Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Generational Conflicts in P & P
In Pride & Prejudice the Bennet and the Darcy families (including the de Boughs) show a variety of generational conflicts between the older and younger generations. Choose one conflict that you find interesting from one of the families, and tell us about it as well as well as who you think most embody the conflict (on each opposing side) Share any other thoughts you have on this conflict.
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I find that the conflict in the Bennet family about love and marriage is interesting. There are obvious differences in each family member's opinions on marriage. Mrs. Bennet and Lydia share the opinion that a lady should marry as soon as possible. Kitty has yet to develop her own opinion about marriage and Mary wants to marry for comfort. While Jane wants to marry for love, she would be content marrying for companionship. Elizabeth wants to marry for love and Mr. Bennet seems as though he just wants his girls to be happy.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth and Mrs. Bennet most embody this conflict. While Mrs. Bennet is portrayed as a character that wants her girls to be married just for the sake of it, Elizabeth wants to marry for love. The fact that Elizabeth refuses to marry Mr. Collins when her mother declared she would never speak to her again shows she is a strong minded, independant thinker who will stand by her beliefs. Mrs. Bennet seems to be of the opinion that her girls should be married to the first man that proposes otherwise they will never be married. Elizabeth is content to wait until she falls in love to marry because she wants a happy marriage, not merely one for convenience.
To add to what Tina has stated, I think that Lydia getting married to Wickham shows how she really does believe in young love, as compared to the idea of actual companionship like Jane's ideal. So, yes it does show Jane's strong mindedness and how her parents become upset by her strive for something not so superficial. And then with Lydia, she is one who begins major drama with the whole elopement, showing her juvenile antics and proving her age thus more.
ReplyDeleteTina and Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you guys have to say about this conflict however, I would just like to add that Lydia believing so much in marrying at a young age shows her mother's characteristic and she takes more of her mothers genes. However, i also think that if Lydia didn't elope with Wickham and waited till she got older and became more experience with the world, she would of one day look for love when marrying too just like her older sisters. In addition, if she was Elizabeth or Jane's age she would understand where they are coming from.
I also think that Mrs.Bennet always emphasizing that marriage is important leads to Lydia's actions of her also thinking that marriage is essential thus, explaining her elopement with Wickham at such a young age.
Veronica,
ReplyDeleteI am not so sure about how Lydia would act if she were older. It seems, to me at least, that Lydia’s decision to elope with the first man who would have her is not the effect of her young age, but the result of the way she was raised. In my mind Lydia was not moved to this premature decision because of her lack of experience, to the contrary, she had many times over her years experienced the commonly held belief of many women at the time that a young lady should take the first man of stature she can get. In this regard, I also think that this helps exemplify the relationship between the two generations of Lydia and Mrs. Bennet in the fact that many of the beliefs of the old rub off on the new.
Matt,
ReplyDeleteAlthough it's true that Lydia's character already seems to be established as a superficial, self-centered and empty-headed young girl who also seems to hold that belief that her only happiness results from ther merits that marriage can provide, don't people change?
For example, Kitty was just as superficial and just as much as a flirt as Lydia was, yet she changes at the end of the novel, for it mentions that she flourishes under the hand of her older sisters.
Indeed, she is still very young and may discover later down the road that marriage to Mr. Wickam is not all roses and candy. Furthermore, Jane and Elizabeth's decisions to marry for love, rather than social status/financial security might also influence Lydia, Kitty, and Mary because it might, as you say, "rub off on the new."
Cathy,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you that people change. Although Lydia may seem like a superficial, self-centered and empty-headed young girl now, she is only 15. Think of how different a freshman in high school is compared to a senior. Lydia still has many experiences that she hasn't encountered yet and I believe she will grow with them all. For example, before her marriage to Wickham, she was just a silly girl that did not concern herself with the consequences of her actions (being a flirt at dances reflected badly on the rest of her sisters' dispositions, eloping with Wickham caused a major scandal...). However, after being married to Wickham for a couple weeks, she soon senses that her former impulsive ways may not be the way to achieve happiness in life.
Tina,
ReplyDeleteIn response to- "Mrs. Bennet seems to be of the opinion that her girls should be married to the first man that proposes otherwise they will never be married." I believe that Mrs. Bennett was more annoyed with the fact that Elizabeth's denying the marriage proposal can lead to Mrs. Bennett getting kicked out of her house, after Mr. Bennett's death. Mr. Collins is the Bennett family heir so when Mr. Bennett dies he gets the Bennett fortune. If Elizabeth got married to Mr. Collins Mrs. Bennett would've have got to stay in her house but now that her is getting married to Charlotte Mrs. Bennett can get kicked out of her house.
In response to Tina,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on how the whole Bennet family works. The younger generations which includes Lydia and Kitty, are immature and only want to look for the good looking people without consideration of their true nature. For the older generations, Elizabeth and Jane, they're more mature and they look for true love. For the much older generations, which include Mrs. Bennet, they're sooo old, that the generation that they grew up in, was to get married, AND then, learn to love each other which is why Mrs. Bennet has a different outlook on marriage.
One conflict was the issue of who the Bennet daughters were going to marry and for what reason. Elizabeth turned two men down when they proposed to her and that was not okay with her mother. Mrs. Bennet was in a hurry to get her daughters married to eligable men, and she did not pay much attention to anything else. Elizabeth was more concerned with who she would be loyal to and her financial well being was the least of her worries, she didn't even accept Mr. collins proposal and he is very wealthy. The diffrence in values and perception on marriage between Mrs.Bennet and Elizabeth was appearent and embodied the differences in their generations. Mrs. Bennet was more traditional and worried about her daughters just having men, while elizabeth was not as shallow and wanted a real man.
ReplyDeletetina,
ReplyDeleteThe generation conflict between Elizabeth and her mother is very obvious.Although her mother still has her morals and beliefs on marriage she wants Elizabeth to be happy as well as her father. That is why I beleive she still allowed her to find a husband and someone she really loved. I think it was hard for her mother to let Elizabeth choose who she would marry instead of going by the rules. This would also influence her younger sisters because they would look up to her in advice for marriage.