Lydia Analysis

Daryl Thomas

AP English- Mr. George

13 April 2009

P and P Character Analysis

Lydia

Lydia is a naïve, vain minx that desires attention and has no concern for hurting her family’s reputation or sentiments.

Whether or not Lydia’s character is due to an improper upbringing, she holds an air of vanity: “I am not afraid; for though I am the youngest, I’m the tallest” (Austen 11). The narrator even describes her as one with “high animal spirits, and a sort of natural self-consequence” (46). Assimilating her mother’s aspiration for marriage, Lydia seeks to gain attention by flirting with men and showing a deep concern for marriage: “Lord! How ashamed I should be of not being married before three-and-twenty!” (216). Being indifferent to everyone else and possessing a great sense of self-importance, Lydia becomes, as Elizabeth warns Mr. Bennet, “vain, ignorant, idle, and absolutely uncontrolled” (226). Lydia’s marriage to Wickham hurt Elizabeth’s chances with Darcy and shamed the Bennet name, yet Lydia’s character remains static upon returning to Longbourn: “Lydia was Lydia still; untamed, unabashed, wild, noisy, and fearless” (305). She then uses the marriage to gain the attention of others, satisfying her vanity: “She turned from sister to sister, demanding their congratulations” (305).

Lydia is like a thrown boomerang. At first, Lydia seeks attention by flirting with men, and then she flies away with Wickham. When she returns to Longbourn, she acts in the same attention-seeking manner, demanding her sisters to congratulate her for her marriage.

Lydia is like Paris Hilton, for both flirt with many men, and gain much attention for their interactions with them.