Austen takes her time in detailing Elizabeth’s romantic education. It’s proven through Elizabeth’s slow realization that Darcy is not, in fact, as snobbish as she first believed him to be, and that all of his actions seem to be for a higher cause in the end. Darcy, too, overcomes his pride (and his own prejudice) in order embrace his affections for a certain Miss Bennet. Austen’s Elizabeth, if anything, views Darcy’s wealth as a deterrent. She runs on the idea of true love being something that grows between two people—friendship turning into love before turning into a marriage. Her parents, for example, married for love, although her father gained nothing out of it. Elizabeth doesn’t want to marry a man solely for his money, even if it would be for the good of her family and secure a financially stable future for her remaining …show more content…
Bingley’s sisters, for example, are two exceedingly shallow and unhappy women. Caroline Bingley clings to the hierarchy, planning to marry upwards in the social ladder. She desires Mr. Darcy for her own, attracted to his wealth and status. Throughout, she works from the sidelines to ensure a match with Darcy is in her future, but it all eventually falls through. Caroline’s sister, Louisa Hurst, is married to a quite possibly the most boring man in all of society, and mirrors much of her sister’s gossipy temperament. Similar to the unhappy situations of the Bingley sisters, Wickham, who is in an enormous amount of debt and in search of a great fortune, finds himself paired with Lydia, who is to be considered the most insufferable and immature flirt out of all of the Bennet sisters. His deviousness nearly ruins the Bennet’s’ reputation, but Darcy saves the day in order to ensure an eventual marriage with Elizabeth. Wickham finds decent money through Darcy’s payoff, but the marriage would have undoubtedly been a