Trevor Bachand
Sensei Schroder
English IV Honors
February 13, 2017
First Impressions in Pride and Prejudice Pride and Prejudice is not-so-subtly a novel which talks about how first impressions are not necessarily the best judge of character, and while they are valuable, after you truly understand a person it is not uncommon for those impressions to be entirely wrong or misguided. Jane Austen uses first impressions of characters like Wickham, Mrs. Bennet and Darcy to exemplify this through characters that defy their first impressions and those who embody them. The first character, George Wickham, is an attractive and well-spoken man who meets the Bennets at the first party Bingley holds at Netherfield. He introduces himself, and the Bennet …show more content…
It slowly breaks down as the story progresses, allowing the reader to see more and more of his character until like a dam, all of his misdeeds and failures are given center stage during the debacle in which he and Lydia run away, unattended. He is shown to have an uncaring and almost predatory attitude towards women which is the exact of what he intends to embody with his persona. He endangers the Bennet family reputation during his time running away with Lydia, which is the final nail in the coffin of opinion in regard to Wickham during the story. He is a static character, but the lens through which he is viewed changes as the story goes on, he continues with his ways until the end of the novel, without making any attempt to improve …show more content…
However, after Elizabeth’s encounter with the staff of Pemberley and even Darcy to her great surprise, she sees him in a different light. The staff who spoke highly of Darcy and the explanations of the real story behind Wickham’s lies about Darcy all lead into a revelation that inspires Elizabeth to care for Darcy. As his good deeds are pieced together, Wickham’s lies begin to unravel around him and he runs off with Lydia, prompting Darcy to pay off a large sum of Wickham’s debt as a way to protect Elizabeth and her family. His arc is finalized with his marriage to Elizabeth, who obviously accepted his proposal the second time around due to her change of heart. Darcy is a prime example of a dynamic character; he changes in response to his surroundings and becomes a better person despite his failures and initial “shortcomings”. The character change takes center stage for a large part of the story, despite Darcy not being the perceived focus, he is in a sense a sort of hero, following a rather traditional heroic story arc with his successes and failures with the
Sensei Schroder
English IV Honors
February 13, 2017
First Impressions in Pride and Prejudice Pride and Prejudice is not-so-subtly a novel which talks about how first impressions are not necessarily the best judge of character, and while they are valuable, after you truly understand a person it is not uncommon for those impressions to be entirely wrong or misguided. Jane Austen uses first impressions of characters like Wickham, Mrs. Bennet and Darcy to exemplify this through characters that defy their first impressions and those who embody them. The first character, George Wickham, is an attractive and well-spoken man who meets the Bennets at the first party Bingley holds at Netherfield. He introduces himself, and the Bennet …show more content…
It slowly breaks down as the story progresses, allowing the reader to see more and more of his character until like a dam, all of his misdeeds and failures are given center stage during the debacle in which he and Lydia run away, unattended. He is shown to have an uncaring and almost predatory attitude towards women which is the exact of what he intends to embody with his persona. He endangers the Bennet family reputation during his time running away with Lydia, which is the final nail in the coffin of opinion in regard to Wickham during the story. He is a static character, but the lens through which he is viewed changes as the story goes on, he continues with his ways until the end of the novel, without making any attempt to improve …show more content…
However, after Elizabeth’s encounter with the staff of Pemberley and even Darcy to her great surprise, she sees him in a different light. The staff who spoke highly of Darcy and the explanations of the real story behind Wickham’s lies about Darcy all lead into a revelation that inspires Elizabeth to care for Darcy. As his good deeds are pieced together, Wickham’s lies begin to unravel around him and he runs off with Lydia, prompting Darcy to pay off a large sum of Wickham’s debt as a way to protect Elizabeth and her family. His arc is finalized with his marriage to Elizabeth, who obviously accepted his proposal the second time around due to her change of heart. Darcy is a prime example of a dynamic character; he changes in response to his surroundings and becomes a better person despite his failures and initial “shortcomings”. The character change takes center stage for a large part of the story, despite Darcy not being the perceived focus, he is in a sense a sort of hero, following a rather traditional heroic story arc with his successes and failures with the