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   Elizabeth's independent nature is best seen when she rejects Collins' and Darcy's proposals. She rejects Collins' proposal saying, "You must give me leave to judge for myself....My feelings in every respect forbid it...Do not consider me now as an elegant female intending to plague you, but as a rational creature speaking the truth from her heart."Ch.19. She rejects Darcy's proposal remarking, "I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry."Ch.34

   Darcy's pride is evident throughout the novel. However, what Mrs.Reynolds the housekeeper of Pemberley tells us about Darcy in Ch.43 becomes foregrounded, "Some people call him proud; but I am sure I never saw anything of it. To my fancy, it is only because he does not rattle away like other young men."

   Collins' stupidity is evident throughout the novel, but his self-righteousness is evident in his letter to Mr. Bennet in Ch.57 when he advises Mr.Bennet, "you ought certainly to forgive them [Lydia and Wickham] as a christian, but never to admit them in your sight, or allow their names to be mentioned in your hearing." Mr. Bennet sarcastically remarks,"That is his notion of christian forgiveness."

   Charlotte is a completely unromantic young woman. In Ch.6 she tells Elizabeth, "happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance." In ch.22 she tells Elizabeth, "I am not romantic...I never was. I ask only a comfortable home."

   Sources:

   http://www.enotes.com/pride-salem/pride-prejudice

   http://www.enotes.com/pride/character-analysis

   http://www.enotes.com/pride/themes

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   Posted by lit24 on Tuesday November 4, 2008 at 5:47 AM