Propriety In Pride And Prejudice

Lydia Bennet’s bold and rebellious humor has amused readers of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice since its first publication over two centuries ago. So much so that, out of the five Bennet sisters, Lydia is the only one given as much attention as the novel’s comically improper heroine, Elizabeth. Yet, Claudia Johnson (1988) argues that although both Lydia and Elizabeth commit similar acts of impropriety, Austen’s focus on Lydia’s unashamed excesses serves as a scapegoat for the main character’s own improper actions. Although it is true that Lydia breaks the rules of propriety and commits excesses where the other Bennet sisters do not, she functions not as a decoy but as a subversion of societal values. Austen often accomplishes this subversion …show more content…
Her appearances in the novel—both in physical and social terms—always serve to reinforce her bold behavior. Encouraged by her mother to check up on Jane, Lydia visits Mr. Bingley and holds him to his promise that he will give a ball at Netherfield Park. Lydia boldly approaches Mr. Bingley with her own agenda in mind, thereby offending the same rules of propriety that called upon her to visit Netherfield in the first place. Sequentially, the narrator makes sense of Lydia’s unabashed behavior by observing that it arises out of her “high animal spirits, and natural self-consequence” (Austen 45). More, Mrs. Bennet—whose own “mean understanding” (Austen 7) of society provides comic relief—actually fosters Lydia’s lack of propriety, stating that, though Lydia is the youngest, she will certainly dance with the eligible Mr. Bingley at the ball. Ever confident, Lydia “stoutly” responds, “I am not afraid; for though I am the youngest, I’m the tallest” (Austen 10). It is important to note that 18th century society imposed certain behavioral patterns upon women—patterns Lydia Bennet unabashedly dismisses. There was a need—or, rather, an imposed call—for certain modesty and control, but Lydia acts contrarily to these social guidelines in her constant pursuit of pleasure. More—what does this mean, why is it funny that she goes against the grain. Use pleasure at the …show more content…
Female tricksters mock the standards of female behavior through their enjoyment of potentially transgressive behaviors and their refusal to be silenced. Lydia Bennet, then, is considered this trickster character because, “above all, she laughs” (Bilger 98). This does not go unnoticed by Elizabeth, who often comments on how Lydia’s behavior is unsuitable for a lady. Still, Johnson argues, Lydia and Elizabeth are inextricably linked—not just as sisters, but also as parallels to one another. Certainly, Austen chooses to escape rather than nurture traditional societal values through the comical impropriety of these two sisters. But whereas for Elizabeth laughter is a show of her wit, for Lydia it is an expression of pleasure and her carefree attitude towards