In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen creates her protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, as a surprisingly unconventional woman for her time. Elizabeth tends to relate less to her companions, and instead needs to define herself based on the males around her. Therefore, her relationships with the men in the novel reflect her ongoing search for an ideal figure of social respectability. Elizabeth begins the novel feeling a close kinship with her father who is, in comparison, more civilized than her ignorant, materialistic mother. But when high society, namely Mr. Darcy, enters her life, revealing her family's improprieties and scorning her, Elizabeth is forced to search for a hero who is not only refined, but who also redeems her dignity. He thinks he will find someone similar to Wickham. Mr. Darcy, the most polite of all, becomes Elizabeth's ultimate hero only when he exposes Wickham's deception and stops patronizing her and reveals his love and respect for her. Consequently, while fairness may seem to be the basis of Elizabeth's search for a hero, the underlying determinant of her search is her own pride. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayMr. Bennet's role as Elizabeth's hero appears to stem from Elizabeth's desire to distance herself from her boorish mother and several frivolous sisters to whom she offers a seemingly decent alternative. However, more importantly, he favors Elizabeth, which increases her self-esteem and strengthens her attachment to him. Compared to Mrs. Bennet who has only “a mean understanding, little information, and an uncertain temper” (Austen 4), all demeaning and socially undesirable characteristics, Mr. Bennet's “quick parts,… reserve, and caprice” represent a notable improvement in the property scale. For example, while Mrs. Bennet comically dwells on the superficial details of her daughters' future marriages, Mr. Bennet watches, amused, which Elizabeth finds less embarrassing than her mother's frankness. However, l he strongest influence is Mr. Bennet's favoritism toward Elizabeth When he and his wife discuss visiting Mr. Bingley as a promising son-in-law, Mr. Bennet insists that he "must put in a good word for [his] little Lizzy" ( Austen 44).Paying special attention to Elizabeth, he not only thinks that Elizabeth is the most qualified to be Mr. Bingley's wife, but also shows the affection with which he regards her by calling her "my little Lizzy." Mr. Bennet may be the most civilized of Elizabeth's family, but his preference towards Elizabeth is what truly makes him Elizabeth's hero at the beginning of the novel. However, when Darcy offends Elizabeth and indicates that her family does not have a refinery, she needs to find an alternative hero who she perceives to be on the same level of social mannerisms as Darcy to counteract the damage Darcy has done to her ego. Elizabeth finds a similar man in Wickham. At Meryton's ball, when Bingley suggests that Darcy dance with Elizabeth, he condescendingly says that Elizabeth is "not beautiful enough to tempt him" (Austen 9). Furthermore, Darcy obviously makes her feel self-conscious and subordinate due to her family's misdeeds, on some occasions causing "Elizabeth [to] tremble lest her mother should expose herself again" (Austen 31). In turn, Elizabeth is eager to accept and idolize Wickham because they are united by a common dislike of Mr. Darcy, also making her ready to ignore any of his suspicious flaws that she later identifies. He readily believes in the sophistication ofWickham and dwells longer on the ideas he proposes to reassure her pride. Wickham portrays Darcy as the improper one of the two, calling him an "irascible man" with "high and commanding manners" (Austen 53). Wickham goes on to tell an extremely personal story that makes him seem as if he has "a face [that] can guarantee that [his] is lovable" (Austen 54), which she accepts without question. Out of her dire need for self-confidence after Darcy hurts her pride, Elizabeth is quick to cast Wickham as her hero. She leaves her first real meeting with Wickham "with her head full of him" (Austen 56) not because she feigns an air of respectability that surpasses that of her father and presumably equals that of Darcy, but more importantly because he restores her dignity in their first real interaction. Elizabeth, who has already established that Wickham is her hero, the contents of Darcy's letter come as a complete shock. They contradict all the values ​​that she believes Wickham possesses and that make him her hero, and instead attribute them to Darcy, whom she, however, despises. Darcy's letter not only mocks Elizabeth and destroys her expectations of Wickham; it actually paves the way for Darcy to become Elizabeth's hero, as he shows his extreme respect for her in the letter. The only reason for Elizabeth's animosity towards Darcy in the first place was his display of disrespect towards her during their first meeting. In his letter, Darcy makes it clear that while he can find "faults in [Elizabeth's] nearest relatives" (Austen 131), he esteems her by thoughtfully stating that "it pains him to offend her" (Austen 131). . Subsequently, the letter reveals the true story of Mr. Darcy and Wickham, proving that Mr. Darcy is a generous and generous man. She is much more willing to accept this idea because her pride is no longer an obstacle to her possible lovable feelings for him. After reading the letter and knowing Darcy's admiration and love for her, their further encounters only strengthen Elizabeth's reverence for Mr. Darcy as her hero. Elizabeth is pleasantly surprised by how Darcy treats her aunt and uncle, the Gardiners with “such undignified manners” (Austen 164), modest “kindness” (Austen 164), and the “greatest civility” (Austen 165). Furthermore, Darcy further solidifies his position as Elizabeth's hero later in the novel when he generously bribes Wickham into marrying Lydia. Even though Darcy belongs to the highest class and therefore the highest social respectability, he only becomes Elizabeth's hero when he manages to maintain her sense of pride in him. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay To some extent, Elizabeth's search for a hero in Pride and Prejudice is based on her search for the epitome of social respectability with which she can associate and identify. However, Darcy belongs to the higher social class from the beginning of the novel, and Elizabeth's original dislike towards him due to his disparaging behavior shows how her pride is the final determining factor of who she considers her hero. Her father starts out as her hero because he is the most civilized of his family, but also because he elevates Elizabeth, believing her to be the smartest of all his daughters. Elizabeth's hero transforms into Mr. Wickham when he needs to relieve his ego from the damage Darcy does to it by humiliating both her and her family. However, once Darcy shows Elizabeth the good qualities of his character and, above all, his love and respect for her, she does not hesitate to make him her final hero. Although Elizabeth seems like an individualistic woman, her independence is just.