the other hand, is not very smart, not very educated, and she is temperamental or moody. When she is unhappy, she imagines that her nerves are bothering her. Her sole goal is to find husbands for her five marriageable daughters; when prospects are bad, she finds comfort in gossip with other women. It would be difficult to find two more oppositecharacters. Which daughters they prefer say a lot about each of them: Mr. Bennet prefers Elizabeth and Jane while his wife prefers Lydia and Kitty. He likes intelligence and understanding while she likes giggling and silliness. How on earth could such a couple continue to get along?

In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen shows that family relationships have both the capacity to encourage and support and to inflict pain and grief. Sometimes it is difficult to navigate those waters gracefully.

Mr. Bennet: The Bennet girls, particularly Elizabeth, enjoy a close and warm relationship with their father. He advocates for allowing the girls some freedom in the lives (and marriages) and doesn't spend his days worrying about the details of their choices. He delivers warm encouragement, such as this in chapter 41: "Do not make yourself uneasy, my love. Wherever you and Jane are known you must be respected and valued; and you will not appear to less advantage for having a couple of—or I may say, three—very silly sisters." Though he is witty, especially in conversations with his angst-ridden wife, he does seem a bit irresponsible in securing his daughters' futures. In this society, his daughters really did need to marry well in order to be financially taken care of; he casually dismisses the actual seriousness of the situation and leaves his wife to take care of every detail. So while he is an easygoing and loving parent, he fails his daughters in responsibly planning for their futures.

Mrs. Bennet: On the other hand, the girls have their mother to plan for them. She tries to manipulate every situation to her girls' advantage and is quite wearisome in her pursuits of excellent husbands for them. When Elizabeth refuses Mr. Collins's proposal, Mrs. Bennet tells her, "I am sure I do not know who is to maintain you when your father is dead. I shall not be able to keep you—and so I warn you. I have done with you from this very day . . . I have no pleasure in talking to undutiful children" (chapter 20). She is not highly favored in their society because of her desperate measures, and she doesn't do her daughters great favors with her schemes.

Elizabeth and Jane Bennet: While different in personality, these two sisters solidly encourage and love each other through every challenge and difficulty. When Jane falls ill and unexpectedly has to remain with the Bingleys, Elizabeth walks miles to see her (much to the dismay of the Bingley women, as it seems to reflect her lower-class tendencies). Elizabeth remains by Jane's side through her illness and until she is able to return home. Later, Elizabeth reassures her sister of Bingley's love for her: "Indeed, Jane, you ought to believe me. No one who has ever seen you together can doubt his affection. Miss Bingley, I am sure, cannot. She is not such a simpleton" (chapter 21). The two sisters prove time after time that life is easier with a faithful sister by your side.

Caroline Bingley: Always scheming behind the scenes, Caroline doesn't want her brother to end up with Jane and wants Darcy for herself. She makes cutting comments both within Elizabeth's earshot and behind her back and sends letters that serve to make the sisters doubt their connection to both her brother and Darcy. She can't be trusted and has her own wishes and interests in the forefront of her actions. Her values are captured in chapter 8:

Oh! certainly . . . no [woman] can be really esteemed accomplished who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half-deserved.

Undoubtedly, she thinks of herself as ranking highly in all of these categories. Through Caroline, it is clear that sometimes family members are self-serving instead of supportive.

Lydia Bennet: Lydia is not the sister that Jane is to Elizabeth. In fact, she steadily searches for men and the next flirtatious moment and never seems to have a sense of when things are progressing too far or quickly. Lydia runs off with Wickham, causes a family scandal, and is eventually (quietly) rescued by Darcy. Even so, she returns home full of lofty impracticalities and even comments to the kind and gracious Jane, "Ah, Jane, I take your place now, and you must go lower, because I am a married woman" (chapter 51). Overlooking the fact that she has broken all societal norms and has only been spared because Wickham has been paid off, Lydia proves that sometimes family members can be exhausting and clueless to reality.

There are many different families, all with different dynamics.  Consider Darcy and his sister.  He has an extremely fond devotion towards her, is good friends with her (as it is alluded to the fact that he told her about Elizabeth), and she reciprocates those feelings.  Then there is the infamous Mr. Wickham, who, though growing up like a brother to Darcy, earned Darcy's disrespect forever through bad actions.  Darcy's father seemed a kind man that was fond of all of his children, and Wickham seems to have manipulated that relationship a bit, or at least taken it for granted.

The Bennett family is more dynamic; Liz and Jane are very close together, but Liz doesn't share that same bond with her other sisters.  In fact, she is aware of her other sisters' lack of social tact, and finds them embarrassing.  She holds an interesting relationship with her high-strung mother.  She tolerates and helps her, without endorsing her sometimes erratic behaviors and beliefs.  She seems to be close to her dad; he is fond of her and she of him.  She turns to him for help when Collins proposes, and  he supports her. 

The other families in the book play such minor roles; extended family offers a good vacation for the girls here and there, and are good for favors or mentions every once in a while.  All in all, the relationships are diverse, from disdain to fond affection. 

This great novel deals with a wide variety of family relationships, including that of parent-daughter, the relationships between sisters, and the relationships that lead to marriage.

It is made abundantly clear that relationships with parents aren't always easy. For example, when Mr. Collins proposes to Eliza Bennet, she is seemingly faced with the choice of her mother never speaking to her again (if she says no) or her father never speaking to her again (if she says yes).

Relationships between sisters are portrayed as extremely varied, with the two eldest Bennet girls, Jane and Elizabeth, having an extremely close relationship. Their relationships with their younger sisters, however, are not as close, and they often despair at the attitudes and actions of Mary, Kitty, and especially Lydia.

Romantic relationships are displayed in all their complexity. Mr. Bingley's sister unsuccessfully conspires to keep him away from Jane, and there are the difficulties that Eliza and Mr. Darcy face in coming to know and love one another.

One family relationship touched upon in Pride and Prejudice is disappointment in marriage. Mr. Bennet chose his wife for her beauty, with no thought to her working-class relations. He has grown disappointed to find her to be a very silly woman who prattles on about her nerves, gossips incessantly, and says ridiculous things both privately and publicly. His disappointment in his wife has led him to become sarcastic and reserved.

Another family relationship Austen's novel deals with is lack of parental control. Mr. Bennet failed to teach his family principles, and his wife and three younger daughters act poorly because of it. As he should, Mr. Bennet feels that he is to blame for Lydia's elopement with Wickham that endangers his entire family's reputation (Ch. 6, Vol. 3).

Character development in Pride and Prejudice is integral to the novel and most prominently depicted by Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet's change of heart and perspective towards each other. Initially, Darcy is depicted as a cold, aloof man, whose pride prevents him from recognizing Elizabeth Bennet's positive attributes. Darcy is a wealthy gentleman and finds the Bennet family to be considerably below his social status, which is why he is dismissive of them and offends Elizabeth during their first interaction. Likewise, Elizabeth believes that Darcy is an arrogant, egotistical gentleman, who is extremely vain and rude. Following their initial interaction, Elizabeth develops a prejudice towards Darcy and subscribes to the false rumors about him.

Elizabeth is portrayed as an intelligent, confident young woman, who trusts her impulses and automatically assumes the worst about Darcy. Elizabeth proceeds to believe the unscrupulous, deceitful Wickham and blames Darcy for influencing Bingley to leave Jane. Similarly, Darcy is also judgmental and does not entertain the idea of ever associating with anyone of Elizabeth's background or social status. However, Darcy begins to develop feelings for Elizabeth and gradually overcomes his pride and prejudice. Darcy eventually proposes to Elizabeth, who has not yet overcome her own prejudice towards him and responds by saying,

From the very beginning—from the first moment, I may almost say—of my acquaintance with you, your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form the groundwork of disapprobation on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry (Austen, 241).

Despite rejecting Darcy's marriage proposal, Elizabeth begins to examine herself and gradually overcomes her own prejudice after spending time with him at Pemberley. Elizabeth also discovers the truth about Wickham, accepts Darcy's motivation for influencing Bingley to leave Jane, and appreciates his attempts to restore Lydia's reputation. Towards the end of the story, Darcy and Elizabeth experience a dramatic change of heart and overcome their pride and prejudice. Elizabeth admits that she was too confident in her ability to judge others and Darcy recognizes that his pride was a significant obstacle by saying,

I have been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle. As a child I was taught what was right, but I was not taught to correct my temper. I was given good principles, but left to follow them in pride and conceit (Austen, 455).

Overall, the main characters in the novel are dynamic and undergo dramatic changes in order to find true love, which is the primary plot of the story.

For much of the novel, the antagonist is, in fact, Mr. Darcy. This is established at the Meryton assembly scene when he makes hurtful comments about Elizabeth’s “tolerable” beauty. His role as antagonist is further cemented when Elizabeth meets Mr. Wickham and is led to believe that he has been badly treated by Darcy.

Elizabeth’s negative feelings toward Darcy grow even stronger when she learns of his role in preventing a relationship and possible marriage between her sister and Mr. Bingley.

However, once Elizabeth learns the truth about Mr. Wickham from Darcy, the antagonist changes. It is Mr. Wickham who becomes the story’s antagonist, because Elizabeth comes to realize that her impressions of Darcy were, in fact, false. He is not the villain she once believed him to be. By eloping with Lydia, Mr. Wickham causes not only great distress to Elizabeth but also a significant decline in the Bennett family’s respectability.

Your answer to this will of course depend on your own experience reading the book, but I’m happy to provide you with some ideas to help get you started reflecting on this question.

One of the reasons Pride and Prejudice is such a popular book is because many readers are struck by how accurately Jane Austen portrayed human relationships in it. Although it takes place in the nineteenth century and some key aspects of the plot may not be relatable, readers often connect to characters like Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. For instance, consider how Mr. Darcy’s initial pride makes him rude and how Elizabeth’s pride makes her misjudge him. Pride is a common human flaw that frequently complicates relationships, so many readers see themselves or someone they know in Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy’s initial interactions.

The relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy embodies common ideas about love like “opposites attract” and the importance of happiness, all of which readers might also relate to. Elizabeth’s commitment to do what makes her happy (recall how she rejects Mr. Collins’s proposal, even though it risks her family’s future) demonstrates the type of female independence that is common in today’s society.

In order to answer this question in your own words, consider how you felt about the events that unfolded in the story. For instance, were you surprised by how everything turns out? Did you enjoy reading about what happens to the characters, or did you not find yourself engaged? As long as you explain why you felt this way about the text, you will craft a detailed answer. Similarly, when explaining if you did or did not relate to the characters, make sure to explain why, and you will provide an adequate response. For example, if you felt you did relate to Elizabeth’s commitment to happiness, consider what aspects of your life made you connect with this aspect of her story.

There are many instances scorn and malice between characters, but I will focus on three that jump out at me:

Elizabeth/Darcy: When Darcy is first introduced in chapter three, Elizabeth withheld all negative judgment towards him, observing only that he was of "fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mein, and the report, which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year." In short, he is an extremely handsome, extremely rich, and very single man, and there was- at first- nothing to dislike. However, Darcywas used to travelling in circles of much higher wealth and breeding, and so disliked the company that he was in that he insulted Elizabeth before he even knew her, saying "She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humor at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me." From this point, Elizabeth was determined to dislike Darcy, and Darcy- though he quickly realized that Elizabeth was far more beautiful, brilliant and sophisticated than he had granted her credit- continued to believe that he would be demeaning himself to stoop so low as tohimself to marry her, and even his first proposal to her came with great reluctance. Elizabeth's own scorn towards Mr. Darcy pushed her to immediately believe the malicious lies that Mr. Wickham told her about Darcy's "wickedness", though she hardly knew anything at all about Darcy and refused to seek his side of the story. In fact, none of this is resolved until Darcy saves Elizabeth's sister, Lydia, from the danger of an irrevocably damaged reputation due to her indescretion with Mr. Wickham, and Elizabeth and Darcy realize that their prejudices against one another were totally unjust and they allow themselves to fall deeply in love and eventually marry. 

Miss Bingly/Elizabeth: Though not nearly as dramatic or undeserving as the contemptuousness between Elizabeth and her future husband, the hatred between Miss Bingley and Elizabeth Bennet tells the age-old tale of female jealousy. Caroline Bingley, a wealthy woman who grew up in the rich society of London and her heart set on Fitzwilliam Darcy, hates two things: country people with common ancestry, and rivals for Mr. Darcy's affections. Unfortunately, Elizabeth Bennet happens to be both. Miss Bingley despises Elizabeth, and expends much of her time and energy trying to incite Darcy to feel the same. Each time that Darcy extends a compliment towards Elizabeth,Miss Bingley becomes more enraged and jealous. Elizabeth, too, feels scorn towards Caroline, but this is simply for Miss Bingley's mean and catty behavior. 

Darcy/Wickham: Mr. Darcy hates Mr. Wickham because Mr. Wickham is a self-serving, dishonest person. The two men were raised together,and lived like brothers for much of their young life. Upon the death of Mr. Darcy's father, Wickham ran himself into debt, squandered his inheritance, threw away two career opportunities,and attempted to marry the young and impressionable sister of Mr. Darcy simply so that he could control her money. After Darcy had squashed his plans, Wickham took to spreading terrible lies about Darcy and how he had supposedly left him bereft and ruined his life simply for spite. Indeed, many people believed him, and Wickham's true nature was not revealed until the business with Lydia Bennet.

In Pride and Prejudice, the nature of Darcy's relationships with other characters will shift somewhat, depending on the identity of the character in question. His interactions with Elizabeth Bennett, for example, will be of a markedly different sort than his interactions with his friend Bingley, which would in turn be different from those with his sister, Georgiana.

Generally speaking, the general tenor of Darcy's relationships are defined by his own status as a member of the landed gentry. In this sense, most of his relationships are of a fundamentally unequal nature when seen from the perspective of a class-based society. This is even the case in his friendship with Bingley: Darcy is the wealthier of the two men, but more importantly, his wealth is based in land (whereas Bingley's is based in trade), and this difference in status is reflected in the interactions between the two, with Bingley usually deferring to Darcy rather than the other way around.

At the same time, there is also his relationship with Elizabeth, in which case his social consciousness will actually work against him. When discussing this relationship, however, it might also be worth thinking about the larger theme of marriage and the degree to which marriage is treated as a fundamentally mercenary endeavor. Darcy knows he is prized marriage material, which in turn makes him a target, and this context might explain some of his standoffish and socially awkward characterization. It might also play a role in his attraction to Elizabeth herself: given that, in addition to her wit and intelligence, she also has a very strong sense of personal authenticity and self-worth, and she is generally disinterested in the kind of manipulations favored by social climbers. In any case, where Elizabeth is concerned, his general awkwardness and class consciousness work against him, given how he poisons her opinion of him in the very beginning of the book, which is to say nothing about his disastrous marriage proposal.