to reinforce the characters of Elizabeth, Georgiana, and Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Elizabeth’s strong-willed character is emphasized when Austen subtly contrasts her against Georgiana’s shy one; she uses Georgiana as a foil character for Elizabeth, and vice versa. Elizabeth’s strong opinions, quick wit, and “lively, sportive, manner” of conversing with Darcy astonish Georgiana. Austen’s use of the phrase “lively, sportive, manner” gives the sentence a more vigorous and energetic feel, which reflects the nature of the conversation. Apart from her wit, Elizabeth’s sensibility is also shown with she persuades Darcy to seek
reconciliation with his aunt. While several members of her family might have been happy to begrudge Lady de Bourgh, Austen reinforces Elizabeth’s intelligence and sensibility by emphasizing that she has risen above some of the poor behaviour that she has grown up with. In terms of Georgiana, Austen maintains her character as an innocent and shy girl. She brings up the fact that Georgiana is more than ten years younger than Darcy, and contrasts her somewhat introverted personality with Elizabeth’s strong-willed and confident one. Lastly, her youth and naivete is emphasized when Austen chooses to say she was influenced by Elizabeth’s “instruction”. In terms of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Austen emphasizes her class-snobbery and haughtiness with her satirical (and quite comedic) choice of words, saying that Elizabeth and her relatives had “polluted” Pemberley. Her bossiness and need to be in control of everything causes her to write an angry letter to Darcy, since he and Elizabeth ignored her objections. The entire ending can be contrasted to the start of the book, which outlined the unhappy marriage of the Bennets. It seems that Elizabeth, who marries Darcy out of love, will enjoy a much happier marriage than Lydia, who married for passion, as well as Charlotte, who married for financial stability.