Duel
After various portrayals of characters in her novel, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen plays a humorous juxtaposition between two characters very different in nature -- Lady Catherine and Elizabeth Bennet. Amid their clash, Lady Catherine, sugarcoated with honour, decorum, and prudence, (256) reveals her pomposity once again as a self-conceited noble. Constantly assuming authority and undermining Elizabeths social class, Lady Catherine allows pathos to control her language, hurling offensive diatribes against Elizabeth. Elizabeth Bennet, not as wealthy as Lady Catherine but certainly quick-witted, engenders brilliance in language; the young Bennet not only manages to subvert Lady Catherine in sangfroid but also utilizes the method of Loges to confront Lady Catherine. While the two characters stay firm in each of their position, Elizabeths decision to remain logical and concise throughout the confrontation outweighs Lady Catherines superficial efforts to intimidate and tyrannize Elizabeth.
Throughout her encounter with Elizabeth, Lady Catherine fully displays her bombastic and conceited nature. Utilizing abstract words such as conscience (255), Lady Catherine assumes her own rights as a superior in class to Elizabeth. In fact, when Lady Catherine claims, because honor, decorum and prudence-nay, interest, forbid [Elizabeth and Darcys marriage], she demonstrates her class conscious mindset, driven by materialistic motives. As the conversation moves on, Lady Catherine fails to obtain her desired answers from Elizabeth. Fulminating against Elizabeth, remarking, do you know who I amAre you lost too every feeling of propriety and delicacy? Lady Catherine establishes yet again another superficial authority to reinforce her status, terrorizing Elizabeth by using rhetorical questions. However, Lady Catherine does not cease. She moves on with her grandiose diatribe, yet her points are void of any sorts of logic. Her ill-tempered and offensive remark, You have no regardUnfeeling, selfish girl! demonstrates the fact that her frustration and jealously have transformed into bitter resentment and even childish insults.
Despite Lady Catherines relentless tirade, Elizabeth remains terse, economical in words, yet her arguments are both logical and practical. Although Elizabeths pride parallels with Lady Catherines, she suppresses her desire to express it without control. Rather, she resorts to playful methods to further annoy Lady Catherines feeble mind. Her succinct responses against Lady Catherines speech (always averaging up to about 13 lines), I never heard that it [rumor] was (255) or I will make no promise of the kind (258), exacerbate Lady Catherines temper; despite Lady Catherines rant, Elizabeth responds with utter calmness with tints of ambiguities -- she simply doesnt need multiple lines to prove her point. When Elizabeth decides to play with Lady Catherines words, when she claims, I do not pretend to equal frankness with your ladyship, (256) she outwits Lady Catherines snobbishness and demonstrates her rational argument. Furthermore, remarking with confidence, You may ask questions which I shall not choose to answer. (256) Elizabeth uses parallel structure to establish her sense of authority. Elizabeth has both outwitted and expressed her pride in exceptional flair.
The duel between the two characters end with Elizabeths victory. Lady Catherines reckless speech only fools herself and Elizabeth finds viable methods to confront Lady Catherines illogical arguments. Characterized by ethos and pathos, the two characters provide a humorous scene in which a class-inferior Elizabeth prevails against a vainglory noble, Lady Catherine.
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