Pride and Prejudice Blog #5

The relationship between Jane and Bingley is one that readers have seen progress and struggle all throughout this story. On the other hand, the relationship between Lydia and Wickham was a much more spontaneous and frowned upon one. When learning that Mr. Bingley was interested in their daughter, Jane, the Bennett family was more than ecstatic, Mrs. Bennett in particular. They all knew that this meant their family would quickly move up on the ladder of societal success, turning around what the engagement of Lydia and Wickham had surely begun doing:“the Bennetts were speedily pronounced to be the luckiest family in the world; though only a few weeks before…they had been generally proved to be marked out for misfortune”(339). Although Mr. Wickham was not an unsuccessful man, the knowledge of Lydia's immaturity and undeniable need to be married made the situation seem much less desirable. It was clear that Lydia's constant focus on being married at a young age is what led her to make the rash decision of being engaged to Wickham, and his reasoning was backed by the money aspect. Jane and Bingley were the two parts of a much more pleasing love story. Their engagement may not have gone smoothly at first, but was eventually made out of love and compassion for their counterpart. These two aspects were ones that did not exist in the relationship between Wickham and Lydia. The relationship between Jane and Bingley is expected to have a very healthy affect on all involved, while that of Wickham and Lydia is a much more unhealthy situation that could not only end up in a broken relationship, but a broken family. In the engagement of Jane and Mr. Bingley, the Bennetts are very hopeful that it will affect them all for the better, which balances out the fear they have for young Lydia who may very well be making a bad decision. Although this is true, Elizabeth still tries her hardest to be supportive of her sister, saying: "Small as their chance of happiness, and wretched as is his character, we are forced to rejoice"(294). She knows it will most likely cause problems in the future for herself and her family, but at the moment, she is willing to see that Lydia has made her decision, and although it has little chance of working out, it is going to happen whether they like it or not. This shows a lot about the character of Elizabeth, who seems to be the constant among variables in her family. We see these variables especially in Jane and Lydia, two very different characters making huge changes in their lives at the same time, and through the same sacrament, but in very different ways.