Pride and Prejudice Question 25

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We're almost at the end of a long month of quite challenging questions. For those of you who've been following along, great job! We're in the home stretch! Don't lose energy now! For those of you who're just joined us -- feel free to jump in!

Pride and Prejudice Question 25

What role does Lady Catherine play in Pride and Prejudice. Would you call her role positive or negative?

Comments

  1. Laura's Reviews25 October 2009 at 23:39

    Well, every party needs a pooper and that is Lady Catherine. . . just kidding!

    Lady Catherine is the antagonist of the novel. Sure Wickham is the bad guy causing angst amongst the families, but Lady Catherine causes angst between Elizabeth and Darcy. Or she at least tries too, instead she unwittingly puts the two together.

    Although she tries to be a negative role, overall Lady Catherine is a positive one. She allows Elizabeth to realize her feelings for Darcy, and for Darcy to realize their is hope when Elizabeth refuses to tell Lady C. that she will never marry Darcy.

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  2. Jeannette26 October 2009 at 03:29

    I think Lady Catherine has a positive role by showing Darcy how wrong his attitudes about social class and breeding are. "Lady" Catherine isn't much more lady-like than Mrs. Bennett. She's rude and imperious to everyone. She believes that her rank and fortune give her the right to be this way. This allows the reader, and then Darcy to see how wrong this way of thinking is.

    I like the way Austen uses exaggerated characters to make this kind of point. She does this the best in P & P, but we see this to great effect in the horrible Elliots in Persuasion and the Thorpes in Northanger. These characters give the "heroines" of the book a contrasting backdrop to shine through.

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